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Sulphur Mountain Gondola, Banff: Canadian Rockies Dazzling View

Ride the Sulphur Mountain Gondola up to Banff’s highest elevation viewpoint and get swept away from your feet by incredible scenery of Canadian Rockies in Alberta Canada.

Alberta is an amazing family-friendly destination that has plenty to offer, and the National Parks of Jasper and Banff are indeed full of gems. The Sulphur Mountain Gondola, also known as Mt. Sulfur Gondola (wrong spelling, i know!), or simply Banff Gondola, is one such lookout marvel that must be included into your Banff visit itinerary. In this post we share a few tips for visiting Banff Gondola from our 10 Day Vancouver to Alberta road trip travels, and many photos of breathtaking views from the Sulphur Mountain.  

Seriously, based on everything we travelled to, and all Banff and Jasper attractions we have visited – Sulphur Mountain Gondola it at the top of our list, alongside with Lake Moraine in Banff, Maligne Lake’s Spirit Island Cruise in Jasper, and the Angel Glacier at Mt Edith Cavell Meadows in Jasper.

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Sulphur Mountain, Alberta Canada

Where is Sulphur Mountain?

There are a few places around the world that are called Sulphur Mountain, Sulfur Mountain, Mt Sulphur, Mt Sulfur or even Mount Sulphur – this post is about the one located in Banff National Park in Alberta Canada with our photos and travel notes from 10-day road trip from Vancouver to Alberta in 2020. 

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How High is Sulphur Mountain Gondola in Banff, Alberta?

Sulphur Mountain the highest peak in Banff that tourists can have access to without the need for a lengthy difficult hike. Although it IS possible to hike up the Sulphur Mountain via a 5km trail all the way to the gondola lookout, and then catch a ride down. 

The elevation of Sulphur Mountain in Banff is 2,451 metres. 

The Sulphur Mountain Gondola Lower terminal sits at 1,583 metres and the Higher terminal with all major accessible viewpoints – at 2,281 metres.

When you translate the altitude in feet, the Sulphur Mountain itself is 8,041 feet. The Sulphur Mountain Gondola is 7,483 feet – making it home of the highest altitude lookouts accessible to visitors to Banff.

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Sulphur Mountain Gondola vs Banff Gondola vs Mt. Sulfur Gondola

In Canadian English the proper spelling of the mountain is Sulphur Mountain. Hence Mt Sulfur Gondola is actually misspelling and therefore Sulphur Mountain is the proper name. Yet in the recent years, Alberta decided to rename its major attraction to Banff Gondola.

Hence if you are looking for Sulphur Mountain Gondola, Mount Sulfur Gondola, or Mt Sulfur – that is all the same thing now and Banff Gondola is what you'll see on the map, on your tickets and on all tourist itineraries offered at visitors centres.

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Our Visit to Sulphur Mountain Photos and Notes

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Visit Tips

Rule #1 when visiting during busy times: get tickets in advance! We got our tickets as a part of the package for travel to Jasper and Banff: we had Maligne Lake Cruise, Columbia IceFields and Sulphur Mountain included into the package – a great deal for cost savings.

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Mt Sulphur Gondola Directions and Travel Time

If you are like our travel family, your Banff road trip is likely packed with attractions and places to see. It is only understandable you’d want to plan the time ahead. 

Travel time to Sulphur Mountain Gondola

• Banff to Sulphur Mountain Gondola: 10 min
• Canmore to Sulphur Mountain Gondola: 30 min
• Lake Louise to Sulphur Mountain Gondola: 45 min
• Calgary to Banff Gondola: 1 hr 50 min
• Athabasca Glacier / Columbia IceFields to Banff Gondola: 2 hrs 20 min
• Jasper to Sulphur Mountain: 3 hrs 25 min

Travel time from Sulphur Mountain Gondola

• Sulphur Mountain Gondola to Banff: 15 min
• Banff Gondola to Canmore: 30 min
• Banff Gondola to Lake Louise: 50 min
• Sulphur Mountain Gondola to Calgary: 1 hr 30 min
• Sulphur Mountain Gondola to Athabasca Glacier / Columbia IceFields: 2 hrs 15 min
• Banff Gondola to Jasper: 3 hrs 30 min

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Best Time to Visit Banff Gondola

Overall, the best time to visit Banff Gondola in our opinion is in the Summer – between June and July. 

ATTN: Wildfires

Unfortunately, by the end of July and all the way through August and early September, Alberta often experiences wildfire-related SMOG. You won't be able to see much, or take stunning jaw-dropping photos of Banff and the Rockies if the skies are yellow/orange. 

We’ve travelled to Alberta from British Columbia twice, and would have done it once more – yet in 2021 we had to cancel due to wildfire activity running out of control. 

If you are coming from overseas and travelling all the way to Canada to visit Banff and Jasper National Parks, I’d say – definitely plan for the end of June or mid-July. 

Weather Check

Since the entire point of coming up the Sulphur Mountain Gondola is to have your breath taken away by spectacular views of Banff and the Canadian Rocky Mountains – checking the weather in advance is extremely important. 

ATTN: Heat Waves

In the summer – around the end of July and most of August Alberta is prone to experiencing heat waves -and those are brutal! The first time we drove to Alberta on our 10 day road-trip from Vancouver, BC in 2020 – we caught one such heat wave. 

TIPS on how to survive a Heat Wave

It is getting extremely hot atop of the Sulphur Mountain, and there is not much shade. Hence a few summer-related tips for visiting Banff Gondola: always carry a hat, use sunscreen (organic natural sunscreen only of course), and bring plenty of water. 

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Hiking Mt Sulphur

It IS possible to hike to the top of Sulphur Mountain (Mt Sulfur) instead of using the gondola up. Yet we opted in to take it the easy way since our 4yo Cosmos had just completed the 9km Edith Cavell Meadows trail and did not want to hike any more 🙂

Yet, if you are looking for hiking directions and travel info, HERE IS the link to AllTrails hiking route for Sulphur Mountain.

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Concluding notes

Long story short, please DO visit Sulphur Mountain Gondola on your next travel to Banff, Alberta. The Banff Gondola is one of the top attractions of the National Park and the title is well-deserved. I hope we were able to convince you with our breathtaking photos from a variety of Mt Sulphur lookouts and viewpoints.

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Check out next: latest outdoors and travel experiences in Alberta

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Enjoy!

Cheerfully yours,

Alexandra, Alex & Cosmos

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