Heart Creek Falls

November 8, 2014

The last day that Alberta saw grass before another long winter.  It would barely be a positive temperature as overnight a great snowfall would come in with a harsh cold.  So I can count myself lucky that I was able to get out here to capture the waterfall I set my sights on back in March.

Lac Des Arcs

On the opposite side of the highway from Lac des Arcs, you will park at the Heart Creek parking lot. This lot is used to access a couple different trails.  The longest and more notable is Quiate Valley (East bound) or the Bow Valley (West bound). In order to head in towards Heart Creek you will go East Bound and hike along the highway for 800 meters.

Unlike the last time I was through in March, the bridges have been repaired (some were a little weak and most lacked rails) which allowed me to access this trail with my girlfriend with little stress from getting wet.  Which is good news as there are a number of bridges to cross.

The exciting news is that there are two separate waterfalls to be found on this trail.  The first you encounter is trickling from atop of Heart Mountain.  The second is at the end of the trail and juts out of a canyon wall to create Heart Creek.  For the purpose of this site I will refer collectively to this as Heart Falls.

The bad news for me is that I would have benefit best had I been here in the spring or early summer.  The waterfall that is trickling on the side of the mountain was running very weak.

However you were able to see the damp rocks where the waterfall would travel during the high flowing months.  Which I found to be a very large cascade.

I noticed how popular the trail was for a early winter hike, especially since I wasn't on a long weekend.  It is important to note how close this is to Canmore, making it a day hike near town; which is the only thing I could attribute to the popularity.

I also had taken note the couple of scramble (rock climbing) options in the area.  I would capitalize on one myself to see a view of the waterfall jutting out of the canyon.  There was also one along the side of the first waterfall, which can change this hike from a day hike to an adventurous hike up Heart Mountain's ridge.