At the foot of Cascade Mountain lies the remains of one of the key economic engines that spurred the development of Banff National Park. The Bankhead ghost town was once the thriving coal mining community of Bankhead, Alberta. Now the remnants of the abandoned coal mine sit quietly amid one of the most beautiful locations in Canada.
A meadow in Lower Bankhead ghost town which once held a thriving coal mining operation
Near the town of Banff, and just an 80-minute drive from Calgary, Alberta sits the picturesque Lake Minnewanka, accessed by a looping road from the TransCanada Highway. Along the Lake Minnewanka Loop road is a 1.1-kilometre interpretative loop walk through Lower Bankhead, at the foot of the magnificent Cascade Mountain.
Bankhead map
On this interpretive trail, one is transported back over one hundred years in the past to the thriving Bankhead coal mine and town.
Cycling the Minnewanka Loop
For multiple centuries, First Nations people camped, gathered, and hunted along the original shores of Lake Minnewanka, just upstream, along the Cascade River from what became Lower Bankhead.
The Stoney Nakoda people named the lake “Minn-waki” meaning Lake of the Spirits, as they believed spirits resided in the lake which would suddenly blow mercilessly across the lake.
Lake Minnewanka
Table of Contents
Geological History of Bankhead Alberta
The Bankhead coal seams formed from ancient tropical marshlands, dating some 150 to 140 million years ago in the late Jurassic – early Cretaceous geologic periods.
After cooking and pressuring deep in the earth’s crust for tens of millions of years, these coal seams folded and thrust up along the Rundle Thrust Fault some 75 million years ago.
Rundle Thrust Fault
Bankhead Banff History
In response to the demands for coal from the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) and the desire to control their own supply, the Pacific Coal Company’s (a subsidiary of the CPR) geologists discovered the coal seams around the Bankhead area in 1902.
The establishment of the Bankhead coal mine and town in 1903, provided coal for the trains’ locomotives and for heating train cars and stations.
The strategy for removing the coal was counter to most coal mines in the world. Instead of starting from the top and digging down, the Bankhead mine started at the base of Cascade Mountain moving upward.
This way, gravity would assist in removing the coal from the mine instead of working against it. Several coal seams were mined, being accessed from three different levels: A, B, and C.
Viewing Lake Minnewanka from a slack heap (coal pile) on C Level Cirque trail, above the Bankhead ghost town
Bankhead’s Prosperous Days
By 1905, Bankhead had grown to some 1000 people and included a hotel (and boarding house), shops, a church, a pool hall, police barracks, a restaurant, a school, several saloons, a community hall and about 100 residential homes.
Most of these homes boasted electricity and running water. The bustling town of Bankhead was larger and more active than the tourist town of Banff, just a few kilometres away. Being a company town however, all buildings were owned by the Pacific Coal Company which were rented out to the residents.
It wasn’t your typical mining town. Surrounded by amazing mountain scenery in the middle of the Rocky Mountains Park of Canada (now Banff National Park), summer activities included tennis, baseball, soccer, trout fishing on Lake Minnewanka, hiking, and carriage trips into Banff.
Winter activities included curling, hockey, back country skiing, tobogganing down Boarding House Hill (see map below), skating on the Vermillion Lakes, and sleigh rides to Banff town.
Current Lower and Upper Bankhead layout with historical overlay
At the Bankhead mine’s peak in 1911, 480 men worked the mine (300 underground and 180 on surface), excavating 500 thousand tons of coal that year from the foot of Cascade Mountain.
Initially and for several years, demand was high for the coal which fueled trains, hotel boilers, and heated residential homes.
Bankhead Headwinds
The folding, faulting, and high angled nature of the rock layers in the area created a challenge for miners. A complicated network of 300 kilometres of tunnels and ventilation shafts were needed.
As well, the high angle of these coal seams required the mining activity to work its way up the side of Cascade Mountain. All this added pressure on the operating costs. In addition, 15 miners lost their lives over the 20-year lifespan of the Bankhead mine.
Abandoned coal mine vent shaft -upper Bankhead ghost town
Serving two purposes, the Bankhead coal supplied fuel for the CPR trains and railway stations, and briquettes for heating fuel.
Due to the very brittle nature of the Bankhead coal, blending of tar oil pitch from Pennsylvania, allowed for the making of briquettes. The fuel coal, for the train cars and hotel boilers, required blending of Bankhead coal with softer coal mined elsewhere. Both these processes put additional pressure on the financial bottom line.
For several years, the demand was high for these products resulting in a profitable enterprise. As time went on, demand for the coal diminished which of course reduced profitability.
And if that wasn’t enough, labour strife became rampant. With several walkouts occurred over fifteen years with demands for better pay and working conditions.
From Abandoned Coal Mine to Bankhead Ghost Town
The demise of the Bankhead mine and town came from these labour and economic woes, rather than exhausted coal supplies. In 1922 during yet another labour strike, the company threatened to close the mine if the workers did not end the strike.
The stubborn miners’ union refused to return to work. So the company officially announced the closing of the mine on June 15, 1922. Regardless of the union dispute, the abandoning of the Bankhead mine was set in motion.
With no industry to support the town, the population rapidly dwindled. In 1926 most of the buildings were moved to Banff and Canmore. Then in 1930 the National Parks Act prohibited any future logging or mining activities.
Crumbling foundations and walls, a few mining artifacts, and discarded coal piles known as slack heaps remain. Bankhead transformed to a ghost town.
Bankhead ghost town -Lower Bankhead boiler house ruins with Cascade Mountain above
The Ghost Town of Bankhead
All that remains of Lower Bankhead are several foundations and ruins of a few buildings. Artifacts left after the coal mine closed leave clues of Bankhead activity. Huge piles of discarded coal and interpretive signs to describe what once was. Walking the relatively short Lower Bankhead interpretive trail is a historical journey.
Coal mine train exhibit in Lower Bankhead. The original trains had up to 30 cars
Further evidence of past mining activity can be found on the C Level Cirque trail. An abandoned stone building, a few fenced-off ventilation shafts for the coal mines, and another slack heap.
Access to the Bankhead ghost town, is via a trail from the Upper Bankhead parking area. On the Bankhead map with historical overlay, look for the residential area of Upper Bankhead.
Abandoned coal mine shaft Bankhead – photo taken on C Level Cirque trail
Any abandoned or ghost towns in your area?
Check out these related posts:
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Cave and Basin Banff – Saving the Banff Springs Snail (Banff National Park)
The Rise and Fall of Glacier House at Rogers Pass (CPR)
5 Fabulous Things To Do in Banff in Summer
