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Three Isle Lake and South Kananaskis Pass

Three Isle Lake and South Kananaskis Pass near Kananaskis, AB

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This trail was given a rating of 4 out of 5 stars

30 kms
16hours
moderate
Back Country Skiing, Hiking, Snowshoeing
Fall, Summer
Kananaskis, AB

Wendy74ca

LARGER MAP

NTS Map: 082j11

Elevation Gain: 490 m (1,608 ft) to lake, 626 m (2,054 ft) to pass.
Distance: 6.7 km to forks, 10.2 km to lake, 13 km to pass.

The time and distance are round-trip.

The hike to the Forks Campground from Upper Kananaskis Lake is a good hike for your first overnight trip of the year. It isn't too far (under 7 km) or too steep and it puts you in easy range of Three Isle Lake and the South Kananaskis Pass. The campground has a communal cooking area with plenty of wood an axe and lockers and hangers to keep your gear away from bears.

Once you leave the Forks, the trail gets much steeper and more exposed and there are long sections of stairs to climb. It was nice to have left our packs behind at the campground for this section, although you can also camp up at Three Isle. The lake is nothing spectacular to look at but there is good fishing. (If my boyfriend managed to catch oneÂ…). While he was fishing, I continued up to South Kananaskis Pass, which, in my opinion, was the best part of the whole hike.

To get to the Pass, you walk through a forested area and eventually get to the BC Border and a large meadow. There is a small trail across the meadow which is filled with flowers and butterflies. Shortly you'll reach Beatty Lake - a beautiful little lake in the trees. It is well worth the trip.

Current conditions:

Directions:

You can access the trail from the Upper Kananaskis Lake north parking lot. Cross the dam and follow the fire road to your left. Keep left at the Indefatigable Trail sign and keep right at the next junction. Follow signs thereafter.

By Posted By: Jonny - Fri Sep 12 06:33:20 EDT 2008 Upside Beautiful scenery, Great fishing, Rewarding hike. Downside No open fire's Comment Just came back from my first trip to Three Isle. Next time I would definately be spending the night at the fork's camp area for the reason of having a fire and being able to hike up to three isle much lighter.

By Posted By: Soft Hackel - Wed Sep 12 13:11:46 EDT 2007 Not Rated Comment If you want easy fishing at Three Isle Lake go by the creek (not much but provides high amounts of oxygen for the fish and therefore attracks them) on the right hand side of the lake from where you hike in.

By Posted By: Soft Hackel - Wed Sep 12 13:09:05 EDT 2007 Upside This hike has many different veiws that are spectacular and well worth it. Three Isle Lake has some very good fishing for Cutthroat trout I used a parachute Adams and caught two 1.5lbs lots of fun. Downside It down poored well we hiked up to Three Isle Lake and when we got back to camp (forks) everything was soaked. Comment Good hike but next time I won't bring that big book with me!

By Posted By: megs - Tue Feb 06 20:31:00 EST 2007 Upside A beautiful hike that has great rewards! Downside A bit sketchy in the winter. Comment A great winter hike, make sure to bring snowshoes and be careful at the stairs.