Backpacker Buzz

Summer in the Rockies is short and sweet but what it lacks in endurance, it makes up for in intensity. HI's wilderness hostels are already gearing up for summer. We've got details on summer operating hours so you can start planning your summertime wilderness escapes now.

Right now, the following hostels are open seven days a week through the summer:

HI-Athabasca Falls Wilderness Hostel
HI-Castle Mountain Wilderness Hostel
HI-Maligne Canyon Wilderness Hostel
HI-Rampart Creek Wilderness Hostel

Opening full-time by the end of the month:

HI-Mosquito Creek Wilderness Hostel (May 20)
HI-Kananaskis Wilderness Hostel (May 21)
HI-Beauty Creek Wilderness Hostel (May 21)

HI-Mount Edith Cavell Wilderness Hostel will open in late July due to road conditions and HI-Yoho National Park, Whiskey Jack Hostel will open in late June pending road conditions.

HI-Hilda Creek Wilderness Hostel is back in action but continues as a key-access only hostel. Find out more.

HI's chain of wilderness hostels offer one-of-a-kind experiences in Banff, Jasper and Yoho National Parks and Kananaskis. This is rustic-style living. You'll get a warm place to sleep, a kitchen and communal spaces to enjoy others' company but you might not always get a flush toilet or electricity. The pay-off is that you're in the middle of some of the country's best outdoors, with hiking at your doorstep and night skies full of stars.

Follow the links to read more about the facilities at each hostel.