Lake Minnewanka

July 15, 2020. A short, fun, walk/hike in Banff. Perfect for kids. Region: Banff National Park. Traditional territory of the Blackfoot, Ktunaxa, Stoney Nakoda, and Tsuu T’ina First Nations. Distance: 2.8 km round-trip to Stewart Canyon bridge Total ascent: 49 m Safety and Disclaimer Lake Minnewanka is right outside the Banff townsite. As a result, it is a […]

Rawson Lake

February 8, 2020. A popular all-season hike to a gorgeous lake in Kananaskis Country. Region: Kananaskis Country. Traditional territory of the Stoney, Tsuu T’ina, Ktunaxa, Michif Piyii Metis, and Blackfoot First Nations Distance: 7 km round-trip to and from the nearest part of the lake Total Ascent: 292 m Elevation of Objective: 1997 m Total time: 2h Safety and Disclaimer […]

Troll Falls & Marmot Creek Upper Falls

February 7, 2020. A trip to K-country’s most famous accessible waterfall, followed by an exploration of a new trail to the less frequently visited Upper Falls. Region: Kananaskis Country. Traditional territory of the Stoney-Nakoda, Ktunaxa, and Blackfoot First Nations. Distance: 5.4 km round-trip Total Ascent: 100 m Elevation of Objective: 1,538 m Hiking time: 1h 30m Safety and Disclaimer […]

Pocaterra Cirque

July 21, 2019. A hike with kids to a lovely but lesser-visited cirque just across the highway from one of K-country’s most heavily trafficked trails. Region: Kananaskis Country. Traditional Territory of the Stoney, Tsuu T’ina, Ktunaxa, and Blackfoot First Nations Distance: 3.67 km one-way Total Ascent: 415 m Elevation of Objective: 2435 m Hiking time: 2h 13m ascent Safety and […]

Star Creek Falls

June 9, 2019. An easy hike around a waterfall in the Crowsnest Pass. Perfect for young kids. (Updated April 30, 2021 after I confirmed the loop-route and checked out the route up the canyon) Star Creek Falls is a picturesque waterfall accessible by a short trail. There’s a satisfying loop route – which I suspected […]

Black Prince Cirque

August 21, 2018. A short hike with kids to a rocky cirque in Kananaskis Country. With summer holidays approaching their conclusion, the family and I have once again had a chance to spend a few days in K-country. Looking over our hiking options, it struck me that over the preceding years we’d hit most of […]

Carbondale Hill

March 17, 2018. A rewarding snowshoe trip up to a fire lookout in the Castle Wilderness. (see November 2019 update below for a shoulder-season report, and the May 2020 update for a summer hike with kids report) Distance: 9 km round-trip (winter distance due to road closure) Total Ascent: 496 m Elevation of Objective: 1798 m Total […]

Goat Lake

July 17, 2017. A moderately challenging hike featuring an exciting traverse leading to a lake in a hanging valley. Region: Waterton Lakes National Park. Traditional Territory of the Tsuu T’ina, Ktunaxa, and Blackfoot First Nations Distance: 14.3 km round-trip Elevation Gain: 520 m Elevation of Objective: 2017 m Total time: 4h 55m I’d been promising my 9-year-old daughter that we […]

Hiking with kids

July 9, 2017. Today was day 2 of a short family hiking vacation. We did this last year with our kids, doing one short hike a day. Last year we hiked Rawson Lake, Ptarmigan Cirque, Grassi Lakes and Elbow Lake. This year we only have 3 days but the intent is the same: short, fun […]

Ptarmigan Cirque

July 8, 2017. This was a family outing with kids, aged between 5 and 11. Ptarmigan Cirque is definitely in my top 3 in terms of best hikes to do with kids (Grassi Lakes and Bear’s Hump would be the other 2 on that list). There’s a bare minimum of uphill slog followed by amazing […]