Banff Gondola Tickets: Prices, Hours and the Ride Up Sulphur Mountain

From 13 October 2026 the Banff Gondola runs on its autumn hours: 10 am to 9 pm every day, with the last ride up at 7:30 pm, until it shuts for annual maintenance on 17-19 November. It reopens after 19 November and runs through the winter. The free shuttle from downtown, and the free Roam rides that came with a same-day ticket, stop for the year after 12 October 2026. On the same road, the Banff Upper Hot Springs are closed for maintenance from 13 October to early November.

Eight minutes up Sulphur Mountain

The gondola starts at the end of Mountain Avenue, about 2.5 km from the centre of Banff by the operator’s count. Pursuit, which runs it as part of its Banff Jasper Collection, gives the trip as about 8 minutes on a track of roughly 1.6 km, climbing 698 m from the lower terminal at 1,583 m to the upper terminal at 2,281 m. The line was first built in 1958-59 and rebuilt in 1997-98, and its 40 cabins seat four each.

Cabins come off the track to load and unload, which Pursuit says gives everyone the time they need to board, and most manual and motorized wheelchairs fit. The operator seats parties together, so a cabin to yourself is not guaranteed. In winter the cabins are not heated.

Where tickets are sold, and how they work

Pursuit sells Banff Gondola tickets on its own website, banffjaspercollection.com, and at the base station, where its FAQ warns that the time you want may already be sold out. It also sells through booking partners, GetYourGuide among them, and the ticket on this page is Pursuit Collection’s own listing there. It covers the round trip, the Above Banff interpretive centre and theatre, the rooftop deck and the summit trails.

Every ticket is for a date and a boarding time. Pursuit says the gondola “can sell out, especially during peak season” and recommends booking ahead; book ahead or walk up? weighs the two. Its own tickets are non-refundable, and the listing here has no free cancellation, so settle your day before you pay. Hikers who walk up can buy a one-way ride down for half the regular admission, while riding up and walking down needs a full-price ticket.

This site has no affiliation with Pursuit; the tickets on this page are booked through GetYourGuide.

If you are staying in Banff and want the summit on a day and at an hour you choose, this ticket is the one to book.

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Prices

On GetYourGuide the admission was from US$54 a person, in US dollars, when we checked in October 2026, rated 4.7 from 4,900 reviews. Pursuit’s own site says its prices are subject to change at any time. Whoever you buy from, food at the summit and the national park pass cost extra, and so does parking at the base in the paid season. The price guide goes into the numbers, and is the Banff Gondola worth it? weighs them against the alternatives.

Hours through the winter

• 13 October to 16 November 2026: daily, 10 am to 9 pm, last ride up at 7:30 pm.
• 17 to 19 November 2026: closed for annual maintenance.
• From the reopening to 31 December 2026: daily, 10 am to 10 pm, last ride up at 8:30 pm.

The listing adds that the last ride down leaves 10 minutes before closing. Pursuit had not posted hours for 2027 when we checked; it says the gondola is open year-round apart from a short maintenance period each November, and that hours can change without notice. Sky Bistro, the summit’s sit-down restaurant, also closes from 4 to 15 January 2027.

On timing, Pursuit suggests early morning for quiet trails and soft light, or late afternoon, rather than the midday rush. The hours guide and the best time to visit have more. The listing also folds two seasonal programmes into the ticket: Autumn Above, with crafts and live music at the summit, until 15 November 2026, and Mountaintop Christmas from 21 November to 31 December 2026.

At the summit

The summit building has four levels, all served by an elevator. It holds the Above Banff exhibits and theatre, a 360-degree rooftop deck, Castle Mountain Coffee for grab-and-go, the Northern Lights Alpine Kitchen buffet and Sky Bistro; the listing suggests booking the restaurants ahead. Pursuit counts six mountain ranges in the view, with the Bow Valley below.

Outside, a boardwalk follows the ridge toward Sanson’s Peak and the Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station, a national historic site since 1982. It now stops at a viewpoint short of the 1903 Weather Observatory, which Parks Canada finished restoring in 2025. Pursuit calls the walk a 2 km stroll and Parks Canada a 500 m boardwalk; Pursuit counts 368 shallow stairs each way, and the boardwalk is not wheelchair accessible.

