Opal Ridge South Summit Route

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Fall Colors · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

Always carry bear spray!

NOTE: This is a ROUTE that is unmaintained by Alberta Parks.

Getting to the Opal Ridge south summit can be roughly broken into three phases, two of them quite steep and one of them fairly scrambly. Within the treeline (~start to 1.6km/1mi) you'll climb steeply on a well-eroded trail. Between ~1.6km/1mi and 2.7km/1.7mi, the anti- is upped to a still-steep-but-now-scree-covered-and-more-difficult-to-navigate network of heavily braided trail lines. Tread carefully. After this point is a more gentle (and very beautiful) climb to the final ascent to the peak! A challenging and very rewarding trek! Round-trip distance is ~7.4km/4.6mi. There is a more infrequently-traveled route the follows the ridge south from the summit, but it is not recommended to those without wayfinding experience (and preferably a GPS and satellite communication device).

Birds, small mammals, deer