Junction Hill Counterclockwise, Kananaskis Country - Dec 28th 2025

Trail : Junction Hill, counterclockwise
Date : Dec 28th 2024
Location : Kananaskis country, AB
Trailhead location : We parked at the winter gate where hwy 541 ends and hwy 40 starts
Starting time : 7h44 am
Distance : 9.01 km
Elevation gain : 811 m
Total time to complete 15 min at the summit : 4h01
Difficulty : Hard (on the moderate side) with very minimal scramble
Trail traffic : We met a couple starting while we were back at the truck, no one on the trail
Junction Hill was absolutely perfect for us today! The hike wasn’t too challenging, took us just 4 hours, and rewarded us with incredible views. We tackled the loop counterclockwise, which turned out to be an excellent choice. The West slope had more snow, making the descent a lot more enjoyable than if we had ascended that way.
The adventure begins with a short walk along the road before merging left onto the trail, which is straightforward until you reach the ridge. From there, the ridge walk to the summit is a highlight-it’s a bit of a trek, but the panoramic views are breathtaking. While there’s a touch of scrambling along the ridge, it’s nothing too intense.
Today, we didn’t even need spikes, but trekking poles proved useful. The trail was easy to follow, though a navigation tool came in handy-we went off-trail briefly on the way up and noticed a few trail options on the way down.
Descending was smooth with very little post-holing, likely because the trail had been hiked recently. All in all, it was another successful morning exploring the Rockies-beautiful scenery and a great experience!