Centennial Ridge Hike

Where:

• Centennial Ridge

 

When:

• July 20, 2024

 

Who:

• Ed, Dave, Erin, Kellie, Micheline

 

Trailhead:

• 11 km (ten-minute drive) from Canmore or 103 km (one hour drive) from Calgary
• take the Dead Mans Flat turn off (exit 98) and head up George Biggy Sr. Road towards Banff Gate Mountain Resort, where the parking lot is on the right-hand side before you turn left into the resort area
• head out of the end of the parking lot and follow the signage, as there are seven trails emanating from this parking lot
• be careful not to take an early left-hand turn as this leads up to Skogan Pass and Pigeon Mountain
• a little further along, you turn left and then left again

 

 

Degree of difficulty:

• 850 meters of elevation gain to where we turned around, which was after the meadow and before the final ascent to the ridge
• 16 km hike
• gradual ascent at the start with a wide path until you get to the top of the tree line, where it turns into a single track
• the ascent after the meadow is quite steep until you reach the start of the ridge
• the hike took us four and a half hours (the complete hike would likely take six hours

 

 

Interesting notes:

• a lot of people do this hike as an end to end by starting at Ribbon Creek near Kananaskis Village and ending at Dead Mans Flats which is an 18 km and 1400 meter jaunt

• there are three other lesser known hikes in the area that branch off of the main trail that we have added to the list of new hikes
• the bugs were ferocious, but luckily, Kellie had her Muskol that she generously shared

• there are views of Pigeon Mountain, Wind Ridge, Three Sisters, Windtower, Mount Lougheed, Little Lougheed, and Mount Collemboia
• the naming of Centennial Ridge is from a group of volunteers who constructed the trail in 1967
• this trail and the other trails in the area are closed from Apr 1 to Jun 15 due to Bighorn Sheep movement during this time