Banff National Park is almost 6,700 square kilometres in size.
Yet most visitors shuffle around a few crowded city blocks along Banff Avenue or line up with the selfie-taking hordes at Moraine Lake, Lake Louise and poor old Johnston Canyon.
Once a quiet and lovely hike along cascading waterfalls and crystal clear pools, Johnston Canyon, southeast of Castle Junction on Highway 1A, is under siege.
Slammed on Social Media
A video recently posted by @chansadventures on TikTok shows crowds shoulder-to-shoulder on the Johnston Canyon trail. The caption reads, “First and last time ill [sic] be visiting Johnston Canyon.”
The post sparked online commentary about how one of the national park’s most beloved destinations is getting loved to death.
Johnston Canyon is even busy in the off-season these days. One visitor from Belgium noted on Tripadvisor that their visit to March was beautiful, but brainless tourists were ruining it.
“… most of the tourists that go there just don’t respect the place: they throw their garbage everywhere, they break small trees, they talk really loudly…,” wrote 901lucienp.
He gave it a generous 3-star review.
Ever since the not-so-secret “secret cave” in Johnston Canyon became an Instagram sensation, Parks Canada has had to carefully manage crowds and start handing out fines to people who venture off-trail.
The Black Swifts Suffer
It’s about more than just crowd control to keep tourists happy; it’s also a wildlife conservation issue.
Johnston Canyon is an essential place for endangered black swifts, an insect-eating migratory bird.
This unique bird lives a mysterious life, nesting on cliffs, behind or near waterfalls, and surviving entirely on insects using their spectacular flying abilities to hunt their airborne prey.
Each nesting pair lays a single egg each year. The male and female forage for various flying insects, from wasps and caddisflies to spiders and flying ants, leaving their chick alone in the nest for 12 hours at a time.
The chick spends a long time in the nest, up to seven weeks, before their first flight.
Once the parents have fledged their offspring in the fall, they begin an epic migration to their Brazilian overwintering grounds.
Black swifts live long, up to 16 years. Many of them return to the same nest season after season, adding twigs, bits of moss, and splotches of mud, the way a lovestruck couple might patiently renovate a modest dream home.
Johnston Canyon is remarkable for another reason.
It was the first confirmed black swift nesting site found in North America in 1919.
That’s why Parks Canada officials are mainly concerned with overcrowding in Johnston Canyon.
Visitors should be as well.
Johnston Canyon may be beautiful, but give the black swift a break. Johnston Canyon isn’t the only gem in Banff National Park. If you must go, travel lightly, stay on the trail, and be considerate of other visitors–you don’t want to end up being a viral moment for your bad behaviour!
