Kananaskis Hiking Tips: What First-Timers Should Know

Kananaskis Country is one of the best places to hike in the Canadian Rockies, in large part because it feels different from its more famous neighbour, Banff National Park. I’ve been hiking in Kananaskis my entire life, and it’s my hope that these Kananaskis hiking tips will help you plan a safer and smoother day on the trail.

The hiking in Kananaskis is incredible, but you need to be more self-sufficient and you need to pay more attention to things like parking, trail reports, and changing mountain conditions. If you show up prepared, hiking in Kananaskis can feel quieter, wilder, and more rewarding than you expect.

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Kananaskis Is Not Banff, and That’s Part of the Appeal

Kananaskis Country often gets overlooked by visitors who are focused on Banff, Lake Louise, and Jasper, but that is part of what makes it so special. While Banff is filled with iconic sights and bucket list stops, neighbouring Kananaskis feels a little quieter, a little less polished, and a lot more local. You will not find the same level of tourism infrastructure here, but for many hikers, that’s a good thing.

That does not mean hiking in Kananaskis is better than hiking in Banff; it’s just a different experience. In Banff, many visitors are building hiking into a bigger sightseeing trip. In Kananaskis, it often feels like the hike is the main event. The trails can be just as beautiful, but the overall feel is often more peaceful and less crowded once you get away from the most popular spots.

We love hiking in Kananaskis Country because it feels a bit more rugged and a bit more relaxed at the same time. You still need to plan ahead, start early, and take safety seriously, but the experience can feel more natural and less like you are competing with a long list of other visitors trying to do the exact same thing. If you are looking for a hiking destination that feels a little less busy and a little more wild, Kananaskis may end up being your favourite place to hit the trail.

Learn more about Kananaskis Country in our Destinations page.

You Need a Kananaskis Conservation Pass for Trailhead Parking

If you plan on going hiking in Kananaskis Country, the first thing you need to be aware of is the need for a Kananaskis Conservation Pass. This is not a park entry pass, but rather a parking pass for use within the park.

Before you hit the trails, find out how to get your Kananaskis Conservation Pass.

Alberta Parks Trail Reports Matter More Than People Realize

One of our most important Kananaskis hiking tips is to make sure you are fully informed about your hike before you go. Kananaskis Country is raw mountain wilderness and trail conditions are continually changing.

Before setting out to do any hiking in Kananaskis, we strongly recommend you check the Kananaskis Trail Reports page by Alberta Parks. Here you can see the current trail conditions, any wildlife warnings, avalanche warnings and area closures for all major trails in the park.

An alternate way to find the correct Kananaskis trail report is to find our blog post on your intended hiking trail. In our posts, you can find a direct link to the trail report, as well as a ton of other useful information about your hike. You can find your hiking trail in our directory of Kananaskis hiking trails.

Start Earlier Than You Think

Like many of the popular hiking trails in neighbouring Banff National Park, many of the Kananaskis trailhead parking lots can get very crowded in the peak hiking season between the Victoria Day long weekend (in May) and the Labour Day weekend (in September).

If you wish to go hiking in Kananaskis during peak season, we recommend you arrive at the trailhead early. Alberta Parks has recently enlarged and upgraded a few important trailhead parking lots (for example, the Troll Falls hike, the Grassi Lakes hike and the Ha Ling Trail), but in general, the trailhead parking lots in Kananaskis are a modest size and can fill up early.

Choose Hikes by Difficulty

As mentioned, the tourist infrastructure in Kananaskis is smaller than in nearby Banff National Park. While this is a big part of the appeal, it also means that if you need help, it may take longer to arrive.

Because of this, we strongly recommend choosing hiking trails that match your fitness and experience levels. If you need help deciding, this list of Kananaskis hiking trails sorts the hikes by their difficulty levels, from beginner Kananaskis hikes all the way up to the most challenging ones.

If you’d like to see our favorite hikes, check out our list of the best hikes in Kananaskis Country or these 20 excellent easy hikes in Kananaskis Country.

Kananaskis Weather and Trail Conditions Can Shift Quickly

It’s pretty difficult to forecast the weather in the mountains, especially in a place like Kananaskis Country. The mountains of Kananaskis are on the leeward side of the Continental Divide, meaning it is often dry, but can be subject to unpredictable weather coming in from the Pacific.

When looking into the weather for your Kananaskis hike, I recommend you check two sources to try and get a consensus. When I go hiking in Kananaskis, I check the Kananaskis Country weather forecast on the Environment Canada website as well as The Weather Network.

Mountain weather in Kananaskis can change quickly; it can rain, snow or even get very warm at any time of year.

The main point of this Kananaskis hiking tip is that you need to be prepared for a sudden change in the weather. For the most part, all of you will enjoy very nice weather during the prime Kananaskis hiking season. But, please heed my advice and bring some extra clothing in your day bag just in case.

A great example of this is shown in the picture below. We were hiking the EEOR trail on a sunny day in early July, when the snow started to blow in near the summit.

I give you this Kananaskis hiking tip in hopes that you’ll do better than me. I’m frequently guilty of looking outside, seeing a sunny sky and then leaving for a hike without properly preparing, and I often regret it. You’ll be surprised at the sudden temperature differences if a dark cloud rolls in, or a brisk wind whips through the mountain valley.

At a minimum, take a few moments to read our guide on how to dress for hiking in the Canadian Rockies – you’ll be glad you did!

