Sparrowhawk Tarns Hike

September 18, 2021 In Outdoor Edventures

Where:

When:

Who:

Ed, Dave, Craig, Mike, Brenda, Oak, Peter, Lisa, Gerard, Carolyn, Angela, Russ, Ken, Rod, Bauer, Erin

Trailhead:

the trailhead is on the Spray Lakes Road and is 23 km south of Canmore
the trailhead is not marked, and the trail starts on the east side of the road across from the entrance to the Sparrowhawk Day Use Area
the faint trail angles 45 degrees to the right across an embankment into the trees

Degree of difficulty:

600 meters of elevation gain and 11 km distance if you go to the middle of the tarns valley
the new trail starts with a gentler climb than the old one as they carved a new trail to allow the bikers to access the High Rockies trail
after a short distance, the trail crosses the High Rockies biking trail, so be careful to continue straight up the mountain
a little further along there are markings (.9 km into the hike) where you turn to the right as the straight-ahead trail leads up to Read’s Ridge and Tower
after the initial climb, the trail rolls through the trees with the creek on the right at times until you exit the trees and come to a vast open rock area
at this point, there are trails on the far right (our typical route) or the far left (not recommended) that both take about a half-hour to get up to the upper cirque
be careful with your footing walking up this rock field and try to follow the cairns to stay on the path
the hike took us 4 hours, and we moved at a fairly leisurely pace

Interesting notes:

this timing was great to observe the larch trees changing color, and it’s much less crowded than the trails in the Lake Louise area

the hike is very scenic once you exit the trees and enter the upper valley, where marmots typically abound in the beautiful rock field
on this day, we saw a pika for the first time for me
there are also some interesting rocks with lichen and other features that we were not able to discern
the area is flanked by Mount Sparrowhawk, Read’s Ridge, Red Mountain, Mount Bogart, and Mount Buller
at the top of the valley, you can look back for a picturesque view of Spray Lakes and Mount Nestor across the valley
the tarns in the upper valley will vary in the amount of water depending on the season
Sparrowhawk Mountain was in the running for the site of the 1988 Winter Olympics ski venue
the mountain was named in 1917 for HMS Sparrowhawk a British destroyer that sank in WW1 during the Battle of Jutland