15 Kananaskis Fall Hikes (That Aren’t Larch Hikes)

Without a doubt, fall is one of my absolute favorite times to explore the Canadian Rockies. The temperatures are just right for hiking, and as the fall colours start to emerge, I’m always amazed by the sheer beauty of this area.

While larch trees often steal the spotlight in late September and early October, there’s still plenty of fantastic fall hiking to enjoy even after those golden needles have blanketed the trails. Kananaskis is the ideal place to soak up those autumn vibes, offering everything from easy, family-friendly walks to more challenging adventures.

Now, I know our fall colours might not compete with those in Eastern Canada, where the leaves turn a kaleidoscope of yellows, oranges, and reds. But trust me, the brilliant yellows of the aspens here are something special—especially when they contrast against a bright blue sky or the deep blue of a mountain lake.

Best Kananaskis Fall Hikes

This isn’t an exhaustive list of every great fall hike in Kananaskis, but it’s a collection of some of my personal favorites that I return to whenever the leaves start to change.

Easy Kananaskis Fall Hikes

Easy hikes in Kananaskis are an excellent place to find fall colours. It’s where you’ll most often find the large aspen groves, where most of our fall colours come from.

Flowing Water Interpretive Trail

The Flowing Water Interpretive Trail is found in Bow Valley Provincial Park, just off the TransCanada Highway. You’ll find the trailhead to this hike in the same area as the Willow Rock Campground.

This short and easy hike offers an impressive variety of scenery packed into a small distance. As you wander along the trail, you’ll pass through forested areas beside a gentle brook, walk alongside the Kananaskis River, take in viewpoints of the surrounding Bow Valley mountains, and even come across a beaver dam. There are also several spots where you stroll through aspen groves, which turn a brilliant yellow in the fall.

This easy hiking trail is perfect for a laid-back afternoon. The mix of different landscapes keeps things interesting, and the autumn colours make the experience even more special.

While short in distance, given it’s proximity the Flowing Water trail is a great one to pair up with one of the other easy, short hikes in the Bow Valley Provincial Park. For fall colours, I recommend doing Middle Lake along with this hike.

Middle Lake Interpretive Trail

Middle Lake Interpretive Trail is another delightful and easy hike in Bow Valley Provincial Park that offers more variety than you’d expect for its short length. As you walk the loop around Middle Lake, you’ll enjoy a mix of landscape including a tranquil mountain lake and a pleasant forest setting.

One of my favorite things about this trail is visiting on a calm day when the lake reflects the surrounding mountains in stunning detail. In late spring, the area bursts with wildflowers, adding bright colours to the scenery. But hiking here in the fall is my favourite time when the reflection on the lake gets an extra pop of colour from the changing leaves of the aspen trees. Adding this short hike to another one of the easy hikes in Bow Valley Provincial Park makes for the perfect afternoon!

Hay Meadows via Troll Falls

Troll Falls is a popular and easy hike that rewards you with a set of beautiful waterfalls (which I recommend doing up to the upper falls). It’s a favorite for many, especially families. But when fall rolls around, I suggest turning it into a loop by incorporating Hay Meadows into your route. This addition takes you through a beautiful aspen grove and along the river, where the fall colours are absolutely stunning.

I love this hike because combining Troll Falls with Hay Meadows offers more than just the waterfalls that make Troll Falls so popular. Walking through the golden aspen trees and enjoying the vibrant fall foliage along the river adds so much to the experience. It’s an easy trail that provides a fantastic showcase of autumn’s beauty in Kananaskis.

Wedge Pond

While Wedge Pond isn’t very long, there’s are enough other areas nearby in Kananaskis to make up a full day of exploring. This one, in my opinion, is not to be missed in the fall. The mountain and aspen reflections in the water are just amazing.

This spot is perfect for an easy walk or even just sitting by the water’s edge, soaking in the autumn colours reflecting off the pond. There’s a nice picnic area too, so it’s the perfect lunch spot!

Stoney Trail at Barrier Lake

Stoney Trail is a 22.5 km (one way) trail in Bow Valley Provincial Park that can be accessed from a few different trailheads. While it starts along the TransCanada Highway, the best place to access this trail is at Barrier Lake. This is also the starting point of the Prairie View Trail.

