Category: | Campground, Lodging, Park, Point of interest, Establishment, |
---|---|
Address: | Kananaskis, AB T0L 2C0, Canada |
Postal code: | T0L 2C0 |
Phone: | (403) 678-3136 |
Website: | https://www.albertaparks.ca/kananaskis-country/ |
My wife, our 12 year old son and I did this hike at the end of July. We hiked in to Forks on the first afternoon, which was a pleasant and easy hike with some elevation gain, but almost no technical sections. Our second day, we left Forks around 10:30 and arrived at Turbine canyon about 4:00 in the afternoon. It was much more challenging than the hike to Forks, with lots of elevation change. No scrambles or river crossings though - everything had a bridge.
We hiked out from Turbine to the parking lot on day three. Left Turbine at 9, arrived at the parking lot at 4 after a rest at Lawson lake (which is beautiful), and a cooked lunch at Forks.
If you are accustomed to hiking in the mountains, I'd say you could hike the stretch from forks to turbine in four hours at an easy pace, assuming the weather is cooperative. My wife is recovering from an injury, so we took plenty of photo breaks. We also saw a deer, and lots of bear sign, though no actual bears.
The campground itself was pretty nice for a back country campground - two outhouses (with a roof), lots of privacy between tent pads, flat tent pads, bear lockers and a food hang, easy access to the stream, and two picnic tables. No campfires at this campsite, however. Make sure you take a quick jaunt along the stream (downstream) to see turbine canyon itself. That's what makes the hike worth it, not the campground.