Elevation gain = 720 meters (total); 500 meters (net) to the summit sign Copy and paste the code below into your page adjusting the height/width as required. But we didn’t get much further than the trailhead because about 5 meters along we encountered a patch of snow roughly 30 cm deep, with plenty more snow on the trail beyond that. Long Description: Located in beautiful Kananaskis country in the Canadian Rockies, the Highwood Pass is the highest navigable pass in Canada. Mr. GeoK and I agree that we’ll do this ride again. Please leave the logos in place! In the spring, it is a common destination for bike riders of all shapes and sizes, from knobby MTBs to sleek Cervélos, and even one fold-em-up.The winter has a lot of people skiing and snowshoeing along it and possibly making a loop with Pocaterra trail in the vicinity of Lookout / WhiskeyJack / etc.In the late spring, they typically have to plow the top of it to make it ready for cars, so you can do a gate-to gate of 54km each way for a weekend or two before the opening. We rode our mountain bikes (pumped up the tires more than usual) because they have a lot of gears! Difficulty = moderately challenging, with some extended climbs. Our hybrid bikes with road tires have only 11 gears, which would have made the ride up quite difficult. From the date of publication, there are two more weekends to do the ride before the gates open for the summer of 2016. But that also means an easy ride back down. Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Out & About with the GeoKs - Cycling Highwood Pass, 2020 edition, Bike & Hike: Highwood Pass and Arethusa Cirque | Out and About with the GeoKs, Cycling: Bow River Pathway | Out and About with the GeoKs, Cycling Highway 1A from Banff to Johnston Canyon, Hiking the Bow Valley - Three Sisters Creek and Waterfall, Gear Review: Simms Guide Windbloc Foldover Mitts for Photography. Others came up a few minutes later. The ideal scenario for this bike ride would be a one way trip where you start at the gate nearest Longview, cycle 37 kilometres to Highwood Pass and then descend 17 kilometres on a road with a much steeper grade to the gate by King Creek. The next hill was a little steeper, so we took another short break at the 8 km mark. The start of the road up to Highwood Pass The best way to do the bike ride up Highwood Pass. We were blessed with beautiful... - 86.0 km, +1166 m. Bike ride in Kananaskis Village, Alberta NOTE: There is a second winter gate, at the other end of Highwood Pass.
The main reason was that we kept playing a kind of leapfrog, with one riding ahead, then stopping to photograph the other as they approached and then rode on by. Highwood Pass - 2213m P (highest paved in Alberta) South of Highwood - 1805m, 2003m, 1752m, 1797m HWY 93 Bow Summit - 2088m P Sunwapta Pass - 2035m P Vermilion Pass - 1680m P Fortress Access Road - 2070m HWY 742 Smith Dorien Pass - 1905m White Man's Gap - 1710m Moraine Lake Road - 1905m P But when Mr. GeoK suggested we try riding from the winter gates to the summit of the highest paved road in Canada, I was pretty quick to agree to try. In the end, it’s a good thing we opted out of slogging up to the meadow. Note: This view comes direct from Strava and I'm not responsible for the content or layout. I’ve read that if this somehow ended up as part of the Tour de France, the length and grade of the final climb to the pass would earn it a Category 1 rating. Around 11 a.m., we joined more than a dozen vehicles parked along the shoulders of Highway 40 just downhill of the winter gate. We figured the ride down wouldn’t take more than about half an hour and since we still had 2.5 hours before it was time to pick up our son, we continued on to the Highwood Meadows Day Use parking lot to enjoy the picnic lunch we’d packed along. 13.73 km ride with 527 m of climbing, average grade of 3.7 %. A few people riding road bikes had passed us and were already there when we arrived. From June 15 - Dec 15, it is the highest paved road in Canada, from Dec. 15 - Jun 15, it is the highest paved road in Canada with a great big GATE across each end of it. Then it was a pretty nice ride, with amazing mountain scenery, lots of ups and a couple of downs, not too bad at all. Check it out! spring winter fall summer. This is the Highwood Pass on Hiway 40. A little further on the snow changed to ice pellets and we learned that riding into ice pellets at speeds approaching 50 kph makes it seem like you’re riding into a swarm of really angry hornets who want nothing more than to sting your face a thousand times! My first impulse was a short hike. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
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Total distance = 39 km (24 miles); 34 km to the summit sign and back Save this image to your device to share. Please login and have credits (add 1 to get 3) or be a subscriber in order to download GPS. It’s an awesome way to see the area. It started snowing as we began our ride back towards the winter gates. Don’t expect solitude! I was really thankful the ice pellets only lasted about 5 minutes!
It’s a longer ride, but the elevation gain is more gradual. The area is closed to vehicles from December 15 through June 15 each year. We reached a top speed on the way down of 54 kph!! The summit is just about at the tree line, which means the surrounding area is one of the most accessible alpine areas in the Canadian Rockies. Almost exactly 1 hr 30 minutes after we started riding, we reached the summit. Elevation gain = 720 meters (total); 500 meters (net) to the summit sign Difficulty = moderately challenging, with some extended climbs. We did our best to be Wild Smart, sticking to the shoulder, moving slowly, and stopping a fair distance away before getting out our cameras. Several riders were just starting their 17 km ride to the summit, but by the time we unloaded our bikes and got ourselves organized, they were well along the first incline. For more on this option, check out this blog post from HikeBikeTravel.
Pingback: Out & About with the GeoKs - Cycling Highwood Pass, 2020 edition, Pingback: Bike & Hike: Highwood Pass and Arethusa Cirque | Out and About with the GeoKs, Pingback: Cycling: Bow River Pathway | Out and About with the GeoKs. Ride to Highwood Pass is a 47.2 mile moderately trafficked out and back trail located near Kananaskis Improvement, Alberta, Canada that offers scenic views and is rated as difficult. Drive South 50.0km, park at King Creek trailhead or possibly on the road side (not sure if that's legal).South Gate: South of Calgary on Hiway 22 to Longview, AB. Please ride/run/ski/board/skate safely and, If you wish to use these images for commercial purposes then please read and comply with. It’s only possible to do it without vehicles on the road for a few weeks each year…from springtime when the snow’s off enough to make it passable and mid-June, when the winter gates open.
Ride. Cold morning. And it was kind of chilly; I was glad to switch out my cycling helmet for the toque I’d packed. But it’s not closed to bicycles!