Hiking Trails

[aem123]

Any suggestions for hiking trails near Calgary? Anywhere from 2 km to 20 km long or even longer maybe. Either easy or moderate difficulty. Looking for trails through wooded areas. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Torture]

I heard there's one or two in Kananaskis and Banff.

Anything specific you're looking for? There's about a million of em out there.

[aem123]

Yeah, I know there's tons of trails. I am going to spend about 6 days hiking in about 10 days from now, just day hikes. I know I can do 15 K on an easy trail so initially I want to test myself on a 10 or 15 K moderate trail. After this I just want to adjust accordingly with either longer or shorter easy or moderate trails depending on how well I am doing. I am also going with a friend and were both new to hiking so I have to see how he holds up as well. Just looking for a few ideas and the closer to Calgary the better.

[GGG]

So if you want to test your friends interest an ability I recommend Prairie Mountain. It is a 3.5k one way with 700m of elevation gain through the forest up a mountain and then onto a nice ridge. If your friend can do that and enjoy it then you can pretty much do whatever day hike (NOT SCRAMBLES).

This trail isn’t the longest, it’s all uphill and you can always turn around. It’s 30 min outside Calgary.

After that you need to decide if you are willing to drive 2-3 hrs which brings in all of Banff, Waterton and Kanamaskis into play or if you want to stay closer on less dramatic hikes.

This website is pretty good for listing most of the interesting hikes so if a few catch your eye in terms of distance and elevation ask about them and people can provide feed back

https://www.10adventures.com/hikes/banff-national-park/

[Nammer403]

We did jumping pond Creek this past weekend and it was easy-moderate. I think round trip was close to 6KM. Go early though.


Hardest I've done so far was Nihahi Ridge and that was a challenge with a scramble.

[RichieRich]

Look up the AllTrails App. It’s great for filtering and seeing feedback.

Also the book “An opinionated guide to hiking in the Rockies” is quite good.
Don’t bite off more than you can handle either. Don’t get over confident. Be Prepared when out there because yes blizzards happen in July.

Btw - Valley of the 10 Peaks is phenomenal.

[DoubleF]

Anyone ever been to Glenbow ranch provincial park? How do those trails rank?

For op, nose hill has some surprisingly nice jaunts available. Some through small wooded areas, valleys, plateaus etc. Great as warm ups and trying to introduce people to hiking.

[Red Slinger]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Anyone ever been to Glenbow ranch provincial park? How do those trails rank?

For op, nose hill has some surprisingly nice jaunts available. Some through small wooded areas, valleys, plateaus etc. Great as warm ups and trying to introduce people to hiking.

Glenbow ranch is nice for a walk moreso than a hike. The trails are either paved or have gravel. If you want to spend a couple hours there's nothing wrong with it but if you're an experienced hiker you will probably be underwhelmed. It's not too different from Nose Hill in that regard, although, it does have the river.

[Wormius]

Has anybody done Glacier Crest Trail by Illecillewaet in Glacier National Park? Is the trail well-maintained up to the ridge?

[surferguy]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Has anybody done Glacier Crest Trail by Illecillewaet in Glacier National Park? Is the trail well-maintained up to the ridge?

Stopped into the campground on Wednesday. Didn’t hike so I have no info but it was pretty Smokey out there.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by surferguy

Stopped into the campground on Wednesday. Didn’t hike so I have no info but it was pretty Smokey out there.

I always liked the view when we drove by there but didn’t know there were trails and a campground. It looks gorgeous, at least during non-smokey times.

[Deegee]

Galatea and Ribbon falls are easily two of my favorite hikes in the area. They present some challenge, but not overly difficult. Galatea is more challenging IMO.

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/cana...tea-lakes-hike
Check trail warnings, conditions, etc before you go: https://www.albertaparks.ca/parks/ka...galatea-creek/

https://www.alltrails.com/trail/cana...on-creek-trail - You can stop before going to the lake. That's plenty for a day hike.
Check trail warnings, conditions, etc before you go: https://www.albertaparks.ca/parks/ka...-creek-summer/

All Trails is great, but it's a wikipedia in that user data drives it, so can't rely on it for bear warnings or closures, etc. Obviously don't forget the bear spray. Have fun!

[Mull]

OP I firmly believe every Albertan must do Sentinel Pass once in their life. The most bang for your buck hike you will get.

If you're in good shape and want an adventure a few people die on (usually in Sept though or early season), go up Temple as well, but Sentinel by its self is kick ass

Con- kind of far for "near Calgary" you have to park at Moraine lake and I have no idea what time that lot fills up these days, 5:30? Is the bus running now?

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I always liked the view when we drove by there but didn’t know there were trails and a campground. It looks gorgeous, at least during non-smokey times.

Stopped by there today, but the smoke was really next-level bad. I think they need something besides 10+ for air quality.

[djsFlames]

The under 10km "staple" hikes within 1h15 that you can't go wrong with if you're just starting out:

Easy:
Grassi Lakes
Grotto Canyon
Troll/Marmot Falls
Heart Creek
Elbow Lake

Moderate:
Prairie Mountain
Ha Ling
West Wind Pass
Little Lougheed
Yamnuska (half circuit)
Rawson Lake

Knocking off this list is good warm up for longer/less travelled/more extensive hikes.

[MoneyGuy]

Looking for something near Canmore similar to Grassi Lakes which we did last time. A nice lake would be great. Something easy as well have a six-year-old with us. Not in Kananaskis preferred.

[djsFlames]

Sadly there are no other easy lakes in the vicinity of Canmore besides Grassi. Unless you just do the brisk walk up to Gully Lake or drive up to Spray Lakes and walk around.

There is Goat Pond which starts at the top of Grassi from the same parking lot as Ha Ling. I haven't been to it, but it appears to be an easy hike from what I read.

Aside from that, Canmore is mainly good for its river pathways (the boardwalk path from downtown canmore is actually a really nice walk), and mountain tops (Ha Ling, Rundle, Lady MacDonald, Three Sisters)

[Mull]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

Aside from that, Canmore is mainly good for its river pathways (the boardwalk path from downtown canmore is actually a really nice walk), and mountain tops (Ha Ling, Rundle, Lady MacDonald, Three Sisters)

ahhh if you're going to do that, just jump straight to the Canmore Quad...



Honestly, though, if you haven't heard of this, google it, you won't be disappointed. A Ultra marathon with 4 mountain peaks and a massive valley in-between

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by djsFlames

The under 10km "staple" hikes within 1h15 that you can't go wrong with if you're just starting out:

Easy:
Grassi Lakes
Grotto Canyon
Troll/Marmot Falls
Heart Creek
Elbow Lake

Moderate:
Prairie Mountain
Ha Ling
West Wind Pass
Little Lougheed
Yamnuska (half circuit)
Rawson Lake

Knocking off this list is good warm up for longer/less travelled/more extensive hikes.

We like Moose Mtn and the Barrier Lake Fire-Lookout. Not sure if those fit the 10km guideline, but I think Moose is a little more enjoyable than Prairie Mtn, unless you’re just looking to get in shape.

[djsFlames]

Barrier is a good one yeah. I think it might fit the criteria.

Actually haven't done Moose! But heard good things. Will make a point of knocking that one off before the seasons out.