Death Valley and Windy Point Trails

Posted May 15th, 2007 by Chris

Distance:

15.7 km

Difficulty:

Easy

Elev. gain:

145 meters

Time required:

4 - 6 hours

Bikes permitted:

Yes

Dogs permitted:

Yes

Horses permitted:

Yes

Download GPX

Directions to trail head

Drive to Turner Valley which depending on your route is anywhere from 65 to 78 kilometers from Calgary. After you drive into Turner Valley from the north on highway #22 drive through town to a 4-way stop which has a sign for highway #546 to the west. There is an Esso station at the intersection. Turn right (west) on Highway #546. This highway turns into Township Road #194a. The boundary of the Sandy McNabb Recreation Area is approximately 17 kilometers from Turner Valley. The trailhead is approximately 2 kilometers inside the park, about a 100 meters west of the winter gates. This is the start of the Death Valley Trail. The trailhead for the Windy Point Trail is approximately 3 kilometers further west on the same road.

Hike Description

This was my first hike in this area. I was really impressed. Although there is only a total elevation gain of less than 150 meters there is climbing totaling 650 meters. During the hike I saw a coyote, a moose, several deer, two hawks one of which was eating a duck, and a great horned owl which flew around us from tree to tree. This was the best picture I could get of the owl.

I started at waypoint #225 which is the trailhead for the Death Valley Trail. This trail is relatively well marked. Most of the trail junctions have the trail written on the markers in small letters which you can see if you approach the markers. There are several trails intersecting with the Death Valley Trail. They are all part of the Sandy McNabb X-Country Ski Trails. The only points at which I found myself confused was where the Death Valley Loop intersected with the trail at waypoints #227 and #228. There are trail signs for the X-Country Ski Trails but the Death Valley Trail is not really shown. Basically you want to keep going north on the trail that continues north off of the map for the X-Country Ski Trails. Waypoint #230 is the intersection of the Death Valley and Windy Point Trails. To head back to the road via the Windy Point Trail cross the stream and head down the trail. This is the what you will see at this point.

The full size topographical map can be viewed via flickr.

The GPS track for this hike can be downloaded via the file attached to this post. Go to the "About" page for directions prior to download or use of this data. Please submit your feedback and let me know your thoughts on the hike. If you have the the GPS data for other hikes in Alberta please send it along with a couple pictures to chris[at]hikealberta[dot]com.