Canyon Crk Ice Cave 545416 Off-Trail hike on 6-May-2025

Since the coordinator, me, David, was last in this cave in 1994, I decided to check it out again before I die. Thanks to participants: Bob, Janet, Neil, Pati, Heather for joining me. Perfect weather (+8c to +18c) prevailed with sun and negligible wind.

About the first 5km of the hike is along a good gravel road which could be cycled by almost any bicycle. Then a rough trail angles upwards through the woods and across some steep scree to reach the cave entrance. Immediately it felt cooler. We all entered the cave, but the men continued inside for maybe 50 metres before turning around, while the ladies retreated to some nearby trees for lunch. The men stopped where it would have required crawling to continue. At this point there was a strong cold wind blowing towards the cave entrance, which implied that the cave must eventually reach the surface again.

This jibes with my recollection from 1994, when 2 of us squirmed through some narrow tunnels (leaving a third behind in the dark - he was too big!) to end in a room that still had a breeze blowing through it. At this point we returned to our big friend and the main cave entrance. In 2025, we did not crawl or squirm but just turned around and walked/scrambled back the way we had come. The cave floor was quite rough, and occasionally polished with ice. We spent about 40 minutes in the cave, before joining the ladies for lunch around 12.30pm. Thanks for your patience ladies.

The walk back felt longer than on the way in, but we were diverted by some climbers on the nearby bolted creek walls. For most of this trip we were accompanied by another Rambler Yolande who preferred to cycle and had other objectives later. During the day we saw many (roadside) deer, a few horses, a marmot and several other hikers. The stats from my GPS gave 13.4 km, 440 m elevation gain in about 5 hr 10 min including lunch and 40 minutes in the cave. Spirko gives 13.1km and 265 m elevation gain, which is probably more accurate. IMO, very worthwhile.

Ramblers approach Canyon Creek Ice Cave in Kananaskis.

Group at Trail Intersection returning from Canyon Creek Ice Cave

Canyon Creek Ice Cave: end of main cave. From the strong draft coming form top right of the picture, its possible to crawl further into the mountain with appropriate equipment.

Bob near end of first cave in Canyon Creek Ice Cave

Icicle in Canyon Creek Ice Cave

Entrance to Canyon Creek Ice Cave

Map of trail to Canyon Creek Ice-Cave in Kananaskis.