Researched route, Banff
Trans-Canada Highway, Banff
A steady climb through the forest to a lake under Mount Bell, and the common way in to Panorama Ridge East's larches and the couloirs around the lake.
Taylor Lake sits in a hanging valley under the north face of Mount Bell in Banff National Park, near Lake Louise. The trailhead is on the Trans-Canada Highway, about 8 km west of Castle Junction. It's 6.7 km to the lake's east shore on the summer hiking trail and back the same way, with about 605 m of climbing, and after a flat first kilometre nearly all of it is a steady climb through forest. The trail is the common way in to a basin with a lot of skiing: the open larch trees of Panorama Ridge East above the meadows north of the lake, the moraines and the steep north-facing Bell Couloir on Mount Bell across the lake, and the Trident's couloirs on the wall between them. Where you go from the lake and what you ski is up to you. We built this route from research and haven't skied it ourselves.
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 13.4 km round trip, 6.7 km to the lake |
| Elevation gain | about 605 m to the lake |
| Slope angles | the ground under the trail is under 20 degrees; above the lake, 30 to 37 degrees on Panorama Ridge East's south side, and 40 degrees and more on Mount Bell's north face and in the couloirs; terrain data reads low |
| Trailhead | 1,462 m on terrain data |
| The lake | 2,064 m at the east shore where the trail ends, on terrain data |
| Nearest town | Lake Louise |
| Pass required | Parks Canada |
| Skied by us | Not yet |
Take the Trans-Canada Highway west past Banff and Castle Junction. The Taylor Lake trailhead is about 8 km past Castle Junction toward Lake Louise, at a signed turn-off on the highway's south side. It's about 18 km before Lake Louise if you're coming from the west. The lot has toilets, and the trail starts through a gate in the highway's wildlife fence.
You need a Parks Canada pass to stop anywhere in Banff National Park. Parks Canada's rule exempts driving straight through on the Trans-Canada without stopping. When we checked Parks Canada's Banff bulletins and its avalanche closure zones in October 2026, we found no closure on this trail or at the lake, and no avalanche closure zone on this stretch of highway. Parks Canada can set temporary no-stopping zones for wildlife on any road west of Castle Junction, marked on site, so watch for signs at the turn-off. Check 511 Alberta and the Banff, Yoho and Kootenay avalanche forecast before you go.
Through the gate the trail turns right and runs nearly level for the first kilometre, then crosses the creek on a bridge at about 1.3 km. From there it's a steady climb to the lake, about 100 m every kilometre, in forest with only glimpses out. A hiking guide puts switchbacks from about 3.2 km. Trip reports describe the trail in winter as well packed and easy to follow, shared by skiers, snowshoers and walkers, with no route-finding to speak of.
At about 6.2 km you cross the creek again on a footbridge. Reports describe a skin track leaving the trail around here, up a shallow draw to the right toward the meadows and Panorama Ridge East. Stay on the trail and there's a junction for O'Brien Lake at about 6.4 km. The trail reaches the lake's east shore beside the backcountry campground at 6.7 km and 2,064 m. Across the water, Mount Bell's north face rises straight out of the south shore.
The trail is the way in, and the skiing is yours to choose. Avalanche Canada's Mountain Information Network reports and trip reports describe three kinds of skiing from here.
Panorama Ridge East, north of the lake, is the best known. Parties get there by the skin track up the draw, or by climbing north from the campground through the forest to the meadows, then up through open larch trees onto the ridge. Its high point reads 2,544 m on our terrain data, about 3 km and 490 m above the trail by the draw. Reports describe laps through the trees of its south and southwest sides, runs dropping off the ridge toward the tarns to the west, and some steeper skiing on its north side. Trip reports from 2018 and 2021 describe the skin track fading out short of the top, and the crest itself thin, rocky and wind affected.
Across the lake, reports cross the ice to the moraines and the bench below Mount Bell's north face for laps. They also climb Bell Couloir above them, a steep north-facing couloir with a bootpack through its narrows to a col. Getting there means a short, steep headwall near a waterfall at the lake's far end. Reports describe ski crampons there and, in a thin early season, hanging onto shrubs.
The Trident is a set of steep couloirs on the wall between the lake and the meadows, below Panorama Peak. Reports reach them from the meadows or ski them from the top.
Where the sources are thin, here's our own read of the terrain data. Panorama Ridge East's south side reads 30 to 37 degrees between about 2,350 and 2,450 m, easing into gentler meadows below about 2,250 m. Its north side reads 36 to 43 degrees. The moraines below Bell read 25 to 33 degrees, facing north and northwest, with Bell's face and couloir above them at 40 degrees and more. The Trident's wall faces north and northeast and reads 45 degrees and more. Terrain data reads low, so slopes are steeper than they appear.