It is colder at the top. Pursuit says the summit is several degrees cooler than the base and that the weather can turn from sunshine to freezing rain or snow within an hour, so wear quick-drying layers; in winter it asks for a warm jacket, a hat, gloves or mitts and warm socks. What to expect at the Banff Gondola walks through a visit.

The park pass

The gondola ticket does not include the national park pass. Since a Superintendent’s order of 8 September 2026, any travel in Banff National Park needs one, except driving straight through on Highways 1 and 93 South. A day pass costs CA$12.25 for an adult in 2026, CA$10.75 for a senior or CA$24.50 for a family or group of up to seven in one vehicle; youth 17 and under enter free, and the pass is valid until 4 pm the day after you buy it. Free entry under the Canada Strong Pass ended on 7 September 2026, and no free period had been announced for 2027 when we checked. Passes are sold at the park gates, at visitor centres and online.

Getting there without a car

From 13 October the bus from downtown is Roam Route 1, Sulphur Mountain, on Roam’s fall and winter timetable; Pursuit says the route serves the gondola all year. A single adult fare was CA$2 in Roam’s 2026 table, and Roam says a new fare system arrives in November. A taxi is the other option.

If you drive, Parks Canada charges CA$17.50 a vehicle a day in its two lots at the base from 15 May to 12 October 2026, and the listing calls parking there very limited. Accessible parking is within 30 m of the entrance. Coming from Calgary, 128 km away by the Town of Banff’s figure, there is no passenger train; the Calgary to Banff guide covers the coaches, and the Banff page covers the rest of the town.

The gondola or the trail

The Sulphur Mountain Trail leaves from the Upper Hot Springs parking lot. Parks Canada gives it as 4.8 km to the top of the gondola on its summer hiking page and 5.5 km on its winter walking page, with 655 m of climb, about 4 hours for the round trip, and a 0.5 km side trip on to Sanson Peak. It switchbacks steadily uphill over roots and rocks. In winter Parks Canada strongly recommends ice cleats when the trail is icy, and warns of avalanche terrain beside it.

You can also walk up and buy the half-price ride down. The gondola or the hike sets the two side by side, and Banff Gondola vs Lake Louise Gondola covers the other big lift in the park, the Lake Louise Summer Gondola, which ran from 5 June to mid-October in 2026.

Day tours that stop at the gondola

Four day tours on GetYourGuide include time at the gondola. None of them includes the gondola ticket itself.

Banff ToDo’s gondola and Lake Louise day (from US$77, 4.7 from 218 reviews) picks up at set points in Calgary, Canmore and Banff and spends 80 minutes at the gondola or the hot springs, with the operator contacting you to buy the ticket. Bow Falls, Surprise Corner, lunch on Banff Avenue and 50 minutes at Lake Louise follow. Moraine Lake is on the day only from 1 June to 12 October; from 13 October the listing goes to Lake Minnewanka instead, and it does not say whether the park pass is included.

Banff & Jasper Travels’ gondola and three lakes tour (from US$50, 4.4 from 236) includes the park pass and gives 1.5 hours at the gondola, then Bow Falls, Banff, Lake Minnewanka, Two Jack Lake, Johnson Lake and Surprise Corner. Its listing names gondola closures on 29-31 October and 4-15 November that Pursuit’s hours page does not show, so check with the operator before booking those dates.

Rockies Journey Inc.’s Emerald Lake, Lake Louise and Banff day (from US$63, 4.9 from 103) runs 10 hours with the park pass included: Emerald Lake and the Natural Bridge in Yoho, then Lake Louise, then an hour in Banff town or on the gondola, whose ticket you buy through the operator in advance. Its winter stop is Johnston Canyon, where Parks Canada closes the trail to the falls from 13 October 2026 for rock-slope work, with no reopening date; the listing does not say what replaces it.

Banff Tour and Travels Limited’s gondola and hot springs day (from US$47, 4.6 from 37) collects at Delta Hotels Calgary Downtown, 2801 Bow Valley Trail in Canmore and the Banff Caribou Lodge & Spa, includes the park pass, and asks you to book a gondola slot between 10:30 and 11:00 am. It allows 1.5 hours at the gondola and an hour at the hot springs, which are closed from 13 October to early November. Its title names Lake Louise, but its itinerary has no stop there.