Blue Ridge

BOU AVENUE
Blue Ridge

With an unsettled weather forecast in the mountains on 17 May 2025, Zosia Zgolak and I felt it was the right time to tackle Blue Ridge in Alberta's Kananaskis Country Public Land Use Zone (PLUZ). The officially-named ridge stands tall among the surrounding landscape but is mostly covered with trees and devoid of views. As such, Blue Ridge is only of interest to die-hard peak-baggers, and most often it is ascended in winter when summit options are limited. The most popular ascent route entails crossing Sheep River near Sandy McNabb campground, but since we were uncertain about spring runoff conditions, we decided to play it safe and start from the more obscure entrance to the PLUZ on the south side of the river. This would entail climbing over intervening Channel Ridge twice, and most of the route-finding would be pure guesswork.

From the 4-way stop (junction of Highway 22 and Highway 546) in Diamond Valley, head south on Main Street for 300 metres and turn left onto Decalta Drive. Drive 1.6 kilometres and turn right onto 16 Avenue. Drive 1.7 kilometres and veer left onto 208 Street. Drive 1.8 kilometres and turn right onto 450 Avenue (eventually becomes 2WD gravel). Ignore all side roads and drive 14.0 kilometres to a large parking area (no facilities) at the PLUZ boundary.

Zosia and I started by going through the boundary gate and heading west along a cattle-churned road. After dropping into a dip to hop over a small creek, we climbed up the far side and turned southward to follow a cow trail across a large meadow. At the far side of the meadow, we connected to another road which runs up a forested draw to a cut block on the eastern side of Channel Ridge. Going through the cut block, we soon picked up a road which initially looked like it would be climbing up to the crest of the ridge. We completely missed flagging for a turnoff trail and made the mistake of sticking too long on the road which eventually drops back into the same valley. A fair bit of uncertain muddling about ensued until we ultimately stumbled onto yet another road, and this one actually does climb onto the crest of Channel Ridge not far from the highest point. We remained on the ridge crest only briefly though before dropping down the west side and following a series of cut blocks across the valley to the east side of Blue Ridge. Much of the hiking here was tedious but not overly difficult, and the only real challenge was at the valley bottom where we had to pick our way across a grassy marsh. The final climb up the forested eastern slope of Blue Ridge was little more than a steep uphill grunt, and for the most part, we were able to avoid the abundant toothpick deadfall here. As we reached the crest of Blue Ridge, we were hit by falling graupel, but the forest effectively shielded us from the brunt of the short-lived storm. By the time we reached the high point of Blue Ridge just a short distance away, the storm had passed, and the sky was already clearing up.

For our return, Zosia and I descended Blue Ridge the same way we came. The subsequent crossing of the cut blocks in the valley felt long but was generally straightforward as we stuck close to a fence line almost the entire way to the crest of Channel Ridge. Instead of descending the road that we climbed up to gain the crest of Channel Ridge, we followed the ridge northward until we spotted a faint but unmistakable trail dropping off to the east. This was the turnoff trail that we missed earlier in the day, and it led us steeply but without fuss down to the first road we picked up on the east side of the ridge. The remaining hike down the draw to the large meadow and out the cattle-churned road went without a hitch.

	Zosia opens a gate at the entrance to Kananaskis Country Public Land Use Zone.
	Zosia crosses a big meadow aiming for the gap below the moon.
	Sonny trudges through one of several cattle-churned sections of trail. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	This stretch of trail actually looks decent for hiking.
	Zosia follows a road that appears to climb up the eastern side of Channel Ridge, but ultimately, the road descends back into the same valley.
	Zosia has a knack for finding antlers in the wild.
	After muddling about on the east side of Channel Ridge, Zosia finds another road that actually leads to the ridge crest.

Maybe the best view of the day!

Sonny drops down the west side of Channel Ridge through a cut block. Across the valley is Blue Ridge.

Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak

	Snow-clad mountains are visible on the horizon as Zosia picks her way through the slash in the cut block.
	Zosia looks for a suitable place to cross this grassy marsh at the bottom of the valley separating Channel Ridge and Blue Ridge.
	Zosia begins grinding up the forested eastern slope of Blue Ridge.
	Sonny comes across an interesting rock outcrop on the ridge crest. Photo courtesy of Zosia Zgolak
	Sonny and Zosia stand on the true high point of Blue Ridge (1925 metres). The pink register box is courtesy of Ephraim Roberts.
	Zosia samples some Fireball Cinnamon Whisky from the register box.
	Zosia dodges some toothpick deadfall on her way down the eastern slope of Blue Ridge.

It should keep you from walking around in circles!

This barbed wire fence is a good guide for getting back to Channel Ridge.

	Zosia finds yet another antler lying in the grass.
	This is the final big uphill climb of the day on the western slope of Channel Ridge.
	Zosia heads north along the crest of Channel Ridge.
	Zosia takes a short cut trail which drops steeply down the east side of Channel Ridge.
	Zosia crosses the same big meadow near the start.
	Total Distance: 20.7 kilometres Round-Trip Time: 10 hours 29 minutes Cumulative Elevation Gain: 873 metres GPX Data