Wherever your skiing ends, get back to the trail. From Panorama Ridge East, ski back down to the meadows, then follow the draw down to the trail near the footbridge at 6.2 km. In January 2025 a report found most parties going straight down to the campground instead, while the draw was still filling in. From Bell's side, cross the lake back to the campground at the east shore. Then follow the trail out to the car. It's about 6 km of steady downhill, narrow and often firm, with walkers and snowshoers coming up, and trip reports describe snowplowing much of it. The last kilometre is nearly flat.
The trail stays in forest, away from steep slopes. Over its first 4 km there's no slope of 30 degrees or more within 1.5 km above the trail. From about 4 km, north-facing slopes that steep come into view on Mount Bell's side, across the creek to the south. By the lake they're about 400 m from the trail, with steeper cliffs above them. Slopes are steeper than they appear.
The lake sits under Mount Bell's north face. The face rises from the south shore, and its slides can reach the ice. In May 2026 a report found where a slide had run over the cliffs and broken through the ice. The chutes on the slope above the north shore are avalanche terrain too. In December 2022 a skier set off a size 2 in the nearest one, which ran from the cliffs to a little above the lake and partly buried one person.
Panorama Ridge East. The open trees and slopes off the ridge are avalanche terrain, and so is its steeper north side. Reports describe skier-triggered wind slabs on its south and southwest slopes near the top of the trees (February 2023 and December 2025, the second possibly set off from below and running to the ground). They describe loud whumpfs and cracking early in the season, and whumpfs on the skin track itself in December 2022, over weak snow to the ground. They also describe sun crusts on the sunny slopes and loose wet slides in the sun.
Bell Couloir and the Trident. Steep and narrow, between rock walls that shed loose snow and spindrift into them. In March 2024 spindrift knocked a skier off the bootpack in Bell Couloir, and they tumbled about 100 m. In April 2024 a climbing skier set off a small slab below its middle cliff band. In January 2025, in strong wind, many natural slides as big as size 2 ran from the walls beside it. In February 2026 a ski cut at the entrance to the Trident released a soft wind slab that ran 120 m. Reports describe glacier ice in the steepest pitch near Bell's col, and in November 2022 a report found that ice breaking up, with a large gap at its base.
What the avalanche reports show. Reports to Avalanche Canada put the slides around the skiing past the lake: Bell Couloir and the walls beside it, Panorama Ridge East's south and southwest slopes near the top of the trees, the Trident and Panorama Peak's northeast walls, and the chutes above the north shore. They describe wind slabs near the ridge tops and in the couloirs, loose snow and spindrift off the cliffs, and whumpfs and cracking over weak, sugary snow near the ground. Skiers set off slides on Panorama Ridge East, in Bell Couloir, at the Trident and in the chute above the lake. Others were natural, off the steep walls. In March 2025 a report from a rescue flight described a very large slab, about 2.4 km wide, on Panorama Peak's northeast side. Reports follow where people go, and they describe this basin as busy, so the record shows where people have been, not which slope is more dangerous.
The lake. Reports describe slush and hidden puddles on the ice early in the winter (December 2024), wet slush in a warm November storm (2025), and a party in May 2026 keeping to one side where the ice looked open.
The trail and the draw. Early and late in the season, reports describe rocks, ice and fallen trees on the trail, and open holes in the creek up the draw. It's a hiking trail, not a groomed ski trail, and the corners come up fast on the way down.
On the trail: fresh snow deep enough that breaking trail takes more than you've got, or a trail too icy and rocky to ski down in control.
At the lake and on the slopes: fresh debris, whumpfs or cracking, heavy new snow, wind moving snow at the ridge tops or into the couloirs, sun on the south slopes or a quick warm-up, loose snow pouring off the walls above a couloir, or slush and open water on the lake.
Nothing on the trail commits you, so turning around anywhere on it only costs you the rest of the trail. Whether to go is your call on the day. Read the forecast and decide from what you find.
A long, steady climb, and avalanche skills for everything past the lake. About 13 km and 605 m of climbing on the trail, plus whatever skiing you choose. Trip reports to Panorama Ridge East took 5.5 to 7.5 hours car to car, for about 1,100 m of climbing. The way down the trail asks for control on a narrow, busy track. The skiing on every side of the lake is avalanche terrain with a record of slides, and the lake sits under Mount Bell's north face. We'd carry a transceiver, probe and shovel and know how to use them, with partners who do too. Bell Couloir and the Trident add steep climbing on foot under rock walls.
What we can't tell you yet. How the trail skis on the day and how long it takes you. The dashboard's estimate uses your own pace.