Canyon Creek Ice Caves Hike

Where:

• Canyon Creek Ice Cave

 

When:

• March 30, 2024

 

Who:

• Ed, Dave, Craig, Janet, Rod, Oak, Eldon, Peter, Lisa, Colleen, Steve, Janice

 

Trailhead:

• a 45-minute drive (64 km) from central Calgary
• head West on Highway 8, turn left on Highway 22 and then west on Highway 66, and turn right onto Canyon Creek Road which is signed as Ing Mine
• you park at the lot on the right hand side where the gate is
• the trail starts along a road for about 5 km until it turns into a trail on the right hand side that leads up to the cave

 

 

Degree of difficulty:

• 450 meters
• 13 km
• the hike took us four hours, but we took a wrong turn up the scree to a cave that didn’t exist
• the trail is a gradual climb along the oil and gas access road and is not steep until you exit the road into the forest
• the walk along the road in a small accumulation of snow felt like walking in sand, and the climb up the scree (albeit off trail) was very challenging

 

 

Interesting notes:

• it was a spectacularly bluebird sunny day
• unfortunately, we turned too early and missed the cave, so we’ll go back in the summer and likely bike along the road until the trail leading up to the cave
• the cave was known to Indigenous people for eons, but was discovered in 1905 by Stan Fullerton
• it was formed by freeze thaw cycles over the ages, enlarging fractures in the soluble limestone rock
• the cave extends 494 meters into Moose Mountain
• the main chamber is wide and spacious but there are narrower chambers that branch off
• make sure to bring a headlamp or flashlight to see inside the cave
• the views include Moose Mountain (where the cave is located) and Prairie Mountain