Pigeon Mountain
Location: 51.03103°N / 115.21637°W
Top Elevation: 7855 ft
Elevation Gain: 3,250 ft
Distance: 17 km
Effort: Strenuous
Rating: 3/4
Highlights: Wildflowers in July
Lowlights: Boring cut line
Cautions: Deer flies in July, bears in the fall
Closures: Sheep calving season. Closed December 1 to June 1st. Fines up to $2,000 or 6 months in jail for non-observation of this rules.
Pigeon Mountain is an easily accessed hike from the TransCanada highway at Deadman’s Flat east of Canmore. Take a short drive south of the highway and up the hill. There is a large parking lot and clean toilets at the trailhead.
The hike starts at the south end of the parking lot and leads you through trees to a cut line. Take a left and head southeast following a gradual rolling rise until you come to a road leading diagonally back across the shoulder of the mountain. From here it zigzag as couple of times until you get to a footpath on the left leading to higher ground and eventually the summit. At this point you break out of the monotonous trees affording great views of Mt. Alan, Mt. Lougheed, Wind Pass, Three Sisters, Ha Ling and more. From the summit you also get a birds-eye view of the Bow Corridor and Lac des Arc.
Once in the open it’s quite a grind to get to the summit ridge but highly worth the effort. Take bug juice in July as the deer fly can be brutal, take lots of water on a hot day and enjoy laying around on top if it’s nice.