Family Walks and Hikes in

Prairie View Trail, page 27, Moose and Crux the dogs at the crux! Scrambling down this section is tougher than going up (Courtesy Matthew Hobbs).

Personally, I cannot think of many better ways to bond as a family than to hike as a family. The physical, mental and emotional benefits of hiking are undeniable, and who better to share and reap those benefits with than the ones you love and cherish the most?

Families living near the Canadian Rockies are fortunate to be close to some of the best hiking routes the planet has to offer. This book describes some of the more popular trips in the Canadian Rockies that are appropriate for kids of all ages. Grab the kids, get in the car and enjoy!

Hiking with young people has unique challenges. How do you pick the most appropriate trails for your family (see How the trails were chosen, below)? How do you balance long driving times with fidgety bodies? And how do you keep the kids motivated and moving once you are on the trail? Following are some tips that will help make your family hiking experience more enjoyable:

•Candy – while hiking, a treat every 10 to 15 minutes can provide the motivation kids need to keep moving.

•Bring the bikes and striders whenever possible. Kids love to bike – it’s no secret!

•Learn some hiking games for kids: I Spy, scavenger hunts, Follow the Leader (with everyone taking turns as leader), Red Light – Green Light (adult controls stopping and starting of the group), “I went to Alaska with Allan and took apricots…” (place, name, food item, then onto the next letter: I went to Banff with Brittany and took baked beans…), 20 Questions, songs, and so on.

•Hike with another or multiple families. In general, kids love to hike with other kids.

•The connection humans (especially kids) have with water is undeniable. Any trip that involves water (lakes, rivers, waterfalls, creeks, beaver ponds) is likely to be a hit with the young ones.

•Whenever possible, educate the kids about the local environment and wildlife, and the benefits and responsibilities of hiking in the mountains – but don’t beat them over their heads with it.

•A little bribery goes a long way. If the kids know there is an ice-cream run at the end of the hike, they are more likely to be motivated to keep going.

•Know when to push the kids and when it’s time to give in – you can always return to try again.

See the area maps on pages xix and xx. Trips in this book encompass a large area, starting at the south end of Highway 40 and reaching as far north as Bow Summit, about 40 km north of Lake Louise. All trips must be accessed by car.

Road closures are unlikely to affect family hiking, as the restrictions occur in winter and spring. However, the closures are outlined below for those adventurous families who may want to hike in seasons other than summer.

•Highway 40 from December 1 to June 15, between Kananaskis Trail and Highwood Junction.

Banff, Bragg Creek, Calgary, Canmore, Cochrane, Field (for Yoho National Park), and Lake Louise have all the amenities.

•Highway 1X (Bow Valley Provincial Park): small store at Bow Valley Campground

•Highway 40 (Kananaskis): many facilities, including an outdoor rental store in Kananaskis Village, a restaurant at Boundary Ranch and a gas station at Fortress Junction.

The best family hiking months in the Canadian Rockies are generally July, August and September. The temperature can reach the mid-30s in July and August, but it cools down quite a bit in September. Afternoon thunderstorms sometimes form during the hot months. Of course, snow can be expected in any month of the year but usually stays away in July and most of August. The different areas described in this book have slightly dissimilar hiking seasons and weather patterns:

•Bragg Creek is generally snow-free by April, but some areas are not accessible until May 15 because of the road closure. The hiking season goes well into October and even November.

•The hiking season at the north end of Highway 40 lasts from May to October. This area is often the best place to hike when the weather farther west is not ideal.

•At the south end of Highway 40, especially in the Highwood area and Kananaskis Lakes, snow can sometimes linger into July. September is often great for hiking here, with long periods of stable weather.

•Banff and Kootenay National Parks experience a July– September family hiking season that sometimes extends into October.

•Lake Louise and Highway 93 can have snow lingering well into July. An early season snowfall will usually end the hiking season here in early October. Routes in this area are also cloudier than others in this book due to their locations on or near the Continental Divide.

