Hunting for Bears in Banff National Park

Grizzly Cubs in a meadow

The clouds were hanging below the mountain tops and a light rain was falling as I drove down Trans Canada HWY 1 to the exit for HWY 1A (also known as the Bow Valley Parkway).

Away from the summer traffic, the Bow Valley Parkway winds around mountains, giving drivers (and their passengers) close-up views of the Castle Mountain Cliffs,  hiking access, views of the Bow River, and wildlife. Yes, wildlife. If you are traveling in Banff National Park and want to see wildlife, your chances are usually better if you drive along the Bow Valley Parkway as it tends to be a little quieter.

Not long after I began my drive, I saw signs about wildlife detours, but didn’t think too much about it. As I drove along the parkway (I drove the speed limit, which I rarely do), my eyes glided over the landscape in front of me. I wasn’t hunting for anything, merely looking around. On occasion I would stop, grab my camera from the passenger seat, get out of my car and snap a couple photos of mountains or the Bow River which was in the valley below me. I would then get back into my car and continue to drive.

Soon, I noticed cars pulling over. They would usual drive real slow and the passengers inside would be scanning the woods.

“Hmmm…That is rather odd behaviour.”

It didn’t take long for me to figure out what they were looking for. Bears.

There has been increased bear activity in Banff National Park this spring. Signs have been posted to warn drivers to slow down, and access to some public areas has been closed. So, naturally, people are in their cars, hunting for bears. What else are you going to do on a rainy day?

Seeing a bear during your trip through Banff National Park is the quintessential Canadian Rockies experience. Why? Mostly because bears are shy and tend to hide from humans. When bears are spotted, they are generally walking through the woods, or near a lake and when they see you, they don’t stop and say “Ok, I’m ready for my close-up Mr. Spielberg!”.

As I drove there was a traffic jam ahead, so I turned my camera on (which was on the passenger seat) and slowed down. In Banff National Park this is usually the first sign of a bear sighting and these jams are known as a Bear-Jam. Unfortunately, this was not a Bear-Jam. It was an Elk-Jam. Yes, Elk. The same animals who I can hear chewing outside my bedroom window from time to time. For me seeing an Elk is like seeing a squirrel or a deer. They’re everywhere.

I slowed down and shook my head at the people outside their cars, crowding the Elk as they tried to take photos. Elk can run, and they can kick and it hurts, a lot!

The longer I drove, the more resigned I was to the fact that seeing a bear today was just not possible. I relaxed and took my time and barely noticed the cars pulled over on a roadside look-out.

I slowed down and pulled over along with the others. There, in front of me, in a small green meadow were two Grizzly bear cubs. The cubs were about 1 or 2 years old and the mother bear was nowhere in sight. I sat in my car, snapped a couple of photos and watched as the bears wandered around the meadow, eating. The bears ate without care. Unlike most bears I have seen, these ones did not start walking back towards the trees when humans arrived on the scene, these bears stayed and simply ignored us.

The light rain had turned into a mist as I sat in my car, watching. I was quiet and patient (as were the other people) and in time our patience was rewarded with something I have never seen before (at least not in person). The two bear cubs started to play. For 20 minutes I sat and watched them wrestling with each other in the small wet meadow. They were in their natural habitat. This was not a zoo or a fenced in reserve. This was two bears playing without a care in the world. I have seen bears before (both brown and grizzly), but never in this way. This moment, was the quintessential Canadian Rockies experience.

Coming soon: Bernard & Faye’s day in the rain |a look into the minds of frolicking grizzly bear cubs.