The Latest from the Greater Bragg Creek Trails Association
Trail Etiquette — How Wet Is Too Wet?
The hardworking trails volunteers would like to thank those trail users who opted to stay off the trails during the recent June/July monsoon rains. This has really helped limit damage to vulnerable trails which are now starting to dry out and firm up again. We ask that if you are leaving ruts or holes in the trail, then the trails are too soft to use. This same principle applies for all trail users — bikes, horses etc.
For updated trail conditions please visit braggcreektrails.org/report. You will also find updated trail information at the main trailhead kiosk by the trail centre. Also, look for the orange vested Bragg Creek Chamber of Commerce information specialists occasionally seen cruising the parking lot by E-bike for trail updates.
The Great Trail At Bragg Creek
The Trans-Canada Trail was officially renamed The Great Trail in 2016 and connects Canadians with a linked network of over 24,000 kilometres of trail. The Bragg Creek segment of the Great Trail represents an interesting transition from the prairies to the mountains.
Starting from the Hamlet of Bragg Creek, The Great Trail is a wide multi- user pathway that parallels the West Bragg Creek Road (Township Road 232) and then about 2 kilometres south on Range Road 54. The final link, a new pedestrian bridge over Bragg Creek, will be installed this fall.
The Great Trail enters Kananaskis Country from Range Road 54 via the Iron Creek Trail. A short single-track section connects to wide year-round trail that is groomed in the winter for cross country skiing and fat-biking. After 1.9 kilometres, travelers have the option of a single-track all-season ridge-top (Iron Creek trail and Boundary Ridge) or a wide valley bottom (Iron Springs and east Sundog cross country ski trails) version of the Great Trail.
From West Bragg Creek, travellers again have the choice of higher single-track route or a lower elevation wide trail. The high route follows Braggin Rights, the first 2.9 km of Merlin View trail, then continues on the new Kestrel trail for 5 kilometres to Tom Snow trail. The final few kilometres of Kestrel trail is being finished by the GBCTA volunteers over this summer.
The valley route takes Mountain Road for 1.6 km and 0.7 km of Moose Connector and 2.4 km of Moose Loop to Tom Snow trail. This section is popular with equestrians in the summer and is groomed for cross country skiing in the winter. A new all-season single-track version of Moose Loop is currently being built by volunteer crews from the GBCTA at the rate of a few hundred metres per week. Just click on the Volunteer link on the GBCTA website, if you want to be part of this project.
The Great Trail THEN continues north and west along Tom Snow trail, leaving the Bragg Creek headwaters and continuing on towards Canmore, Banff and the British Columbia border at Elk Pass. So, if you ever wanted to experience a portion of Canada’s Great Trail, you have plenty of opportunities right here in Bragg Creek.
For further information on any of these articles, or any other items, please contact info@braggcreektrails.org
