Volcano Ridge Trail

The advantage of starting at the Gorge Creek Parking lot is that you have an opportunity to see a waterfall less than a kilometer into the hike. You will have to leave the trail to get a good view of the falls shown below in the fall.

The disadvantage of starting at the Gorge Creek Parking lot is that the total distance if you hike straight out to the ridge and back is that the total distance will be 16 kilometers. From the Volcano Ridge Parking lot you could get to the ridge and back in 12 kilometers. The GPS track starts at the Gorge Creek lot and completes a loop back to the parking lot which is a total distance of 19.5 kilometers.

Starting at the Gorge Creek Parking lot the first intersection is 1 kilometer from the trailhead, past the waterfall, where the Gorge Link Trail meets the Gorge Creek Trail. Keep to the right on the Gorge Link Trail. After a further 1.5 kilometers the Gorge Link Trail intersects with the Volcano Ridge Trail. Turn to the left following the Volcano Ridge Trail. Approximately 1.5 kilometers from this intersection the trail starts to climb and you will gain elevation quickly as you endure the grind up the scree.

The next intersection is that of the Volcano Ridge and Link Trail. By this point you will have covered almost 5 kilometers. Follow the link trail, it dips initially before continuing to climb. At a point approximately 1 kilometer from the intersection the trail will begin an obvious decent. Calgary is visible on a clear day. It will appear that you have walked slightly past the rocky knoll depicted below which will be to your right.

This is the same knoll that you will have noticed when you had finished the climb on the Volcano Ridge Trail. At this point on the left side of the trail is the trail to Volcano Ridge which is an additional 5 kilometers return. The trail starts out appearing to be overgrown but it becomes more obvious within only a couple of hundred meters.

From a distance Volcano Ridge does not appear all that impressive.

You will climb the trail which gradually circles around towards the top of Volcano Ridge. At the top the 360 views are fantastic. You can see Mount Rose, Three Point Mountain, and Forgetmenot Mountain to the west and the foothills towards Calgary to the east. Volcano Ridge is the highest point in the area.

To return, once you reach Link Creek Trail again, the trail descends steeply for about a kilometer of the 2.6 kilometers to the intersection of the Link and Gorge Link Trails. Turn right at the intersection and follow the Gorge Link Trail back to the parking lot.