Starting at Barrier Dam, you get to enjoy an easy walk along the lake with impressive mountain views. The aspen groves are pretty stunning in the fall.

At the first junction (where you’ll find a bench overlooking Barrier Lake), I recommend going left and taking the lakeside trail along Barrier Lake until Jewel Bay Campground to make it a good 8 km / 5 mile hike. You’ll find a few steep sections along this trail, but for the most part it’s pretty flat and wide with some of the best fall colours around. The trail actually continues another 10 km / 6 miles to the Troll Falls trailhead if you want to continue further.

Coal Mine Trail

The Coal Mine Trail is a forested path you can access just a short ways in the the Hidden Creek Trail. It takes you through a forest to the site of an old coal mine that operated in the late 1940’s. While the mine site has been reclaimed and there’s not much left of the mining operations, the area offers great views of the surrounding landscape.

I enjoy this trail because it combines a pleasant forest hike with a touch of local history. The views from the reclaimed mine site are a nice reward, especially when the fall colours are in full swing.

Mt Lorette Ponds

Mt Lorette Ponds isn’t really a hike, but I like to include it because it has some beautiful fall colours and makes for a wonderful walk. It’s also a really great picnic area in Kananaskis.

At Mt Lorette Ponds you’ll find a flat, accessible loop around clear ponds fed by mountain springs, perfect for a nice walk. The reflections of the colourful trees on the still water create a scene that’s straight out of a postcard.

I’d pair up Mt Lorette Ponds with one of the other nearby hikes like Troll Falls, Wedge Pond or even Stoney Trail.

Moderate Kananaskis Fall Hikes

While there are fewer moderate Kananaskis hikes that offer spectacular fall colours, here are a few of my favourites. Once you look at further distances and higher elevations, you just get too far away from where the aspen trees grow (which aside from shrubs provide most of the fall colour.

Prairie View Trail / Jewell Pass

The Prairie View Trail is truly one of the standout hikes in Kananaskis, offering some of the most impressive views around. As you ascend, you’re treated to fantastic panoramas of Barrier Lake and the rugged peaks of the Kananaskis Valley. Come fall, the scenery gets even more spectacular with aspen trees glowing in vibrant shades of yellow.

While many hikers opt to tackle the Prairie View Trail as an out-and-back, I recommend turning it into a loop by combining Prairie View Trail with Jewell Pass Trail. This approach not only adds variety but also allows you to finish the hike on Stoney Trail, which runs along the lakeshore. Walking among the aspen trees beside the lake is a real highlight in the fall.

I love this loop because it offers a mix of everything—breathtaking ridge views, forest paths, and fall colours.

Raven’s End

Raven’s End is a spot on the eastern shoulder of Mount Yamnuska where the forest ends and the more challenging alpine terrain begins. This moderately difficult hike takes you through a beautiful forest and offers some outstanding views of the Bow Valley as you climb. In the fall, this section is especially stunning as you walk through the aspen forest lit up with brilliant yellow leaves. Then you get to look down into the valley, which seems carpeted in yellow.

I enjoy this hike because it combines a rewarding climb with fantastic scenery and is still a great hike even if you don’t do the entire Yamnuska hike loop. The expansive views of the Bow Valley from this point make all the effort worthwhile.

Rummel Lake

Rummel Lake is easily one of my favorite year-round hikes in Kananaskis. For a moderate amount of effort, you get to enjoy a beautiful walk through mountain forests, stand in awe of the incredible vistas of the Spray Lakes Valley, and finally arrive at a picturesque alpine lake.

While the Kananaskis scenery is stunning any time of year, I love Rummel Lake the most in the fall. The entire trail is lined with bushes that turn brilliant shades of yellow, pink, red, and purple. It’s a quieter trail in the fall, which I really appreciate, and the explosion of colours plus the mountain lake make it an ideal fall hike in Kananaskis.

Lusk Pass Trail

More of an easy to moderate hike, the Lusk Pass trail takes you through a mix of pine and aspen forests. Since it goes through an old logging area, there are sections along wider roads mixed with more narrow trails. Given the logging history of the area, it has allowed for many aspen trees to grow that aren’t crowded by the evergreen trees. This makes for a spectacular hike in the fall.

