Larch Valley, Valley of Ten Peaks Trail, Banff NP, CA

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Larch Valley is a high subalpine basin above Moraine Lake in Banff National Park, Alberta, reached by a popular trail that climbs switchbacks through spruce and fir forest before opening into meadows dotted with alpall larch trees. Below the jagged skyline of the Valley of the Ten Peaks, the valley offers sweeping views back toward the summits that ring Moraine Lake, and the trail continues upward past small tarns to Sentinel Pass, one of the highest maintained trail points in the Canadian Rockies. The valley is famous for its subalpine larch, an unusual conifer that sheds its needles each year. In late September the soft green needles turn brilliant gold, and for a few short weeks the slopes glow against the dark rock and early snow of the surrounding peaks. This seasonal display draws large crowds, and Parks Canada often places group-access restrictions on the trail because grizzly bears frequent the area. Access to Moraine Lake has also been restricted to shuttles and buses in recent years. The Ten Peaks themselves are an iconic part of Canadian landscape history, as the view of Moraine Lake beneath them once appeared on the back of the Canadian twenty-dollar bill. Walking among the golden larches with cold mountain air and the quiet of the high meadows is regarded by many as one of the quintessential autumn experiences in the Rockies.