Hiking boots, as opposed to runners, are recommended for adults on most of the trails. However, appropriate gear may differ for young children. They are generally less susceptible to the types of ankle injuries that adults may sustain. And, of course, children outgrow their footwear on a yearly (sometimes monthly) basis. A sturdy pair of runners with good tread will suffice for most of the trips described here. Kids who are up for more advanced trips (such as Fairview Mountain and Mount St. Piran) will need hiking boots with good ankle support. Bring a rain jacket and warm clothes as the weather can change dramatically and very quickly. For those hot summer days, bring sunscreen, a hat and bug repellant.

To be safe, it is best to bring potable water from your home, hotel or campsite. Natural sources may be contaminated with Giardia lamblia, a parasite that can cause severe gastrointestinal problems. At higher elevations, it is generally safe to drink from streams without treating the water. Filtering water is also an option.

Wedge Pond, page 36, heading down to Wedge Pond in the evening, on a fall day – mornings are better for the view towards The Fortress.

Wildlife is abundant in every area described in this book. As exciting as it is for the kids to see animals in their natural habitats, it is important that all hikers try to avoid wildlife encounters. Bears, moose, deer, elk, big-horn sheep and marmots are the most common types of wildlife you may encounter, but wolves, cougars and coyotes could also present themselves. When hiking, make lots of noise to warn bears and other wildlife that you are there. Moose and elk can be aggressive in the fall, during mating season – steer well clear if you encounter them.

Of course, feeding wildlife is a strict no-no. Please discourage this tempting but very harmful behaviour.

Another form of wildlife prevalent throughout the Canadian Rockies is the tick. From March to the end of June, ticks ravenously feed on any mammal they can sink their hooks into, humans included. Check yourself and your kids very carefully after any early season hike. DEET products (for your skin) and permethrin products (for your clothes) can be used to ward off these disease-ridden creatures.

A few pointers to help ensure your family experience is a safe and fulfilling one:

•Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security because you are in a larger group. You still must make noise to warn bears and other wildlife of your presence.

•Consider using a personal locator device, such as SPOT, in case of an emergency.

•Stay on designated trails unless you are experienced and/ or familiar with the challenges of off-trail hiking/ scrambling.

•Check the weather forecast before setting out. Also, check online resources and the designated park’s visitor centre for trail conditions and trail and area closures.

Camping with the kids can be a blast, a nightmare and everything in between. It is best to inundate them with camping experiences at a young age, so they get a feel for it and learn to love it.

Many campgrounds give easy access to the hikes described in this book. A few are listed here, but check the internet for a complete listing. For example, the Bragg Creek & Kananaskis Outdoor Recreation website lists all the campgrounds in the Bragg Creek area, as well as many campgrounds in other areas such as Canmore, Highway 40 and Highwood. Some campgrounds allow you to book online, but others operate on a first-come, first-served basis.

•Highway 40, north end, and Bow Valley: Bow Valley Provincial Park (as per hike on page 60). Call 1.877.537.2757 or reserve online.

•Highway 40, south end, and Kananaskis Trail: Elbow Lake (backcountry). Call 403.678.0760 or book online.

•Banff, Kootenay, Lake Louise, Highway 93 North: Tunnel Mountain Village, Two Jack Lake, Johnston Canyon, Lake Louise, Mosquito Creek. Book online for all.

Troll Falls, page 34, Holly, Ethan, and Avarie Rosteski at the Kananaskis River, near the eagle watching area (Courtesy Nicole Lisafeld).

Choosing routes for family hiking is fraught with challenges. Driving time, trip length, elevation gain, and quality of the trail are but a few of the many factors you must consider and scrutinize when attempting to determine if a route is a good candidate for a family hike. Add to that the wide range of fitness levels and abilities of children and accompanying adults, and you end up with a process that is far from an exact science.

The routes in this book are mostly short, already-popular hiking trails. Preference has been given to routes that are varied and have multiple points of interest, which will hopefully keep the kids (and adults) engaged and motivated. As much as possible, routes with options to extend the length of the trip have been chosen, so that you can play it by ear and change the objective as you go. This also accommodates “advanced” family hikers who are used to longer and more strenuous trips. For example, if the objective is Saddleback Pass and the kids have no issues making it that far, you could extend the trip to include Saddle Mountain or Fairview Mountain.

