Fenland Trail
Kaylee
Fenland Trail is such a simple and easy walk through the forest right next to the Banff town site. Despite being so close to town, this trail always remains seemingly secluded and distant from the rest of the world. The only downside being that the trail runs along a steady but calm Echo Creek, which provides the area with an ample supply of water for certain pests to abundantly reproduce. In the spring the trail is clear and calm but in the summer however, the trail was swarmed with thousands and thousands of mosquitoes where ever you walk. I’ve walked this trail many times, but that fateful summer day had us walking the trail after returning to town to buy and douse ourselves in as much deep woods bug spray that we could. Even then the hordes of mosquitoes were so incredibly thick that even swinging your arms when you walk makes you feel like you are walking through a rain shower. All I have to say about this trail is that most of the times it’s a perfectly enjoyable, short walk, but if the mosquitoes are thriving in late summer, this is not the place you want to be.
Kim
This hike is a nice easy one that I would say anyone could do. When we went in the spring, there was still quite a bit of snow, ice, and mud. It was an interesting combination and we had to be careful with every step as we were sliding around, and you could always tell when Sunali was slipping because she's pretty vocal (hey, at least we know she's good for scaring off wildlife). In the summer the trail was much more manageable, except for the whole flock of mosquitos trying to eat us alive. We made it about 5 minutes into the hike when we were getting swarmed by millions (I swear it was millions) of mosquitos when we turned around and went to buy bug spray in town. We showered ourselves in bug spray and attempted the trail again. Most of the time we were swatting at the buggers or swatting each other as we’re trying to record data or take pictures. It gives you a good excuse to give someone a swat if they're bothering you anyways. Too bad Liam didn't come on this one. The mosquitos made the trek more difficult but we sure powered through it to avoid them. When we were actually paying attention to something other than the mosquitos, we saw quite a few creatures here. We found a weasel running across a log and initially thought it was a squirrel, so we tried to follow it to get a closer look and try to get a picture. We also found a frog in some bushes just hanging out. Overall this is a good hike for a quiet stroll or if you’re in town and don’t want to wander around too far, or for someone who doesn't like to engage in too much physical activity. But really, who doesn't love adventuring around Banff? Get out there and see everything you can while you're there!
Sunali
I wouldn’t quite call this one a hike – it’s more of a leisurely walk. It takes about half an hour to walk the whole loop and the entire thing is sheltered by the trees. The highway is close by however, so you can hear the traffic. Other than that, it was quite peaceful to walk around and participate in nature. There’s a river that runs along one side and if you look for them, you can see beaver dams and fallen trees that you could use as a bridge if you’re feeling adventurous (don’t actually do this!). Kaylee showed us a geo cache that’s hidden under one of the benches and we wrote our names in it every time we did this trail. I think it’s pretty cool to see who’s been there and how many people have written in the book since you last wrote in it. The bridges can get quite icy when it's still cold out -- it's a good thing I wore proper footwear or I'm sure I would have had a tumble or two. If there's still snow on the ground, you'll probably see signs of wildlife. There's also a trail camera to look out before the bridge that takes you back to the parking lot.
Sophie
If you are allergic to mosquitos or simply don’t like them, this trail is not for you. Stepping onto Fenland trail is like stepping into the breeding grounds for mosquitos. This is a looped trail along the marshes where you can catch smaller wildlife if you are quiet enough. The trail is unpaved which is a little inconvenient when running away from mosquitos. While you may think I am joking, during the summer we literally ran and ran and ran because the mosquitos were relentless. If you don't come prepared with bug spray (the way we did), thankfully the town of Banff has pharmacies and stores that have them for sale. We started this trail three times. The first time we realized we didn’t have bug spray on (thus the bug spray break in the Banff town centre). The second time we had bug spray on but we forgot the can in the car (we didn't think the mosquitos would be so persistent). The third and last time we sucked it up and ran through the trail. Data collecting on this trail was much harder. We tried to take pictures throughout the trail but they ended up blurry because as Kaylee was taking the picture the rest of us were swatting the mosquitos around her. This trail is right next to the 'BANFF' sign, so make sure take a photo there too!