Elbow - Sheep Wildland

We visited this park for a hike this fall, to see the larch trees. It was a little off the beaten path, and we visited mid week, so there were no crowds - we had the Little Arethusa trail all to ourselves. The drive itself is lovely, and on the hike there are gorgeous views! This is a great choice for a short day hike, as you already start at a fairly high altitude, so it doesn't take long to get above the tree line.

Great drive. Beautiful vistas. Loads of places to stop for a rest-period and snack. Lots of wildlife.

Great for middle experience hikers, the first 600mts of trail are though.

Great place for a hike! Make sure to bring lots of water in the summer

I've done a couple of hikes around here. My go-to backcountry campground is Tombstone, which can be accessed using either the big or little elbow loop. Do wear comfortable boot as the campground in 20+ kilometers either way, so it will easily take you 5+ hours with a backpack. Enjoy the outdoors!

Great views. Great hikes. Something for everyone in this area. Highly recommend it!

Edworthy Falls
Having been along the trail from Elbow Lake and up to Rae Lake last year, and found parts of the trail a bit long
and hot, and stony , I was glad to hear about Edworthy Falls . It was said to be somewhere between Elbow Lake
and the fork to Tombstone and Sheep Trail. Trouble was no one had a description of how to find it . In places
there is a lot of thick brush and spruce trees to fight your way through to the creek. I had seen photos of it
so yesterday some friends and I decided to try to find it . We heard you could hear it from the trail but as
the wind was blowing so that couldn't be our guide . After a kilometer or maybe two from Elbow Lake, we came to a meadow on our
left, it looked so nice and peaceful, it had several big round white boulders scattered around throughout ,and
when we saw a couple sitting on a rock by where the stream was ( but out of sight) we thought maybe it was the
falls they were sitting by and enjoying their lunch.

We headed over there and down into a little valley the creek was in, but no falls . We carried on downstream
beside the creek ( a little bushwhacking required ) and soon came upon a beautiful series of falls , but not
Edworthy Falls. These falls were a series of drops over a 70 meter stretch of the creek , and were well worth
going to again ,even if we had never found Edworthy Falls . These Minnie falls are at 413143, You just leave the
trail and go through the meadow and head for the creek.

If you come to where the main trail is bordered by spruce on your left ,you went to far. Oh , yes just down stream
from the falls are great spots for weary travellers to enjoy a snack while overlooking them.

Now back to our search for Edworthy Falls, back on the main trail we discovered a cairn on the left side
at 415144 ( very hard to miss, even has a yellow and pink ribbon on a tree). A well worn path leads you
down to the falls at 419142. The falls have a nice flat grassy area for resting , and also a short path
to the bottom rocky area below them.
Anyone still not tired after the hike up to Elbow Lake will find this 3 km (One way from the lake ) an
easy walk, and could be very romantic if You have someone you care for with you .
In case you are not using a GPS, but have a Gem Trek publishing's ' map ,titled Kananaskis Lakes ( available at Mountain
Equipment coop or most park info centers). Just look for Highway 40 ,it has little round yellow circles with 40 in the circles.
The second circle from the bottom of the map is the starting point of the trail. It shows Elbow Lake and day use area.
With you eye on the map follow "Big Elbow Trail" to where there is a little icon of a bicycle, thats close to the Minnie Falls .
Just head for the river/creek.
To find Edworthy Falls ,again with your eye glued to the map ( but still watching where your going ) ,look for the black dots
indicating a trail coming in from your right . I don't recall this trail , but since you dont have a GPS , this will be your
guide to be looking for a trail ,kinda not that easy to sopt,it goes off to the left and to the falls ,maybe a 100 meters
or less, an easy walk .
I'm adding 2 photos of the google map showing first the Rapids ,then a little bit farther down stream the Falls . I think the Rapids ( Minnie falls ) are located on the letter v shown on the map ( in the wording Elbow River )
The second photo shows the Falls a little ways down stream . They are only a few hundred meters apart.

Fun place to get Lost.

Bike trails are great. Try out Merlin!

Great day for a motorcycle ride

Great area with beautiful trails. Good for hikes.