Wonder Pass Trail
Wonder Pass Trail is a multi-day hiking route in Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park that runs as a link between the Assiniboine Lodge area and the Mount Shark trailhead area. The route crosses the Alberta–British Columbia border at Wonder Pass and uses trail corridors through larch forests and alpine meadows before spending time in subalpine terrain as it drops toward Marvel Lake.
The typical approach through the Mount Assiniboine side involves hiking from the Assiniboine Lodge area past the Naiset Huts and along Gog Creek to Gog Lake, then climbing through larch forest and open meadows filled with wildflowers to Wonder Pass. After reaching the pass, the trail continues into Banff National Park terrain, then heads downhill toward Marvel Lake via a long run of switchbacks.
A key mid-route feature is Wonder Peak’s southern flanks: the trail traverses large avalanche slopes before it re-enters the forest near the east end of Marvel Lake. From there, the route continues along the main trail and connects onward toward the Marvel Lake Campground area, then proceeds toward Bryant Creek and beyond.
Marvel Lake is followed from above for stretches, and the route includes a Bryant Creek bridge at the Marvel Lake Campground approach before continuing through junctions past overnight-use areas such as McBride’s Campground BR14 and the Bryant Creek Shelter. The later portion continues through campground/junction country including connections associated with Marvel Lake Campground BR13 and Owl Lake Junction and then returns to the Mount Shark trailhead side via the Bryant Creek/Warden’s Cabin area.
On this route, the overall effort is commonly framed as moderate to challenging. One common planning profile for the Assiniboine Lodge to Mount Shark run is about 26.1 km one-way with roughly 1,000 m of elevation gain overall; trips are usually spread over 2 to 4 days when backpacking.
Camping inside Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park requires appropriate backcountry permits. If you’re accessing via the Bryant Creek access route from the Mount Shark side, permits are also required for overnights on that access route.