Scrambles in Castle Provincial Park

Castle Provincial Park Scrambles

Castle Provincial Park scrambles are an exhilarating experience that will take you through some beautifully scenic, albeit rugged, terrain. Castle Provincial Park and Castle Wildland Provincial Park are two new provincial parks in the SW corner of Alberta. The Castle area, as it’s referred to locally, is one of the most biologically diverse areas of Alberta. Located just north of Waterton Lakes National Park and south of Crowsnest Pass, these new provincial parks are just getting going, however the Castle area is already known for its stunning beauty.

The Castle Provincial Park scrambles are much more isolated than in nearby Provincial and National Parks, and many of the approaches are along gravel access roads or ATV Tracks, where a bike would help cut down the travel time. Below you'll find the best scrambles in Alberta’s Castle Area.

THE TOP 10 SCRAMBLES IN CASTLE AREA, INCLUDING CASTLE PROVINCIAL PARK AND CASTLE WILDLAND PROVINCIAL PARK, ALBERTA

1. Victoria Peak (17.6 km, 1,021 m, 5-8 h): Victoria Peak is the highest peak in the Castle area. Scrambling up Victoria Peak provides spectacular views where the colorful mountains of the Castle meet the prairies.
2. Loaf Mountain and Spionkop Ridge (20.8 km, 1,314 m, 7-12h): Loaf Mountain is the second highest peak in Castle and is bordered by spectacularly colorful valleys. An extension to the summit of Spionkop Ridge provides a spectacular view into Waterton Lakes National Park.
3. Drywood Mountain Traverse (24.0 km, 1,259 m, 7-12h): Drywood Mountain is a long and easy traverse of a high ridge in the colorful Castle Wildland, followed by a descent to a brilliantly-blue lake for a swim and possible camping makes this a spectacular summer outing!
4. Southfork Mountain and Barnaby Ridge (18.0 km, 1,395 m, 7-12h): The scramble to Southfork Mountain and Barnaby Ridge has it all, a backcountry campsite on beautiful Southfork Lakes, a long ridge top traverse, and spectacular scenery throughout!
5. Table Mountain (9.4 km, 764 m, 6-9h): The scramble up Table Mountain is a colorful ascent alongside a creek, with spectacular photo opportunities above the sheer north face, and great summit views of where the mountains meet the prairies. In other words, a perfect day out in Castle!
6. Turtle Mountain (7.5 km, 922 m, 4.5-7h): The rockslide off Turtle Mountain over a century ago fractured the mountain on a scale that is difficult to imagine, yet this scramble takes you across the fractured summit ridge where the sheer scale of the forces at play are apparent. A stop at the Frank Slide Interpretive Center afterwards to complete the history lesson makes this a fascinating and different kind of scramble!
7. Pincher Ridge (11.7 km, 849 m, 5-8h): Pincher Ridge is located near the heart of this spectacularly colorful region of the Rockies - Castle Wildland Provincial Park. The scramble up Pincher Ridge provides a stunning aerial view of the surrounding ridges of red argillite, lush green valleys, and the intersection of the mountains with the prairies.
8. Mount Gladstone (16.9 km, 984 m, 7-10h): A scramble up Mount Gladstone is a wonderful day out in the mountains! A nice trail alongside a lively creek, a colorful ascent, and unparalleled views of Castle Peak and Windsor Mountain make it, arguably, one of the most scenic mountains in the entire park!
9. Mount Haig (11.6 km, 1,205 m, 6-9h): Mount Haig is the highest peak in Castle PP and you can’t go wrong scrambling to the top of the highest peak in any park let alone Castle Provincial Park! Add on a scenic and swimmable lake at its base, abundant huckleberries and salmon-berries along the approach, and you’ve got an excellent outing on Mount Haig.
10. Mount Coulthard (19.1 km, 1,112 m, 6-9h): The scramble up Mt Coulthard takes you through a spectacular and lush alpine basin, a historical plane crash site, and provides wonderful up-close views of the spectacular peaks of the Flathead Range.
11. Syncline Mountain (5.8 km, 995 m, 5-8h): Syncline Mountain is a steep ascent through a larch forest (or a hellish bushwhack thru alders if you take the wrong approach), best viewed in late September for their remarkable color change, although at any time of year, the summit views that stretch down multiple mountain valleys make Syncline Mountain an excellent outing!

Get the 10Adventures Trail App

If you want to explore the natural beauty of Castle Provincial Park on your own, you should make sure to get the 10Adventures trail app. Featuring the ability to safely and easily navigate the trails offline, while also tracking the stats of your hike, it is the best resource to have in your pocket while out exploring.