Bring the Appropriate Hiking Gear

There are a variety of hiking trails in Kananaskis Country for a wide variety of skill sets. Each hiking outing in Kananaskis will be different, depending on the needs of each hiker and the hiking trail they choose.

We don’t have a specific post on Kananaskis hiking gear, but you’ll find our post on essential Banff hiking gear useful. It covers the essential hiking equipment we bring on every hike in the Canadian Rockies, as well as optional hiking gear you may find fun or useful.

Wildlife Safety in Kananaskis

No discussion about Kananaskis hiking tips would be complete without talking about wildlife safety. There are many predators living in these mountains, including bears and cougars. Although the chances of a dangerous wildlife encounter in Kananaskis Country are very low, you are responsible for your own safety while hiking.

Your safety is a very important topic, so we will defer to the experts at Alberta Parks. Before hiking in Kananaskis Country, we strongly encourage you to read the Alberta Parks tips on Bear Safety and Cougar Safety.

Do not go hiking in Kananaskis without bear spray. If you are visiting Kananaskis for a short period, it doesn’t make sense to buy your own expensive canister of bear spray; simply rent one at a local sporting goods store for the duration of your trip to the Canadian Rockies. While hiking, keep your bear spray easily accessible and ensure you know how to use it.

Kananaskis Trail Maps

As a general rule, Alberta Parks has done an excellent job marking the hiking trails around Kananaskis with good trail signs. That said, there are moments when it’s hard to know which direction to go, which can be a little unsettling in the middle of a hike in the Canadian Rockies.

AllTrails App

When I go hiking in Kananaskis (and around the world), I always use the AllTrails app (a recent App of the Year winner) on my phone. As you can see by my activity screen, I have logged over 500 activities around Banff and Kananaskis on AllTrails!

I use the AllTrails app for many reasons:

I use it for planning my day of hiking in Kananaskis. I look at the overall difficulty of the hike and estimate the time it will take.

I download the trail map onto my phone before leaving home, so I have access to it offline. (You will almost never have a reliable cell signal while hiking in Kananaskis).

While on the hiking trail, I record my progress on AllTrails. Not only does this allow to me look at my hiking stats at the end of the hike, but it allows me to see my current position compared with the hiking trail.

Despite the amount of hiking I have done around Kananaskis, I still find myself making wrong turns all the time. Having my current position shown on my phone helps me see when I’ve gone off the main trail and makes it easy to backtrack.

A recent App of the Year winner, AllTrails is also one of the best apps for visiting Banff! Enjoy map downloads and many more premium features with a 7-day free trial of AllTrails+!

Gem Trek Topographical Maps

Although I find AllTrails to be quite accurate in Kananaskis Country, local safety officials warn hikers not to be solely reliant on hiking apps. The hiking maps on these apps can be wrong, your phone can run out of battery, etc. To mitigate against this risk, local officials have recommended having a paper map and a compass as a backstop.

I recommend you buy the Canmore and Kananaskis Village Map by Gem Trek. While you are at home planning your Kananaskis hikes, these topographical maps will be invaluable.

Then, while you are here hiking in Kananaskis, just tuck your sturdy Gem Trek map in your day bag. Chances are you won’t need it, but just like gloves and a toque, you’ll be very glad to have it in an emergency.

I love the Gem Trek hiking maps of the Canadian Rockies and I personally own the entire set.

Respect the Wilderness

There’s a reason you want to visit Kananaskis Country… it’s a very special mountain landscape. I love Kananaskis and all its inhabitants, so please help keep it this way by treating it with respect.

Over 5 million people visit Kananaskis Country every year, which is even more than it’s more famous neighbour, Banff National Park.

Imagine how Kananaskis would look if everyone tossed garbage out of their car windows, or disregarded warnings about feeding wildlife. Even if only 1% of visitors treat Kananaskis with disrespect, that’s over 50,000 people per year doing damage to one of the most special places on earth.

This is one of the most important Kananaskis hiking tips of all. Here are a few simple ways to help.

Wildlife encounters in Kananaskis Country are very exciting, but please keep a safe distance from the animals. They are beautiful, but wild and unpredictable animals. Please refer to Alberta Parks Wildlife Viewing Guidelines to respect wildlife and stay safe for more information.

Along the same lines, never feed any animals in Kananaskis, no matter how cute and/or hungry they appear to be.

Chipmunks are the worst offenders on popular Kananaskis hikes; they are fearless and have learned how to look really cute and oh-so-hungry in order to get their little paws on human food. But, human food is terrible for them and they will not properly prepare for winter.

This is vitally important to know… A fed bear is a dead bear.

Bears are very easily conditioned to love human food, and if they get even a single taste, they will seek out populated areas to find more. This never ends well for the bears. I love bears more than anything and I beg you not to feed them.

While hiking in Kananaskis Country, bring along a little garbage bag so you can pack out all your trash. Of all the places I’ve hiked around the world, the hiking trails in Kananaskis are among the cleanest I’ve seen. Let’s help keep it this way.

In the US, the park rangers teach kids to pick up three pieces of garbage on every hike they do. I just love this idea. Imagine if everyone did this?

And there you have it – a lifetime of Kananaskis hiking experience summarized into one short article. I hope you find these Kananaskis hiking tips useful and help enrich your visit to the Canadian Rockies!