Hiking Trails and Trips

Mount Lady MacDonald is one of the most popular trails in the Canmore area. Despite its popularity, very few of the hikers you'll see on the trail will summit the mountain. I had passed the trip over for years after reading a lot of reviews describing the trail as a boring slog uphill and those descriptions were fairly accurate with the exception of the final scramble along the summit ridge if you...

Door Jam Mountain and Loder Peak are two quick and easy summits that can be ticked off without only a couple hours effort. Jura Creek is a popular easy summer hike that's popular with kids on hot days because of the opportunities to splash around in pools of cold mountain water. Summiting both peaks and descending via Jura Creek is a popular loop in the front ranges. I read a description of how...

Heart Mountain is an easily scrambled route just off the TransCanada Highway. It's a short drive from Calgary and just across the valley from Exshaw. It's named for a heart shapes formation visible when viewed from the highway. It was getting late in a season with rapidly deterioration  weather so we were looking for something quick and easy in the front range. I also wanted to give my new boots one more chance at being...

Bow Peak is a relatively easy summit that yields great views of the Icefields Parkway and distant views of faraway peaks on a clear day. Despite the rewards, it is not a popular trail likely due to the difficulty finding the start and river crossing early into the hike. Park on a gravel pullout 0.9km southeast of the Crowfoot Glacier viewpoint along the highway. We approached from the southeast so we drove to...

The Rundle Massive dominates the skyline and separates Canmore and Banff. The true summit may take you to a higher elevation but only through much greater effort with no more reward. The East End of Rundle grants you a significant summit that can be attained fairly easily and rewards you with spectacular views almost the entire way up. There is a large official parking lot at the Goat Creek trailhead but we were able to...

The Fortress is an intimidating summit when viewed from Highway 40 in Kananaskis. From the east it's nothing but huge vertical rock faces. Fortunately you can pretty much walk right up the backside with only one section of easy scrambling right at the end. We only planned to hike to the Headwall Lakes that day and had no intention of climbing The Fortress. The terrain is just so appealing that it continually drew...

Chester Lake is a very popular hike in Kananaskis off the Smith Dorrien Trail. It yields amazing scenery with very little effort. Park in the Chester Lake trailhead parking lot. It is a huge parking lot that is well marked and easy to find. It's opposite the Burstall Pass trailhead. You can follow the Smith Dorrien Trail from Canmore if you like but it's a dusty bumpy road that can be slow going...

Mount Indefatigable is nestled between the Kananaskis Lakes and the summit offers great views of both lakes along with towards Three Isle Lake and South Kananaskis pass to the West and the steep valley holding hidden lake and a distant Fossil Falls.Mount Indefatigable and its neighbor Mount Invincible were named for warships destroyed by the German navy in the battle of Jutland in 1916. You cannot spend any time in the Kananaskis Lakes...