The bridges
Across the canyon.
Chris Woodrich — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Chris Woodrich — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Chris Woodrich — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Chris Woodrich — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Chris Woodrich — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Chris Woodrich — CC BY-SA 4.0
Marble Canyon is a narrow gorge in Kootenay National Park in the Canadian Rockies of British Columbia, on the Banff-Windermere Highway close to the Alberta border, about 38 km in a straight line west of Banff. Tokumm Creek has cut the canyon through grey limestone and dolomite that early visitors mistook for marble, which gave it its name. The gorge is about 600 m long and in places some 40 m deep, and very narrow along much of its length. Its milky turquoise water, coloured by fine rock flour from the glaciers above, rushes through bends and tunnels and ends in a powerful waterfall. An easy trail, about 1.6 km there and back, follows the rim and crosses the canyon on a series of bridges, each with a view down into the gorge. A wildfire burned the area in 2003, and the slopes around it now show young pines growing among the silver trunks of the old forest. The Paint Pots, ochre-coloured mineral springs, are a short drive south. A national park pass is needed. The trail can be icy in spring and autumn, so take care on the bridges.
Across the canyon.
At the canyon's end.
A short drive south.
Banff-Windermere Highway, British Columbia, Canada
About an hour there and back.
Yes, a national park pass.