Hey it's Shawn from Journey Alberta! Today
I'm going to be talking about five
different hikes that you can do in the
Calgary area that are ideal for all ages.
The first one I'll talk about is the hike
to Troll Falls. This relatively easy hike
has barely any elevation gain and is just
over a kilometer long.
It starts near the Nakiska ski area
in Kananaskis. You'll get to
experience a beautiful waterfall and
even have the option of going up to an
upper trail to see the other hidden
waterfalls on this hike should you choose
to. Make sure for the second part if
you're going up to the Hidden Falls that
you make sure that you wear proper
footwear. You should have proper footwear
in the mountains regardless but if
you're heading up to the hidden
waterfalls it's especially essential
because there are some tricky sections
of steep rocks you have to go up and a
small creek crossing so just keep that
in mind. I had heard about troll Falls
from a couple of my friends actually
through Facebook seeing their pictures
that they had posted and I saw that so I
immediately started researching this
hike seeing that you can hike up to the
hidden waterfalls and that just hooked
me after seeing the pictures and stuff
and realizing that it's not a very hard
hike at all. It's very very flat almost
all the way there
The second hike is the Tiger Lily Loop
located in the Glenbow Ranch
Provincial Park. This 1.4 kilometer long
looped trail features a walk through the
trees and magnificent views of the
landscape in between Calgary and
Cochrane. The path will take you past a
pond as well and in the spring Western
Wood Lilies can be seen on this trail.
The title of this hike is a little
deceiving because there aren't actually any
Tiger Lilies. Western Wood Lilies look
very similar to Tiger Lilies so that's
why the hike was named that.
Third is the
loop trail at Big Hills Springs
Provincial Park. This Provincial Park is
already known for its vast array of
cascading waterfalls and such and this
looped trail that goes through the entire
park. The park isn't huge but this looped
trail goes through the park and takes you
past all the waterfalls then you gain a
little bit of elevation on the way back.
I'd say it's about one to two kilometers
long at best and is a great escape from
Calgary. If your content just walking
past all the waterfalls and don't want
go up to the steeper section, you don't
have to go any further you can go back
to your vehicle. The park is located 20
minutes north of Cochrane it's
definitely a great area to explore if
you live near Calgary. The first time I
went to Big Hill Springs Provincial Park
was with my wife on suggestion from my
friend Jesse because he lives out in
that area near Cochrane and he said that
Big Hill Springs of Provincial Park is a
really cool-looking area with a lot of
nice rocks and all the waterfalls so
that was the first time I went up there
was with my wife Kelsey on suggestion
for my friend Jesse.
Fourth is the
Grassi Lakes Trail located in Canmore.
It's about two kilometers long to the
lakes on the easy trail and it is also
stroller friendly so that is a huge plus
for this hike for families with small
children. You can also opt to do the
moderate trail one way and the easy
trail the other to make for a loop. The
clear watered Lakes are sure to be a
favorite sight to see and you can
usually see fish swimming around in them.
A fun fact about this hike is this is
actually the hike where I proposed to my
wife quite a few years ago before we got
married so it's it's very very scenic
and located right in Canmore so it's
very easy to access.
Lastly the short looped trail and Mt.
Lorette Ponds can make for a great day
trip. Make sure to bring some food and
supplies to have a fire as there are
fire pits and picnic tables here and
afterwards you can take a stroll around
at the ponds admire the scenery there.
It's really a special day use area
that's often overlooked because most
people when they're heading out into
Kananaskis, out that way, they're
heading further to the Peter Lougheed
Provincial Park or even further down
those kind of areas and they're
overlooking Mt. Lorette Ponds which in
my opinion is a gem in that area. How my
wife Kelsey and I discovered Mt.
Lorette Ponds is that we were heading
actually to the Lower Kananaskis Lake
to have a picnic
earlier in the season a few years ago and
when we got the lake there was four feet
of snow so we couldn't really do
anything there so we started heading
back looking at all the turnoffs, seeing
if there was a suitable place to have a
picnic and we found Mt. Lorette Ponds.
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