Mount Indefatigable Trail

Posted June 27th, 2007 by Chris

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park

Distance:

7.2 km

Difficulty:

Strenuous

Elev. gain:

525 meters

Time required:

3 - 5 hours

Bikes permitted:

Dogs permitted:

Yes

Download GPX

Directions to trail head

From the intersection of highway #1 and highway #40 turn left and head south on highway #40. Proceed for 50 kilometers on highway #40 and turn right on Kananaskis Lake Trail. Drive 15 kilometers on Kananaskis Lake Trail and turn left into the North Interlakes Day Use Area. Just prior to reaching the day use area there will be an intersection. If you turn right and follow the gravel road you will be going the wrong way. Stay on the pavement to the parking lot.

Hazards on trail

Falling to your death. This trail follows a ridge and has a extremely steep drop at points. It is one of the steepest in Kananaskis. Remember the GPS track is only to assist with direction and depending on various factors can shift. I would not recommend this hike in the winter.

Hike Description

This mountain is named after a famous World War I battleship. The trail follows the gravel road depicted in the photo below to Mount Indefatigable which is also shown.

From the parking lot, after following the gravel road for about 250 meters you will reach the dam "cage" which you cross on a catwalk. About 50 meters down (waypoint #02) the Upper Kananaskis Lake trail the Mount Indefatigable trail is on the right side of the trail and heads up the mountain. It is not marked. If you walk more than 100 meters from the dam cage parallel to the lake you have gone to far. Except for the lack of sign the trail is well worn.

The trail then continues through the forest and then along the obvious ridge that runs up the mountain at about a 30 degree angle. Most people stop and return where the trail separates and wraps around the mountain at waypoint #03. If you are not a confident hiker turn around at this point. Even at waypoint #03 (4.8 kilometers) the views of Upper and Lower Kananaskis Lakes and the surrounding mountains are fantastic. I would guess that to the southeast you can look down the Valley for a couple of hundred kilometers. The pictures do not do the views justice.

You can view the full size Google Earth image for this hike or download the Google Earth file to explore the area around Mount Indefatigable.

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 or any information in relation to this hike. 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.