Peak Finder

Photo: Looking west to Saddle Mountain from the Bow Valley Parkway

Saddle Mountain (Bow)

  • 2433 m (7,983ft)
  • Naming History
  • Hiking and Trails
51.3931N -116.209W
Located in the Bow River Valley between Fairview Mountain and Paradise Creek

Province: Alberta
Park: Banff
Headwater: Bow
Major Valley: Bow
Visible from Highway: 1, 93N
Year Named: 1894
Named by: Samuel E.S. Allen
Named for: The saddle-shape of this peak inspired the earliest travellers in the area to name the feature in 1894. The mountain even features a stirrup shaped pattern of snow which lasts into the early summer.
Popular Hike: Lakes Louise/Moraine/O'Hara

One of three peaks in the southern Rockies named Saddle, this small mountain lies above Lake Louise townsite. Its "saddle-shape inspired the earliest travellers in the area to name it in 1894. Another good reason for the name is the fact that a "stirrup" shaped patch of snow appears on the mountain side (as viewed from Lake Louse townsite) each spring. Lawrence Burpee, whose book "Among the Canadian Alps" was written in 1914, wrote, "One of the finest views of the valley [Paradise Valley] with Lake Annette and the gigantic guardian peaks that tower above, Temple, Aberdeen, Sheol...can be obtained from Saddle Mountain, reached by an easy trail. One does not readily forget the exquisite view that rewards the climber as he reaches the summit of the Saddle and stands on the edge of a thousand-foot precipice that drops sheer to the valley, and yet seems insignificant when the eye goes up and up to the glittering peak of Temple Mountain soaring thousands of feet above. The very contrast of the frowning walls that shut it in on every side lends an additional charm to the fairy-land that lies at their feet, a perfect picture of green meadows, blue lake, and silvery streams, most appropriately named Paradise Valley." The Saddleback is the name given to a high pass between Saddle Mountain and Fairview Mountain. J. Monroe Thorington wrote, "Pleasant it is to while away an hour on the nearby ridge of Saddle Mountain; it is only a short scramble (from "The Saddleback") up the bouldered crest to the edge of a tremendous precipice above the valley called Paradise...Almost below is the winding stream that comes from the melting ice of Horsehoe Glacier; and, across the valley, tiny Lake Annette nestling like a blue jewel below Mount Temple. A second Saddle Mountain is part of the Livingstone Range west of Nanton and Saddle Peak is located in the Ghost River Valley. It was named because someone abandoned a saddle below the mountain. Some years later the saddle was found and the mountain named.

Photo: Saddle Mountain with its "stirrup" from Lake Louise townsite

Looking southeast to Saddle Mountain with Mount Temple beyond

Looking southwest from Lake Louise Village to (l-r) Saddle Mountain, Sheol Mountain, Haddo Peak, and Fairview Mountain

Looking east-southeast to Saddle Mountain from Fairview Mountain