Researched route, Rogers Pass
Rogers Pass
A steep summer trail at Rogers Pass up to an alpine bench of rolls and moraines. You can only go on days Parks Canada posts it open.
Hermit Meadows is the high alpine bench where the Hermit Trail ends, in Glacier National Park above Rogers Pass, between Revelstoke and Golden. You climb about 820 m in 2.9 km from the Hermit lot to the campground in the meadows, near 2,120 m. It's the summer trail, steep for most of the first kilometre, and it goes up between two big avalanche paths. It's inside a Parks Canada restricted area, so you can only go on days it's posted open. Up top, the rolls and moraines and the slide paths running back toward the road are all avalanche terrain, and Avalanche Canada reports describe skiers setting off slabs there, often from a distance. The route is the common, well documented way to that skiing. Where you go and what you ski there is up to you.
We built this route from our own extensive research. All resources are cited on the dashboard. We haven't skied it ourselves, the routes illustrated may not be the best line choice, use your own judgement when planning. Remember you are still responsible for your own tour.
Last checked October 20, 2026.
| Distance | about 2.9 km to the campground, then as many runs as you like, then about 2.9 km back down the trail to the lot: about 5.8 km for the climb and the way out, plus your runs |
| Elevation gain | about 820 m |
| Slope angles | mostly 15 to 30 degrees on the line, near 30 for most of the first kilometre; slopes within 200 m of it reach the mid to high 30s, and the walls of the slide paths the 40s; terrain data reads low |
| Trailhead | 1,296 m |
| High point | about 2,120 m at the campground, the top of the climb on the summer trail; one hiking report gives 2,120 m for the meadows, and our terrain data reads 2,116 m. It isn't a summit: the meadows carry on up toward the Swiss Glacier, Little Sifton and Mount Tupper |
| Nearest town | Revelstoke or Golden |
| Pass required | A Winter Permit and a national park pass for each person, and a printed Winter Parking Permit for each car |
| Skied by us | Not yet |
Head west on the Trans-Canada through Golden toward the Rogers Pass summit. The Hermit lot is just off the north side of the highway, a couple of kilometres northeast of the Rogers Pass Centre. The trail sign is at its west end. If you don't already hold an annual Winter Permit, go on to Summit Station at the pass first for a daily one.
There's no overnight parking at Hermit, and the meadows are inside a restricted area, so the summer campground there isn't a winter camp. If the lot is full, Parks Canada asks you to change your plans. You can't park along the highway, and stopping isn't allowed in the signed avalanche zones beside it. The lot sits between the feet of two avalanche paths that reach the road. A December 2025 trip report found it not yet plowed first thing in the morning. The highway closes at times for avalanche control, so check DriveBC before you go. If you come back to a closure, stay with your car until Parks Canada says the road is open. Cell service in the park is unreliable. For a backcountry emergency, Parks Canada's dispatch line is 1-877-852-3100. Leave your plan with someone who isn't coming.
From November 15 until Parks Canada ends its highway avalanche control for the winter, the Winter Permit System runs in Glacier National Park. Everyone going past the parking lot needs their own Winter Permit, photo ID and a national park pass, in the unrestricted areas too. Going without one can cost you up to $25,000. Camping and any overnight stay aren't allowed in a restricted area.
Annual and daily permits both start with Parks Canada's online quiz. You apply for an annual permit online, and it can take a week or more to come by email. Daily permits are sold only at Summit Station at the pass, only for that day, and can't be used overnight. The Rogers Pass Centre is closed for the 2026-27 season, so Summit Station is where you buy permits and park passes. It opens at 7:30 am Pacific time, an hour behind Alberta. Each car needs the Winter Parking Permit that comes with the permit, printed and on the dashboard, with a plate that matches the car.
A permit alone doesn't get you on the route. Hermit Meadows is in the East Rogers Winter Restricted Area, which Parks Canada opens or keeps closed each day around its artillery avalanche control for the highway and railway. The status goes up at about 7:30 am. The Hermit lot is a restricted lot. It closes at midnight and opens again only once East Rogers is posted open, and Parks Canada doesn't let anyone drive into or park in it before then. If East Rogers is closed, so are the lot and this route. On Parks Canada's 2025 boundary file the whole line is inside East Rogers. The nearest prohibited area, Macdonald West, is across the highway, about 800 m from the line at its closest.
We checked these rules on Parks Canada's pages on 2026-10-28, which were last updated 2026-10-15. Parks Canada still links its 2025 boundary file, so that's the one we checked the line against, and the restrictions order posted at the trailheads rules over any map. The boundaries aren't marked on the ground, so carry Parks Canada's map, and read the current pages before you go.
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