Elbow Lake hike
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Elbow Lake hike
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The hike to Elbow Lake is a wonderful, family-friendly hike in the Highwood Area. It’s also the perfect first backpack trip, as Elbow Lake is so close to the trailhead. We do this hike every year with our family.
Getting there
From the Stoney Nakoda Casino on the TransCanada, take Highway 40 south for roughly 38.5mi. Turn left into the Elbow Pass Parking lot.
About
| When to do | June to October |
| Backcountry Campsites | Elbow Lake |
| Toilets | At trailhead |
| Family friendly | Yes |
| Route Signage | Average |
| Crowd Levels | Moderate |
| Route Type | Lollipop |
Elbow Lake
Elevation Graph
Weather
Route Description for Elbow Lake
The hike to Elbow Lake is a classic family hike, with great scenery for limited effort. There is also Elbow Lake Backcountry Campground, and for many families this is the first backpacking trip they do as a family.
From the Elbow Pass Parking lot, take the signed path that heads out from the parking lot. You’ll follow this wide path for about 0.6mi. At the 0.6mi mark, you’ll find yourself in a wide-open cirque with views all around you. On your right, you can see a peak from the Mount Rae massif: its shape reminiscent of a breaking wave.
In a few hundred metres you’ll reach Elbow Lake. With deep emerald and blue tones, this lake is as beautiful as they come. A mountain from the Elpoca massif on the left slides right into the lake. If you’re camping here, the campsite is to your right.
We like to go around the lake counter-clockwise, as this takes us through the campground, which has a toilet. Follow the path taking you around the other side of the lake. You’ll have to cross over a shallow creek at the tail-end of Elbow Lake. The views as you round the other side of Elbow Lake are even better than the side you hiked out on.
Finish circumnavigating Elbow Lake. You’ll return to your car on the same wide path that took you up to Elbow Lake in the first place.
Insider Hints
Elbow Lake Backcountry Campground is a great option for a first backpack for families. This campground has 15 sites, firepits and toilets, though you’ll need to boil or treat the lake water for drinking. Due to the elevation make sure you do it on a warm night, ideally in late-July or early August.
If you can, drive the southern approach to the hike, which goes through Longview and has much less traffic, though absolutely incredible views.
The entire Highwood Pass area, including the southern portion of Highway 40, is closed from December 1st to June 14th each year. This hike can only be reached via a long bike ride while the highway is closed.
Check out our YouTube video on this great family hike.
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Coll A. 4 years ago
Amazing view of the lake and the mountains. Trail was so easy and simple.
MayP 4 years ago
Took us a long time to finish because all we do is take snaps because there are too much scenery that blew us away!
WendyMag. 5 years ago
As other mentioned it's quite the climb to start but we'll worth it. Nice and stunning lake&mountains view
Kelseyk 5 years ago
It's a nice hike if you're looking for something easy and chill! It's definitely beautiful, though.
Haffy K. 5 years ago
Stunning lake views! Nice environment. The hike to Elbow Lake is a classic family hike, with great scenery for minimal effort.
Perry K. 5 years ago
This is a wonderful, family-friendly hike. We'll try our first backpack trip next year!
LukeMc 5 years ago
The views keep getting better as we went further. It was a pleasant hike.
lindsaaay 5 years ago
Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Pretty without much effort. If you're going on a nice weekend, try to get to the parking lot early.
romeoM 6 years ago
Beautiful vistas! Camping, hiking, fishing, and photography can be done in this incredible hike!
Peggy Rosie 6 years ago
Easy walk, quite a few people. Struggled to get parking space.