Lost Knife Hill

Lost Knife Hill
Kananaskis, Alberta
April 30, 2026
Distance: 9.8 km (6.1 mi)
Cumulative Elevation Gain: 534 m (1752 ft))

Lost Knife Hill doesn’t cut it as an exemplary hike. The forested summit offers no views, and although the trail passes vast clearings, the scenery isn’t very inspiring. But the route is simple: follow an ATV trail to where it passes within 40 m of the summit. I found it on peakery.com.

I parked at the entrance of Waiparous Creek Campground and started up the trail. After passing through trees, the trail follows a cutline in a clearing before diverging and turning right. It re-enters trees and passes a hillock. This was the first of two little hills I stopped to explore in search of views. I left the trail and hiked a short distance up a slope clogged with deadfall. I reached an open, narrow ridge with a fine view, certainly worth the couple of minutes it took to reach it. A dirt bike trail conveniently leads back down to the road.

After the first hill, the trail regains the cutline and drops down 50 m. (On the way back, I took advantage of a steep shortcut I hadn’t seen, better than following a long switchback.) I followed the trail to where it climbs to pass the second hill. I left the road again in search of a view. But young pines interfered with the sight, and it wasn’t worth it. I returned to the trail, and at the edge of a clearing, I saw the treed summit of Lost Knife Hill. I followed the trail as it passed through the clearing and re-entered the trees.

As I passed near the summit, I looked for a place to leave the trail. A steep embankment lined the left side, but I noticed a break before the trail reached a high point. I climbed up and soon found a faint trail. It passed the exploration road shown on the map, which would have been more direct if it weren’t filled with dense bushes. A dirt bike trail runs by the summit, but it doesn’t appear to lead directly back to the main trail. A small cairn in the trees marked the summit. There were no views, so having reached the sharp end of Lost Knife Hill, I headed back down.

KML and GPX Tracks

I parked at the entrance of Waiparous Creek Campground

I wore icers for the first couple of hundred metres but didn't require them after that

The Cutline continues straight ahead, but the Trail turns right

Looking back from the trail bend. Sand Ridge is on the left.

The trail continues in the trees

A short climb from the trail led to this vista. Lost Knife Hill is in the centre. The snow-capped peaks on the right are Castle Rock, Mount Davidson, Sheep's Claw, Sheep Meadow Mountain and Ghost Peak. Left, a ridge trail leads back to the road.