5873
post-template-default,single,single-post,postid-5873,single-format-standard,stockholm-core-1.2.1,select-theme-ver-9.12,ajax_fade,page_not_loaded,menu-animation-underline,,qode_menu_,wpb-js-composer js-comp-ver-7.9,vc_responsive

Exshaw Mountain Hike

Where:

  • Exshaw Mountain

 

When:

  • May 11, 2024

 

Who:

  • Ed, Oak, Rod

 

Trailhead:

  • 15 minutes east of Canmore on the 1A highway
  • if you’re driving from Calgary, get off the Trans-Canada at the Seebee exit (Highway 1X) and follow it to Highway 1A, turn left at the intersection, and follow Highway 1A for about 7 km
  • at the town of Exshaw, turn onto Fortress Mountain Way, and the trailhead is at the end of the road
  • you are not supposed to park in this area due to resident concerns, so they ask that you park at The Legion on Highway 1A
  • the trail is mostly easy to follow, other than a couple of spots where it helps to have All Trails loaded up

 

 

Degree of difficulty:

  • 470 meters
  • 4 km to the top of Exshaw Mountain and back
  • 2.5 hours total time on the trail
  • it’s a steep hike right from the start, so it’s a good cardio burn

 

 

Interesting notes:

  • there was nobody else on the trail, which was crazy as it was a beautiful day
  • there are great views on the way up across the valley, but the first summit is in the trees unless you go beyond it
  • you can continue along the first ridge of Exshaw Mountain and loop down onto a trail along Exshaw Creek
  • the trail offers views of Loder Peak/Door Jam, Pigeon Mountain, Rimwall, Windtower, Wind Ridge, Grotto Mountain, Heart Mountain, Mount MacGillvray, Mount Fable, Mount Yamnuska, and Goat Mountain
  • Sir Sanford Fleming named Exshaw after his son-in-law, E. William Exshaw (Anglo-Irish descent and sailing Olympic gold medalist at the Paris 1900 Summer Olympics), who, with Fleming, helped establish the Western Canada Cement and Coal Company