Kindersley-Sinclair Loop

Name: Kindersley-Sinclair Loop
Rating: 9.8

Panorama on Kindersley-Sinclair Loop hike in Kootenay National Park, the Canadian Rockies

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The Kindersley-Sinclair Loop hike is a classic hike in Kootenay National Park. This is a beautiful hike that takes you through several different landscapes in Kootenay National Park. From meadows of beautiful wildflowers to sprawling vistas of the surrounding peaks, as well as dense forest this hike has it all. The Kindersley Sinclair Loop is a perfect day hike in Kootenay National Park.

Route Description for Kindersley-Sinclair Loop

The Kindersley-Sinclair Loop hike has two parking lots: Kindersley Pass Parking Lot and Sinclair Creek Parking lot. We recommend using a car shuttle, as you need to walk between the two parking lots at the end, and the walk is along the busy (and narrow) 93S highway. We like to start at the Sinclair parking lot and finish at the Kindersley Pass parking lot, as the Sinclair parking lot is at a higher elevation, which means less elevation gain on the walk.

Before setting off on the Kindersley-Sinclair Loop, you should check if there is a hiking restriction due to bears in the area. It’s best to check with Kootenay National Park bulletins, as there is often a restriction of hiking in a minimum group size of 4 people, and the maximum distance between group members is 3 m.

From the Sinclair Parking lot on Highway 93S, head immediately downhill and take a right up the signed path, the route roughly follows Sinclair Creek up the valley. After walking 1.8 km you will cross a bridge over Sinclair Creek.

Continue hiking up the valley, and after roughly 3.8 km you will come to wonderful meadows with wildflowers. These flowers are Incredible in late-July and early-August, though that time of year can change depending on each year.

Continue to follow the path as it goes up valley and then trends to the right. The views as the valley opens up are great, but they get phenomenal roughly 5.8 km from the car, as you reach tree line.

After roughly 7.5 km you get to Kindersley-Sinclair Col, and the views are spectacular. Just south from the Col is a small hump of a peak. The map shows the route to the top of it, and it is highly recommended to continue to that small peak.

Return from the small peak to Kindersley-Sinclair Col and then continue along the trail as it descends for roughly 1.4 km to Kindersley Pass. The pass isn’t an epic pass, as you’re in the trees, in fact we didn’t notice it on our hike.

From Kindersley Pass it’s an 8.7 km hike mostly downhill through a pretty forest path that takes you to the Kindersley Pass parking lot.

Find other great hikes in Kootenay National Park:

Insider Hints for Kindersley-Sinclair Loop

This is Grizzly Bear country and by mid-summer access is usually limited to groups of four or more. Check out this website to see if this is currently the case.
If you don’t have a 2nd car to shuttle, you could go up via Sinclair Creek to Kindersley-Sinclair and retrace your route to your car. You could also park at Kindersley Parking lot and walk on the 93S to start the hike, though be aware that this is a busy road and part of the walk has a very small shoulder.
You are so close to Radium, it makes sense to drive the 12.0 km to Radium Hot Springs, which is open until 11pm in summer.

Getting to the Kindersley-Sinclair Loop Trailhead

From Radium, take the 93S highway into Kootenay National Park. There are two parking lots, we suggest parking in Sinclair Parking lot, 12.0 km east of Radium and finishing in Kindersley Pass Parking Lot, 11.0 km east of Radium. These parking lots are not well signed and appear more as pull-offs on the road.