Calgary Daytrips: The Highwood Pass Loop
The Highwood Pass
The Highwood road itself is just 147km long, but when you combine it with the drive from Calgary to K Country, south through Longview, and back home it quickly becomes an entire day’s trip.
My son and I stopped and did the Troll Falls hike at the base of Nakiska. We went down to the Peter Lougheed Information Centre to check out the wildlife. Then we tossed rocks into Lower Kananaskis Lake for a while before the rains chased us back into the car.
I wanted to stop and do the hike up to Elbow Lake, Ptarmigan Cirque, Rawson Lake, or Rock Glacier, but the weather was nasty. Eventually we stopped at the Trout Pond picnic area, lit a fire and roasted some marshmallows to make s’mores in our uncamping ritual.
The scenery is not as spectacular as the equally high Going To The Sun Road (2026m at Logan Pass), but it’s a daytrip loop from Calgary that needs to be done.
Buzz Bishop
[...] Walk on the Columbia Icefield Hike above the tree line in the rockies Take the Highwood Pass Cycle to Bragg Creek Buy a share of a cow Hike and camp [...]
[...] K Country. They just feel much more spectacular to me because you’re right up against them. The Highwood Pass runs right along the edge, and without fences it’s often you’ll see Rocky Mountain [...]