The views abound from the top of Sulphur Mountain (elevation 7,468 feet), which is easily reached riding the Banff Gondola. Even Mike, who is not a fan of organized tours, enjoyed this tour and had a great time, despite a lot of grumbling while waiting in line. There is a nearby hiking trail that you can use to get to the same spot after 6.8 miles and 2,149 feet elevation gain. The cable cars whisk you up 2,292 feet in just 8 minutes! Once you reach the top, you can continue on the Banff Skywalk, a 0.6 mile walkway along the summit ridge, providing awesome views of the town of Banff, the Bow River, Lake Minnewanka, and the surrounding peaks. This walkway has numerous sets of stairs.
View from the top of gondola ride
Stacked mountain view from the top
While we were there (May 2016), the area at the top was undergoing major renovations. When completed, there will be restaurants and other facilities. We liked that the cable cars are small and only hold 4 people, ensuring everyone has a view during the ride. There was a good sized line waiting for the gondola. We had to wait at least a half hour to ride up and maybe 15 minutes to come back down, and we were not there in peak season.
Each gondola holds four people
They charge C$42 per adult to ride the gondola. This is a tour offered by the Brewster company which seems to have cornered the market in the Banff & Jasper National Parks. They do offer package pricing if you book multiple tours at the same time. Their tours include: this gondola, Boat tours of Minnewanke or Maligne Lakes, Snocoach Tour of Athabasca Glacier and the Glacier Skywalk.
View heading up Sulphur Mountain
The parking lot is located near the Upper Hot Springs off of Mountain Avenue. If you are staying in town, their is a shuttle bus that you can use to get to the gondola parking lot.
