Kananaskis Country: Prairie Mountain

Calgary is such a great city, I think often us Calgarians really take it for granted. It is clean, beautiful, vibrant, and best of all so close to the mountains. Often when people think of Calgary’s hiking scene, Banff National Park is the first thing that comes to mind. But Kananaskis Country is so awesome, especially if you live in the south end of town. Just half an hour down the 22X and you’re where the Foothills meet the Rockies (to be fair K-Country is close to most of Calgary, I have just explored the Highway 66 portion much more than the Highway 40 part). Even if you aren’t into hiking, there are ATV trails at McLean Creek, numerous day use areas including Elbow Falls, and provincial campgrounds like Little Elbow. Sure, it gets pretty busy on a sunny Saturday, but I really think Calgarians don’t take full advantage of our proximity to such amazing terrain. I know didn’t in the past! Just a few years ago I was a full-fledged MAC girl and would much rather be perfecting my smoky eye than getting sweaty on a mountain. Maybe it’s just a function of growing up?

Exhibit A: View from halfway up Prairie Mountain.

So while living south of Calgary made for a tedious commute into my Beltline office everyday this summer, being in such close vicinity to K-Country made it more bearable. So one Saturday, at about 4pm, we decided to head west and climb a mountain. This was one of my favorite hikes of the summer. Potentially my favorite hike ever. It was cold, it was rainy, it was difficult, it was snowy, but the feeling of standing with your partner, alone, on the top of a mountain is so peaceful. Screw dinner and the movies, the best dates are on mountain summits.

Exhibit B: Jon at the summit of Prairie. My favourite photo of the entire summer, just a candid of him enjoying the view.

The trailhead for Prairie Mountain is a little tough to find. It is just on the north side of the Highway 66 just after the winter closure gates west of the Elbow Falls parking lot. The trailhead is unmarked, so you’ll just see a little path going up the hill. The hike is only 3km to the top, but has a really steep elevation gain. Jon and I were the only people we saw on the hike that day without poles. So if you have any knee problems or don’t trust your balance, bring poles. The summit was snow covered, so some poles might have been nice up there too even if you have no issues. You will start to gain elevation immediately and that will continue for the whole 3km.

Exhibit C: Another view from the top.

Because we seem to have terrible luck, it started raining when we were part way up the mountain, making some of the hike dicey, especially (seeing a theme here?) because we were fairly ill-prepared. You would think as born and raised Calgarian I would realize that the weather can turn on a dime, and sunny at the base of the mountain does not mean sunny at the summit. Oh well, I guess that’s why this is “Athyna’s Adventures”. And I must say, this is one of those hikes where it is harder going down than up because of the steep grade.

Exhibit D: Jon down the trail from me. 

The views from the top are amazing. I feel like there is only so much I can say about this hike except for: short and steep. The rest I’ll leave to the phone pictures!

Kananaskis Country: Prairie Mountain

Distance: 3.5 (ish) km to summit

Difficulty: 8/10

Scenery: 10/10

Great for: Beautiful views of K-Country, the Rockies, and Calgary. If you’re looking to climb a mountain in a few hours (we were home by 8pm despite leaving in the late afternoon), this gives you great bang for your proverbial buck.

Wildlife spotted: A duck-toller. Not wild of course, but a rare dog breed nonetheless.