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Sports: Kananaskis Trails

Here are some of the more popular trails, used for hiking or cross-country skiing, in the Kananaskis area. Special notes for cross-country skiiers are in italics.

West Bragg Creek

There are two areas, at Bragg Creek Provincial Park, and by Elbow Falls that have about 45 kilometres of easy to intermediate trails in the rolling foothills. There are several trails here with varying difficulty: Big Elbow, Little Elbow, Bow Falls and Mount Romulus. These are very accessible to the city, and are well-groomed, but are susceptible to Chinook wind conditions.

Barrier Lake

The popular trails here are: Barrier Lake to Highway 1, Baldy Pass (from Stony Creek to Wasotch Creek)

Kananaskis Village

The "Ribbon Creek" area, just north of Kananaskis Village, has 55 kilometres of easy to intermediate trails. Ribbon Creek to Ribbon lake, Lillian Lake, along the Kananaskis River to Wedge Pond, up Eau Claire Creek. The trails are groomed and trackset weekly. Watch for icy conditions if the weather warms up.

Peter Lougheed Park

The 90 kilometres of trails in this park cover the full range of levels, and include the very challenging climb on the Lookout Trail. Kananaskis Lakes have plenty of routes along the lakeshore, plus trails to Turbine Canyon, or Three Isle Lake. The snow conditions are best November to March, but because of the wildlife, no dogs are allowed.

Mount Shark Area

At the south end of the Spray Lakes Reservoir, and most-accessible from Canmore, this area has 20 kilometres of trails in the intermediate to difficult range. Trails are only sporadically maintained and user-trackset, and usually not busy, except when a competition is held.

Smith-Dorrien

There are plenty of trails along the road and creek especially near Burstall Pass and Chester Lake. A short hike is beside the Black Prince picnic area. These are intermediate-level rustic trails that are sporadically groomed and mostly user-trackset. The terrain is up and down the whole way, with good deep powder. You will see snowshoers along the way.

Sandy McNabb Area

This foothills area, just west of Turner Valley has 37 kilometres of most easy to intermediate trails. They are fairly isolated, so you can have them to yourself. They are reasonably well groomed and trackset, but they are subject to Chinook wind conditions.