Details
Features
About this place
Distance: 14 km round trip (8.7 miles). Elevation gain: 1000 m (3,280ft). The route is well marked and amazingly quiet. Easy access with incredible views.
The start to this hike is located about 45 minutes west of Calgary and about the same East of Banff. Off the Trans Canada Highway take the highway 40 exit into Kananaskis and continue until you reach the Wasootch Creek area. There is ample parking, however during spring and summer months it can be quite busy with rock climbers.
From the parking lot the trail head is located just in the trees on the east side of the parking. The trail begins instantly with some pretty steep hiking through pine forests. The trail eventually mellows out but there is still elevation gain as some is lost due to the roller coster profile of the ridge. This is a board ridge so over all it is pretty mellow hiking - nothing that is scary.
Once you reach a high point, the view of Kananaskis opens up and never gets old as you continuing along the ridge. At about the 7km mark you reach the Wasootch Ridge Cairn. This is where most people turn back, however this is not the true summit of Wasootch ridge. You can see the actual summit in the distance from this location. To reach the true summit will require some hands on scrambling by either tackling the true ridge or dropping down and skirting below the ridge.