Burstall Pass Trail

A challenging Kananaskis hike, the Burstall Pass Trail passes a series of mountain lakes and meadows on the way to an incredible viewpoint.

The Burstall Pass Trail is one of our favourite hiking trails in Kananaskis Country. It’s a moderately difficult hike with some of the most incredible Rocky Mountain scenery you can get in Kananaskis. Burstall Pass is a very enjoyable hike all season long, but if you are lucky enough to hike it in late September, it’s also one of the best larch hikes in Kananaskis Country.

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Burstall Pass Trail Highlights

The Burstall Pass Trail begins along an elevated berm adjacent to Mud Lake. There’s amazing mountain views all around with Mt. Burstall (2,760 m) ahead on the left and Mt. Chester (3,054 m) behind. On a calm morning, reflections of Commonwealth Peak can be seen in the still water of the lake.

After 200 m of hiking, the Burstall Pass hiking trail leaves the Hogarth Lakes behind and enters an evergreen forest of pine and fir. The trail at this stage is a slightly uphill wide gravel road.

The incline steepens a bit 200 m later as the hiking trail enters an old forest. It’s quite a beautiful section of forest with a carpet of moss, buffaloberry shrubs and patches of colourful fireweed.

The first 5 km of the Burstall Pass hike alternates between slightly uphill and flat. The first flat section occurs at the 0.8 km mark of the hike. Commonwealth Peak (2,774 m) appears through the trees ahead.

After 1.3 km of hiking the Burstall Pass Trail you can hear Burstall Creek flowing down below, but it’s too far down to see.

300 m later, you’ll turn a corner and be surprised with the majestic Mt. Burstall straight ahead. It’s such a beautiful mountain with her sloping rock layers.

Once you reach the 2 km mark of the Burstall Pass hike, there will be a series of lakes (called the Burstall Lakes) on the right. You can’t see them from the main trail, but there are a series of spur trails which will take you to each.

Beyond the Burstall Lakes lakes, Burstall Creek can be seen flowing through a wide grassy meadow through the trees. By this stage, you’ve almost passed Commonwealth Peak and the new mountains looming overhead on the right are Pigs Tail (2,822 m) and Mt. Birdwood (3,097 m).

At the 3.5 km mark, there’s a bike rack and a “No Biking” sign. This is where anyone mountain biking the Burstall Pass Trail needs to lock up their bike and continue on foot.

Beyond the bike rack, the Burstall Pass hiking trail becomes more narrow and less groomed, with more rocks and roots.

A few hundred meters later, the hiking trail passes a large rock, beautifully covered with a blanket of moss. Just beyond, there’s a wooden walkway over some marshy areas of the trail.

After nearly 4 km of mostly forested hiking, you’ll enter a massive meadow filled with dogwood shrubs. The mountain scenery from this meadow is incredible with 360 degree views. Whistling Rock Peak (2,940 m) joins Pigs Tail and Mt. Birdwood in the showcase of peaks of the Canadian Rockies.

The trail through the meadow is not immediately clear. The very first time we hiked Burstall Pass we got well off the official hiking trail and had to backtrack.

If you look through the dogwoods, there are hiking signs with orange markers leading the way – the first one is ahead and slightly to the left. Having the trail map downloaded on the AllTrails app is a good idea too. You are heading across the meadow towards the valley with the pyramid-shaped Snow Peak (2,789 m) in background.

When you are in the heart of the meadow, you can see straight up into the heart of a gorgeous mountain valley with Piggy Peak (2,760 m), Mt. Robertson (3,194 m) and the gigantic Mt. Sir Douglas (3,406) all making appearances.

Looking the other direction, you can even see all the way down the valley to see Mt. Galatea (3,185 m) and Mt. Chester. With jaw dropping views in every single direction, I stopped and took in the scenery for a long time. Even if you stopped here and didn’t continue up the more difficult trail to Burstall Pass, you will have earned some pretty incredible views for very little effort.

