Spruce Bluff Cabin.
Fairly recently a biker was fined $300 for riding up the Flat Creek Road. The problem is that the well road runs through a kilometre of Don Depaoli’s land, and idiot hunters have been shooting at his cattle.
Last year Don and myself exchanged a number of emails, trying to come to some satisfactory arrangement for access. So this is what I wrote for the future Kananaskis Country Trail Guide Vol. 5 covering the Highwood.
“The situation right now is that you can hike or bike the locked Norcen well road with permission from Don Depaoli at the Buffalo Head Ranch which is the ranch to the east of the gate. The road goes through a kilometre of his land and in an effort to stop lawless hunters from shooting his cattle, permission will only be given between the months of January through to the end of August. He would prefer you write to Buffalo Head Ranch, (Box 96, Longview AB T0L 1H0 and give your email address), or you can try phoning 403 558 2345 or calling in at the ranch.”
However, only a percentage of users read guidebooks, the rest relying on information, correct or not, gleaned from social media. So let’s hope they read this!
The remote North Fork of Flat Creek. Junction Mountain on right.
Access to Flat Creek from the east via ranch roads is no longer viable as landowners are posting signs and locking gates, probably due to increasing numbers of people and concerns about rural crime.
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Hi Alan,
Unfortunately, Don doesn’t want to give out his email address despite this being the best way to contact him. Call in at the ranch or try phoning.
Just wondering about current bike viability on the Flat Creek trail above the Norcen bridge crossing, with objective of doing Patterson’s Peak & possibly the gypsum mine trail too if time permits. I would be using a hard tail/commuter frame with a regular 2.25×29″ back wheel and a 4×26″ fat tire/135 mm O.L.D. fork assembly on the front.
I have written to Mr Don DiPaoli on May 24 and hope to hear from him soon regarding July or August access. Does he mind first-contact telephone calls or ranch drop in visits as suggested by your comments above? I didn’t ask in my letter to him.
Thanks for any input from any sources.
Sorry, Sonny I know nothing about it.
Gill
I imagine the same goes for Township Road 182 (Emerald Lake Road) further to the north. Gill, do you have any info regarding access on this road? I’ve read elsewhere that it is also off-limits to the public.