The return of Canada's 'breathtaking, must-see hike'

With its glacier-fed waterfalls and turquoise lakes, the Berg Lake Trail is one of North America's most spectacular alpine treks. Now, a long-awaited backcountry hut is changing the way visitors experience this Canadian classic.

Mud squelches beneath my boots as I move through a tunnel of trees. After climbing a series of steep switchbacks up a valley wall, my legs are burning when spray from a thundering waterfall I can't see hits my face.

The steady roar of water has rung in my ears since I passed White Falls, the first in a series of cascades cutting through the Robson River Gorge and spilling into the aptly named Valley of a Thousand Falls below. When I finally emerge through an opening in the forest, I see it, rising in the distance behind the powerful rush of Emperor Falls: Mount Robson, the tallest mountain in the Canadian Rockies.

I'm 9.3 miles (15km) deep on the recently reopened Berg Lake Trail in Mount Robson Provincial Park, located just west of Jasper National Park in British Columbia. This 26-30-mile (42-48km) round-trip route is one of Canada's most famous backcountry trails and reveals some of North America's most spectacular alpine scenery. I've hiked the trail three times, but now, a new alpine hut is letting travellers experience the area in a whole new way: by spending the night in Mount Robson's shadow.

Beginning at the Mount Robson Visitor Centre, the route rises from towering old-growth forest into a dramatic alpine valley filled with tumbling, glacier-fed cascades. Here, hikers are treated to unforgettable panoramas of Mount Robson before arriving at the turquoise Berg Lake.

In May 2026, after decades of planning, and a year after the Berg Lake Trail reopened after a catastrophic flood, the brand-new Robson Pass Hut opened near the northern end of the trail. Set directly beneath Mount Robson at Robson Pass, the two-storey backcountry hut offers an intimate, close-up view of the iconic mountain that hikers don't see from most of the trail.

From the building's front door, Mount Robson rises almost directly overhead. The hut's opening means backpackers no longer need to carry their camping gear some 12 miles (20km) up the mountain if they wish to spend the night. It also allows them to spend more time in the trail's upper reaches rather than rushing back down the valley on a day hike. And in winter, it provides would-be campers a much more comfortable base for ski touring.

For Calgary hiker Amanda Elia, the experience of hiking the trail is difficult to put into words.

"It's simply breathtaking," she says. "A must-see hike."

During the three- to four-day journey, travellers pass icefields tumbling into azure alpine lakes, glaciers calving with the force of an avalanche and snowcapped peaks dwarfed by the iconic Mount Robson itself.

Few mountains dominate their surroundings quite like this 12,972ft (3,954m) behemoth, which is capped by glacial fields that plummet some 2,625ft (800m) into the turquoise Berg Lake below. In fact, the first glimpse of the peak from the highway as you approach the park's visitor centre, can feel almost unreal.

"You need time to process how beautiful it is," says Elia.

For veteran hiker Matt Sombert, who has backpacked the trail five times, the views also inspire reflection. "It's poignant, though it is fleeting" he says. "With [the] glaciers retreating… these views are not expected to last another 100 years."

Traditionally, trekkers would sleep at one of six backcountry campsites located along the trail. Though hikers gain 2,624-3,280ft (800m-1,000m) of elevation during the hike, the initial 5-mile (8km) stretch to Kinney Lake (where the first backcountry campsite is located) is accessible to bikes, prams, wheelchairs and walkers.

The hut itself began as an early-2000s proposal to BC Parks, to increase and improve lodging options as the trail swelled in popularity. With space for 12 guests, it offers a more intimate alternative to the larger, often-crowded Berg Lake Campground. But the build was repeatedly stalled by funding gaps, shifting priorities and the pandemic.

Then in June 2021, a heat dome settled over Western Canada, accelerating snowmelt before heavy rains triggered devastating floods. More than 600 people died across the country, while the Berg Lake Trail was so badly damaged that hikers had to be evacuated by helicopter and the route was closed for the 2022 hiking season.

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The trail reopened in three phases between June 2023 and June 2025. Throughout its restoration, the aim was to rebuild the trail with climate resilience in mind. BC Parks staff, engineers and contractors worked together to reduce river crossings and limit time spent in floodplains, creating a more sustainable path up towards the new hut.

For hikers returning after the floods, the rebuilt sections have been thoughtfully executed. "All the work put into it is very apparent and well done," says Sombert, who first backpacked the trail in 2000. Walking alongside him for the first time, Stephanie Dean notices the same attention to detail, reflecting that "it was clear that a lot of effort was put into making it as safe as possible while going over different terrain".

That care is especially evident in the stretch between Kinney Flats and Whitehorn where the trail moves through a section of inland temperate rainforest. As Sombert describes it, the path "twists and undulates", following the natural contours of the forest rather than cutting through it.

Only after the trail fully reopened could the hut construction move forward. Ahead of its May opening, reservations sold out almost immediately. "I think it surprised even us how quickly it went," says Krista Robinson, from the Alpine Club of Canada, which built and runs the hut.

The hut itself is a shared, bunk-style refuge with communal spaces designed for hikers and climbers. It faces the surrounding alpine peaks and valleys, keeping the landscape constantly present and making the environment the main experience. Sleeping quarters are located downstairs for cooler, quieter rest, while the upper level opens into a light-filled common space and a large deck with sweeping alpine views of the Emperor Face wall, Robson Glacier and Mount Resplendent.

First impressions at the opening ceremony were immediate and unfiltered.

"Honestly, it was just – wow, this is nice," recalls Robinson.

Following the ribbon-cutting ceremony, guests quickly gravitated to the hut's deck before gathering inside, where "it turned into a very classic hut experience", says Robinson. "People sitting together, sharing stories and reconnecting."

I also feel this sense of reconnection while treading along the newly remodelled trail, catching my first glimpse of Berg Lake since the flood. The cerulean water is an open door, quietly inviting me in. I wade into its icy water, letting the cold wash away the distance the disaster had created between me and this place.

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