South Lawson Peak

Where:

• South Lawson Peak

 

When:

• May 25, 2024

 

Where:

• Ed, Oak, Dave, Erin, Kellie, Todd, Craig, Rod, Mike, Kim, Kuma

 

Trailhead:

• on Highway 40, drive south from the Trans-Canada Highway for 49 km and turn right onto Kananaskis Trail, and then 2.1 km later turn right again onto the Smith-Dorrien-Spray Trail
• drive for another 2.8 km to reach an unsigned pullout on the right hand side of the road
• if you get to the Peninsula Day Use Area, you’ve gone a couple hundred meters too far
• pull in and park by the locked gate
• note there is signage for the High Rockies Trail in the parking lot as this is the end of the section of High Rockies Trail from Blackshale to Peninsula
• follow the flat curving road for 1.2 km (part of it is beside a flume that redirects water from Kent Creek)
• near the end of the flume and across from a set of stairs is the trail that leads up to South Lawson Peak
• cross a small creek and start hiking up the steep trail

 

 

Degree of difficulty:

• 8.4 km
• 730 meters
• 3 hours and 45 minutes total time on the trail
• the first few km are steep, and then it moderates before a final steep ascent that leads to the short easy scramble to the summit, which includes a false summit
• there are some sections with steep drop offs, but there are wide ledges, so it is quite safe

 

 

Interesting notes:

• this was our first time doing this trail, and everyone loved it so it will be on the regular rotation
• the trail offers sweeping views of Kananaskis Country, including the Kananaskis Lakes, King Creek Ridge, Grizzly, Denny, Potts and Evan-Thomas Peaks
• this is a good lesser known trail to view the larches trees in the second half of September
• the trail is also known as Little Lawson
• South Lawson Peak was named after Major W.E. Lawson, an employee of the Geological Survey of Canada who was killed in France during WW1