You’ll reach the far side of the meadow at the 4.6 km mark of the Burstall Pass hike. Here you’ll reenter the forest and begin the steeper half of the hike.

Perhaps it was because I was working harder and had my head down more, but I couldn’t help but notice what a beautiful section of forest this was. There are plenty of moss-covered trees near the hiking trail, moss-covered nurse logs scattered about the forest floor and lichen filling the remaining spots. As you’re breathing harder, you’ll be glad to know that lichen can only grow in exceptionally clean air.

5.3 km into the Burstall Pass Trail you’ll reach a clearing and the trail flattens out a bit. Being a bit closer now, Mt. Birdwood, Pigs Tail and Commonwealth Peak all look simply amazing. There few first larch trees appear in the valley below (more on the Burstall Pass larch trees below).

As you continue hiking towards Burstall Pass, you’ll reach a ridge and then a meadow. With fewer trees around the trail in the meadow, Snow Peak looks incredible straight ahead. The flat, vertical cliffs of the backside of Whistling Rock Peak is now on the left.

After about 1 km of a nice, easy flat trail through the meadow, the final ascent to Burstall Pass begins at the 6.6 km mark of the hike. The forest starts to become more dense again, but take a moment to look behind you for an incredible view of Mt. Birdwood.

After hiking 7.3 km on the Burstall Pass hiking trail, you’ll turn a corner and reach another clearing. From here, you can see why Mt. Birdwood is considered one of the most beautiful mountains in Kananaskis Country.

You’ll climb a small set of natural rock steps. Stopping at the top is a great spot to stop and soak in the majesty of the Canadian Rocky Mountains in Kananaskis Country – they certainly rival the views of Banff National Park. In fall, this is an excellent vantage point to see the large stand of golden larch trees below.

You’ll reach the top of Burstall Pass at the 7.9 km mark of the hike. All of your hard work hiking to Burstall Pass is about to pay off. Make your way to the rocky outcrop on the right for some incredible views all the way back down the valley towards Mt. Chester and Mt. Galatea. Again, in fall, the vista of the larch forest below is breathtaking.

If you’d like to extend the Burstall Pass hike a little more, continue following the hiking trail. Before long, you’ll pass a sign showing you are leaving Peter Lougheed Provincial Park (one of the parks which makes up Kananaskis Country) and are now entering Banff National Park.

Given you are now over the Burstall Pass, the hiking trail starts to trend downhill a little. You are now in the alpine zone and there is very little vegetation around, save for a few stunted spruce or larch trees. The absence of trees means the surrounding mountain views are plentiful. The summit of Snow Peak to the right is especially prominent.

At the 8.4 km mark, you’ll have reached the end of the official hiking trail as depicted on the AllTrails app. You’ll notice the trail forks here and if you continue hiking on the left fork for another 300 m or so, you’ll reach a viewpoint on a rocky outcrop.

It was a very cloudy when we arrived at the viewpoint, so we couldn’t see much, save for a beautiful larch forest below. But, you’re supposed to be able to see Leman Lake in the distance, resting in the valley in-between Mt. Leman (2,730 m) and Mt. Leval (2,713 m).

We could see glimpses of the many Rocky Mountains in the distance as they played peekaboo with the clouds. As much as we love the Burstall Pass hike, we’ll be back soon to get another crack at those views!

Burstall Pass Larch Hike

The Burstall Pass hiking trail is extremely scenic and is an excellent Kananaskis hike all season long. However, if you are lucky enough to hike here in mid-to-late September, it becomes one of the best larch hikes in Kananaskis Country.

The first golden larch trees start to appear once you’ve crossed the large meadow and have begun the ascent to Burstall Pass. The elevation here is approximately 2,100 m above sea level, which is right in the middle of the typical larch tree range of 1,800 to 2,400m.

From this point onwards, the Burstall Pass trail will lead you through hundreds of golden larch trees. In addition, there’s vistas of large stands of larch trees in the nearby mountain slopes and valleys.

