Researched route, Kananaskis
Kananaskis
A short climb off the Smith-Dorrien, along the Rummel Ridge trail and up a strip of burnt trees to a bench where the laps start, below steeper avalanche paths.
Mount Engadine Burn is a stretch of widely spaced burnt trees east of the Smith-Dorrien road, in Spray Valley Provincial Park near Canmore. It's a short one: about 3.9 km there and back from the roadside to a bench at 2,273 m, with about 468 m of climbing. The first 1.4 km follows the summer Rummel Ridge trail. The last half kilometre climbs a widening strip of burnt trees, on gentler ground, to the bench. From there, trip reports describe laps in the burnt trees below, and steeper avalanche paths and the treeline above, which aren't part of this route. We get you to the bench. Where you ski from it is your call. We built this route from research and haven't skied it ourselves.
We built this route from our own extensive research. All resources are cited on the dashboard. We haven't skied it ourselves, the routes illustrated may not be the best line choice, use your own judgement when planning. Remember you are still responsible for your own tour.
Last checked October 20, 2026.
| Distance | about 3.9 km round trip, 1.95 km to the bench |
| Elevation gain | about 468 m on our line to the bench |
| Slope angles | 2 to 27 degrees on the line (median 18) and about 15 on the bench itself; slopes of 30 degrees and more start about 140 m from the end of the line and reach 40 degrees within 300 m; terrain data reads low |
| Trailhead | 1,808 m on terrain data |
| The bench | 2,273 m on terrain data; a March 2024 report puts a flat or knob at about 2,275 m |
| Nearest town | Canmore |
| Pass required | Kananaskis Conservation Pass |
| Skied by us | Not yet |
Most people park on the east shoulder of the Smith-Dorrien (Highway 742), about 1.3 km north of the Mount Shark road and Mount Engadine Lodge turn-off. Trip reports from 2016 to 2021 give that distance, and OpenStreetMap's Rummel Ridge Trail starts at the same spot, which is where our line starts. Trip descriptions mention a sign for the Rummel Ridge summer trail and a narrow strip of burnt trees leading up from the road. We found no signed lot. A December 2025 report counted ten cars, and another about two dozen skiers, and a 2026 trail listing says lots of cars are usually parked here, so the shoulder fills up on good days.
You need a Kananaskis Conservation Pass to park. Alberta Parks' road closure list (updated October 2026) closes Highway 40 between Peter Lougheed Provincial Park and Highwood House Junction from December 1 to June 14. Highway 742 isn't on it, though the list says some roads close for a time. Alberta Parks also puts out wildlife closures in Spray Valley, and its yearly trail closure list (updated October 2026) names no trail near this burn. We haven't found a published no-stopping zone for this stretch of road, so watch for signs at the roadside. Before you go, check 511 Alberta, Alberta Parks' advisories and the Kananaskis avalanche forecast.
From the shoulder, follow the Rummel Ridge trail east. Trip descriptions put a narrow strip of burnt trees along it, some 30 to 60 m wide, with a wider burn above. A snowshoe report describes a cut line with burnt trees on one side and green forest on the other. Over 1.4 km you climb from 1,808 m to about 2,107 m, about 300 m at 2 to 27 degrees. One trip description calls this stretch rolling and mellow. Our terrain data has it climbing steadily after the first 300 m.
At about 1.4 km, where the same description has the trail starting to drop again, the trail goes right and the burn goes left. Leave the trail to the left, north, and follow the burn as it widens, for about half a kilometre up to the bench. That last leg is a straight line through the burn at 11 to 27 degrees, not a mapped track. Trip reports describe a well-used skin track here, and a 2026 trail listing says the trail in is packed down and shared with snowshoers. Our route ends on the bench at 2,273 m on our terrain data, 1.95 km from the road. A March 2024 report puts a flat or knob at about 2,275 m with a steeper pitch above it.
The published numbers are for a longer day. Alpine Journals gives about 6 km and 600 m for a single lap up to the treeline, and Game Trail Adventures 5.5 km and 640 m. Both carry on past the bench, and ours stops there, so our numbers are smaller. Game Trail Adventures puts the bench about 500 m above the road. Our line gains 468 m to it.
The way out follows your up-track. Go down the burn to where it meets the trail at about 1.4 km, then take the trail west, downhill, to the road and your car. Trip reports describe skiing the burnt trees on the way down, and "The skiing" covers what they found.