In picking a specific trip for your family, the adults in charge usually know best. You may have a five-year-old who can hike every trail in this book without breaking a sweat or batting an eyelid. Conversely, your ten-year-old may struggle with even the easiest of trails. It is up to you to choose trips that best fit your family’s abilities. On that note, it is always best to err on the side of caution and be conservative in choosing. As much as possible, I have tried to include short and longer hikes within short driving distances of one another, giving families the option to complete multiple hikes on one day if one hike is not enough. For example, after hiking Beaver Flats Interpretive Trail, you could stop at Elbow Falls for a relaxing rest/ picnic and a very short hike; or if you arrive at Lake Louise and determine that the Lake Agnes hike may be too much for your crew, the Lake Louise shoreline hike is right there.

Parks Canada, Alberta Parks and other organizations have done an outstanding job of creating and maintaining the trails described in this book. Most of these trails are well marked and well signed. Therefore, many of the route descriptions in this book are brief, requiring very little detail. Even the routes without any signage are generally easy to follow.

Some trips in this book include optional add-ons, trips you can tack on to the main hike if you have the time and energy. Look for these Going Farther sections if your family usually has the stamina to combine adventures.

Prairie View Trail , page 27, Zeljko Kozomara captures the magic of early season snow on Mount Baldy.

This section provides the driving instructions you will need to get to the start of each trip, from Calgary.

Elevation gains represent the total height gained for each round trip, including any significant ups and downs along the way.

Levels of difficulty in this book describe conditions underfoot and the steepness of trail grades. The difficulty rating assumes good hiking conditions, so bear in mind that adverse weather or snowy conditions may elevate the rating.

The age recommendations in the difficulty ratings should be considered general guidelines. Knowing your children’s abilities and limitations is key. The recommendations assume children will be able to complete the entire trip on their own two feet. If you are carrying kids in baby carriers, the recommendations do not apply.

Season describes the suggested times of the year to go on each hike. However, weather (specifically snow) can affect those suggestions quite dramatically. Areas farther west are especially prone to early snowfall that can render many routes off limits, or at least unwise to travel on. Conversely, there are other parts of the Rockies, such as the Elbow Valley, that may be snow-free as early as May and well into October.

Included in this section of a trip description are recommendations for combining trips, Chariot- (jogging stroller-) friendly trips, preferable time of year to undertake the route and other tidbits that may make the trip more enjoyable for the kids (and you).

Red lines indicate main trails. Dashed red lines indicate optional routes and/ or trip extension routes.

The maps provided for each trip provide all the information needed to perform the hike; there should be no need to carry other maps. However, for those who like to carry a complete map, NTS (National Topographic System) and Gem Trek produce excellent maps for all areas covered by this book. MEC, Atmosphere and many book stores carry these maps.

If you would prefer a digital map, download the Topo Maps Canada app on your phone. The app uses a satellite signal, not a cell-phone signal, to pinpoint your exact location and then shows that location on a topographical map. Even if you are far out of cell-signal range the app can still determine your location. The maps on Topo Maps Canada also show many of the trails in this book.

Lake Agnes / Mount St. Piran, page 128, the wonderful valley west of the lake, with Mount Niblock in the background.

If at some point in your family hiking journey you realize that the family is ready for more challenging trips than the ones described in this book, pick up any or all the following:

For those families who want to experience the Rockies year-round, consider cross-country skiing and snowshoeing trips. Ski Trails in the Canadian Rockies, 5th Edition, by Chic Scott and Darren Farley, and A Beginner’s Guide to Snowshoeing in the Canadian Rockies, 2nd Edition, by Andrew Nugara, are great places to start.

The logical extension of hiking is scrambling – getting to the top of a mountain without technical means (i.e., ropes and climbing equipment). Generally, this activity is for adults; however, older children who show specific aptitude for advanced hiking may be up for it. For detailed information and route descriptions, acquire copies of Alan Kane’s Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies, 3rd Edition, and More Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies, 3rd Edition, by Andrew Nugara.

Prairie View Trail, page 27, Nicole Lisafeld and Rob Miller start the fun journey to McConnell Ridge, shown on left.