You’ll also find a few lookout points that offer stunning mountain views and even a long distance view over Barrier Lake.

I always enjoy this hike in the fall because the variety of terrains keeps things interesting, and it’s usually less crowded than some of the more popular trails in Kananaskis. The peaceful atmosphere makes it a great place to soak up the sounds of nature and breathe in the crisp autumn air.

Ha Ling Peak Trail

Ha Ling Peak is a popular day hike among locals. It’s a short but steep climb up the northwestern slope of the mountain, situated just minutes outside the town of Canmore. With its impressive 300-metre towering vertical cliff face, Ha Ling Peak is one of the most recognizable mountains in the area.

Aside from a great workout and impressive views, what makes Ha Ling Peak particularly special in the fall is the breathtaking view over the valley filled with fall colours. From the top, you get an incredible panorama of Canmore and the surrounding landscapes. It’s a rewarding experience that perfectly captures the beauty of Kananaskis in the fall.

Challenging Kananaskis Fall Hikes

The best challenging hikes in Kananaskis for fall colours really do end up being larch hikes, but here are a couple that get you spectacular views over the valley where the aspen forests are.

Wind Ridge Trail

Wind Ridge trail is a fantastic hike that truly offers a bit of everything. The adventure begins with an easy through the thick, lush forest. After that, the trail gets steeper, and reaching the top becomes a bit of a workout, but trust me, the payoff is absolutely worth it.

When you leave the forest behind and enter the alpine meadow (full of wildflowers in the summer) you’re greeted with uninterrupted views of a stunning semi-circle of mountains, including The Rimwall, Wind Tower, Mount Lougheed, and Wind Mountain.

When you finally reach the summit of Wind Ridge, the scenery opens up even more. You’re rewarded with expansive views stretching from the foothills all the way to Cascade Mountain in Banff National Park. The sight is truly awe-inspiring, especially when the fall colours are on full display, which you’ll get to see all along the valley floor.

This can be a challenging hike and there is a section that scrambles up over some rocks, but there is a steep trail that can be used to avoid this section.

Mount Yamnuska

If you want to continue past Raven’s end, you have the option of completing the full Mt Yamnuska loop. Keep in mind the full hike to the summit is challenging and includes steep sections and some scrambling along the backside of the mountain (including a chain section). While many experienced hikers can handle it, it’s important to be cautious. There are more rescues on Mount Yamnuska each year than any other mountain in the Rockies. So, be sure to assess your skill level before proceeding.

Similar to Raven’s End, you’ll get to walk through the Aspen forest at the beginning of the hike. You’ll get the added benefit of returning back through it at the end of the hike as well.

At the top, you’re rewarded with amazing panoramas of the surrounding landscapes with the added benefit of the fall colours.

Just remember to be prepared and know your limits, the mountain offers incredible rewards but demands respect. There’s no shame in turning back at Raven’s End if you aren’t up for the full loop.

Wasootch Ridge Trail

The Wasootch Ridge Trail made a huge impression on me the first time I hiked it. This popular trail in Kananaskis truly lives up to the hype when it comes to breathtaking views. Once you’re up on the ridge, you’re rewarded with panoramic sights of the surrounding mountains and a clear view down into the valley.

Now, I’ll be honest, the initial climb to the ridge top is a bit of a grind. It’s steep and gets your heart pumping. But once you’ve conquered that section, the incredible mountain vistas are virtually non-stop for the rest of the hike. It’s one of those trails where the effort pays off big time.

What I particularly love about this hike is the flexibility it offers. You can choose how far you want to go along the ridge, making it suitable for various fitness levels. And if you’re hiking in the fall, the valleys below burst into vibrant fall colours, adding an extra layer of beauty to an already spectacular experience. The sparse vegetation means unobstructed views the entire way, making it a perfect choice for those sunny fall days.

So there you have it, a selection of my favorite fall hikes in Kananaskis. Whether you’re looking for an easy walk or a challenging climb, these trails offer the perfect opportunity to enjoy the crisp air and vibrant colours of the season.

Remember to check trail conditions before heading out and always pack the hiking essentials.