Highway 66 is a winding road leading from Bragg Creek to the eastern reaches of the Canadian Rockies. The road travels through the trees, but near the end, it opens up to point that you can gaze to peaks far above. It makes a magnificent first visit to the Canadian Rockies. Highway 66 then turns into Powderface Trail (gravel) as it rounds a corner by the Little Elbow Campground. Compared to Highway 66, Powderface Trail is a lot more rugged, with steep hills, but rewarding views of the eastern walls of the Rockies, namely Nihahi Ridge. The gravel road then continues north and meets up with Highway 68, which leads to either Highway 40 or Highway 1.

Trips completed in this area will generally be straightforward scrambles or hikes. In the summer, most of the views of the area will be comprised of green, brown, and gray, a somewhat dreary landscape, but beautiful in its own way. This area is one of the closest and most readily accessible from Calgary, with most of the trips being situated in Kananaskis Country in either the Don Getty Wildland Provincial Park or the Elbow-Sheep Wildland Provincial Park.

This area generally sees significantly less snow than other regions of the rockies, making some of the mid to low elevation peaks doable at all times during the year.

Discover our trip reports for this area below.