Here's what trip reports describe people skiing, placed on our terrain data. Where you go and what you ski is up to you.
The burnt trees below the bench. Alpine Journals describes laps in widely spaced trees below the bench, and an open burn that keeps its pitch right down to the road. A 2026 trail listing describes short runs on a gentle slope, good for several laps. Game Trail Adventures (February 2021) skied from the bench in powder and hit one small stand of dense green trees partway down. Reports since 2022 add deadfall hidden under the snow, "sharks" in the burn and, in a thin early season, stumps and young growth. The runs we draw start along the last half kilometre of the line and fall south-west to west, about 250 m of drop each. On our terrain data they average 16 to 25 degrees and reach 29 at their steepest, which reads low.
Above the bench. Alpine Journals describes steeper avalanche paths above, and Game Trail Adventures climbed another 150 m to the treeline. Reports describe open burnt trees of 30 to 35 degrees on a west aspect at about 2,350 m, above the bench and above where this route ends. On our terrain data the slopes of 30 degrees and more begin about 140 m from the end of the line and reach 40 degrees within 300 m. We draw nothing there.
The lines. The thin lines in the fly-through show where our terrain data says the slopes fall. They aren't tracks, and nobody is telling you to ski them.
Slopes are steeper than they appear. The track is on 2 to 27 degrees and the bench is gentle, but our terrain data smooths out short steep pitches, so those angles read low. The first slopes of 30 degrees and more start about 140 m from the end of the line.
The bench sits below avalanche paths. On March 2, 2024 a natural size 3 slide ran from about 2,700 m to about 2,300 m and passed about 20 m from a party coming down near the top of the burn. The forecast that day was High at every elevation. The same day another party went about 75 m past the flat at 2,275 m, felt a large whumpf at 2,350 m, and went back to ski the trees below. A March 2026 report describes a skier-remote size 2 that ran to the bottom of a large path beside the burn and took out trees.
Slides have happened in the burnt trees. In January 2024 skiers set off wet slides in open burnt trees of 30 to 35 degrees at about 2,350 m, the largest size 1.5 to 2, which stepped down into faceted snow. In December 2025 a party found a slide in the burn that had run to the ground, with a crown about 40 cm deep, and heard large whumphs nearby. Another report that month found whumphing in the packed track between about 1,800 and 2,000 m. In April 2025 a report posted a size 3 on a north-east-facing slope of about 40 degrees in sparse trees near 2,270 m.
What the avalanche reports show. Reports to Avalanche Canada put the slides in the paths above and beside the top of the burn, on open burnt trees above the bench, and on the faces across the valley on Tent Ridge. They describe wind slabs and storm slabs in the higher paths, a deeper slab on weak snow near the ground in some winters, and wet loose snow in the trees in warm spells. Reports follow where people go, and this burn is busy, so the record shows where people have been, not which slope is more dangerous.
Nearby terrain the route doesn't go into. In March 2024 a skier died in an avalanche on The Tower, whose summit is about 2.4 km east of the end of our line. Our line doesn't go there. A 2026 trail listing warns of overhead hazard higher on the ridge and in the valley between Mount Engadine and The Tower, and a snowshoe report on Rummel Ridge notes a large cornice on its Spray Lakes side.
The season. Reports from early December describe stumps, bushes and young growth showing in the lower burn (2023) and too little snow for the trees (2024). In January a report found the exit track crusty, with hazards near the surface (2025). In April a report describes heavy, wet snow skinning up the lower burn (2025).
On the way up: heavy new snow, rain or a quick warm-up, wind loading, whumpfs or cracking. A track too crusty or thin to ski down in control counts too.
In the burn and at the bench, look up as well as around. Fresh debris below the paths above, slabs reacting, a large whumpf, wet pinwheels or loose snow running in the trees, or sun on the slopes above.
It's an out and back, so turning around anywhere only costs you the rest of the way. Whether to go is your call on the day. Read the forecast and decide from what you find.
A short climb, and avalanche skills for the burn and the bench. About 3.9 km and 468 m of climbing there and back to the bench. Game Trail Adventures took about two hours to the treeline and back. The burn lies under avalanche paths with slides in the reports, and lots of parties are out on good days. We'd carry a transceiver, probe and shovel, know how to use them, and go with partners who do too.
What we can't tell you yet. How the burn skis on the day, and how long it takes you. The dashboard's estimate uses your own pace.