Bens Hill, east of Prairie Mountain and only 1000 feet lower with an open summit and a stone circle on top, is an ideal winter walking destination. The area is laced with bike trails, both Downhill Speciific and multi use, built by the MMBTS (Moose Mountain Bike Trail Society), that are well on their way to being government approved.

Recent changes that affect both summer and winter use start from Hidden trail which leaves the Ribbon Creek parking lot behind the kiosk. Before you go take a gander at the up-to-date map displayed at the trailhead.

Highwood Pass is a popular venue for larch viewing. While there are a few larches at the pass for the driving tourist, the nearby cirques — Pocaterra and Arethusa — contain one of the highest concentrations of larches in Kananaskis Country. We headed out to photograph the larches in Pocaterra Cirque and climb Pocaterra Ridge.

There is a new approach to the two routes up Holy Cross Mountain that is much better than the approach in Volume 5 of the Kananaskis Country Trail Guide and in More Scrambles. A good trail is developing that leaves the Gunnery Passs trail shortly before the pass.

Recently we stumbled upon what is possibly a memorial on the east end of Mount Quirk ridge just below a bulldozed fire break. There was a post off in the middle of the bush nowhere near a trail with two names and a date carved on it.

The High Rockies Trail heads south from Goat Creek above Canmore to Elk Pass at the BC border. The newly constructed section from Goat Creek to Pocaterra Dam was built as a multi-use trail for hiking, mountain biking and snowshoeing. South of Three Sisters Dam it is mostly a narrow, winding trail through mossy forest and old burns with increasingly better views as you head south.

This is a question that many hikers using GPS devices ask when they obtain summit heights that are different from information online. Gérard Lachapelle, Professor Emeritus, Department of Geomatics Engineering, University of Calgary is trying to get some answers. Thank you Gérard for the following blog.

There is a new section of trail in Wind Valley that gives easy access to the Wind Ridge trail. It has 4 new bridges if you count the replacement of the 2015 bridge over Pigeon Creek that was recently demolished by a falling tree.

Running parallel to the much longer and more popular Wasootch Ridge to the north, Porcupine Ridge is a short scramble ridge with one amazing viewpoint. Apart from the couple of scramble steps, there’s a trail  all the way.

The upgrading of a number of day-use area in Kananaskis Country by Alberta Parks will make parking difficult for trail users until the end of June. Here is an overview of the construction projects that are under way and their anticipated completion dates.

While appearing similar to the previous site, there are some significant differences. Improvements we hope. The new site is slightly wider to allow for the larger righthand sidebar, and the sidebars now appear either side of the blog. The main differences and additions are:

The Great (Trans Canada) Trail in Kananaskis Country now has a paddling section. The trail from Stewart Creek Interchange to Dead Man’s Flats is now shown on the Great Trail map as a 6.5 km Water Trail from Bow River Campground to Three Sisters Campground. Unfortunately, whoever dreamed up this idea didn’t consider the practicalities.

There’s lots of snow on the High Rockies Trail and conditions along the Smith Dorrian section are excellent. I took a quick snowshoe up to the suspension bridge yesterday to see how it looks near the end of a heavy snowfall season. There is enough snow on it to reduce the effective height of the handrail and it has been closed. 

Starting this month, Alberta Parks will be working on the much-needed upgrade and re-route of the Ha Ling Peak hiking trail. As construction will require tree removal, blasting and new trail construction, Alberta Parks will implement occasional full mountain closures, and will not permit access to hiking and climbing routes on Ha Ling Peak during the closures.