As enjoyable as it is to hike through the larch trees, when you reach the top of Burstall Pass, you’ll get a chance to look down and see the beautiful golden colors of the extensive larch forest below.

If you continue hiking beyond Burstall Pass to the Leman Lake viewpoint, you’ll get to see an excellent aerial view of yet another large forest of larch trees. Amazing!

Due to the staggering number of golden larch trees to be seen, the Burstall Pass Trail is one of the best Kananaskis larch hikes.

How To Get To Burstall Pass

Calgary to Chester Lake

The Burstall Pass Trailhead leaves from the Burstall Pass day use parking lot in the Peter Lougheed Provincial Park area within Kananaskis Country. Burstall Pass has a reasonably large parking lot.

The fastest way to get from Calgary to the Burstall Pass parking lot is to turn south on Kananaskis Trail (Highway 40). Drive all the way to the winter gate, where you turn right on Kananaskis Lakes Trail. In a few minutes you’ll turn right onto the Smith-Dorrien Trail Highway (AB742). This very scenic drive should take you about 2 hours.

Banff to Chester Lake

The fastest way to get from Banff to the Burstall Pass parking lot is to turn off the TransCanada Highway in Canmore. From here you’ll take the very dusty Smith-Dorrien Trail Highway (AB742) for the rest of the way. This very scenic drive should take you approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Burstall Pass Parking Lot Location

Hiking Burstall Pass Stats

How Long is the Burstall Pass Hike?

The round-trip distance of the hike from the trailhead to the Burstall Pass trail is 14.8 km / 9.2 miles (one-way distance of 7.4). As described above, you can continue hiking beyond the top of Burstall Pass. This extends the round-trip distance of the hike to 16.3 km / 10.1 miles.

How Hard is the Hike to Burstall Pass?

Both the length and elevation gain of the Burstall Pass trail classify this Kananaskis hike as “difficult”.

The round-trip distance of 16.3 km, coupled with an elevation gain of 650 m, combine to make the Burstall Pass trail a challenging hike in Kananaskis Country.

If you are concerned about your ability to hike the full distance of this hike, you could always just hike to the meadow and enjoy some epic mountain views. You can decide at that stage if you feel up to the more difficult second half of the hike.

How Long Does the Burstall Pass Hike Take?

It should take a typical adult roughly 5 hours to hike the Burstall Pass Trail. Celine and I recently did this hike in 4.5 hours including time for lunch at the top and stopping for pictures.

Burstall Pass Trail Map

For the most part, the Burstall Pass hiking trail is well marked and easy to follow. The exception to this is the meadow halfway through the hike. There are trail markers here too, but the surrounding shrubs make them a little difficult to see.

You can likely make your way to Burstall Pass without a trail map, but it’s probably a good idea to have a hiking map on your phone.

When I go hiking in Kananaskis Country, I always use the AllTrails app, both for navigational purposes and to track my hiking stats. To find the trail map in AllTrails, simply click here for the “Burstall Pass trail”.

Be sure to download your hiking maps before you hike Burstall Pass as you won’t get any cell service on this hike.

Where To Stop For Lunch or a Break

The best place to stop for lunch is the clearing at the top of Burstall Pass. A lack of trees, and multi-directional views make this an outstanding place to reward yourself with a little break.

Burstall Pass Hiking Safety

When hiking in the mountains of Kananaskis Country, you are responsible for your own safety. Before hitting the hiking trails we highly recommend you read our 10 Essential Kananaskis Hiking Tips for information about bear safety, trail conditions, wildlife warnings and possible closures.

Burstall Pass Trail Logistics

On-leash dogs are allowed on the Burstall Pass hiking trail.

There are toilets in the parking lot.

This hike is deep into the belly of Kananaskis Country. You won’t have any cell service for the entirety of your hike.

What to Bring For Hiking to Burstall Pass

As with any Kananaskis Country hike, you should be prepared with layers and proper hiking gear. Check out our list of hiking essentials with the hiking gear and clothing we recommend to get the most enjoyment out of your hike, regardless of the variable mountain weather and trail conditions.