KANANASKIS COUNTRY - Canadian Rockies: Including Banff and Jasper National Parks - page 204

HIKING
Prairie View
• Length: 6.5 kilometers/4 miles (2-2.5 hours) one-way
• Elevation gain: 420 meters/1,380 feet
• Rating: moderate
• Trailhead: north end of Barrier Lake, Highway 40
This trail provides a variety of options; the most straightforward leads to a high viewpoint
atop McConnell Ridge. To get started, cross the Barrier Dam, take the right fork at the first
junction, and go left at the second. From this point the trail climbs steadily along an old
fire lookout road to the summit, where views extend south across Barrier Lake to Mount
Baldy. The actual site of the fire lookout is one kilometer (0.6 mile) farther and 80 ver-
tical meters (260 vertical feet) from the main trail along the ridge. The additional climb
to the lookout is well worth the effort; you'll be rewarded with views across Bow Val-
ley to Mount Yamnuska and east across the prairies to Calgary. Back on the main trail, at
the 6.5-kilometer (four-mile) mark, you'll come to Jewell Pass, a major trail junction. The
options from this point are to descend along Jewell Creek to the shore of Barrier Lake,
passing picturesque Jewell Falls (14 km/8.7 mi round-trip from the parking lot; allow four
hours), or to continue north into the Quaite Valley and to the Heart Creek trailhead in the
Bow Valley (a further 8 km/five mi one-way).