Facts
| Distance: | 7.8 km (4.8 miles) round trip |
| Start Elevation: | 1,406 m (4,613 ft) |
| Max Elevation: | 1,686 m (5,531 ft) |
| Elevation Difference: | 280 m (919 ft) |
| Total Elevation: | 484 m (1,588 ft) |
| Time Required: | *45-90 mins |
| Season: | All Year Round |
* Note: These are running times not hiking times. The fastest times are for someone with a 10km road pace of under 6:30/mile or 4:00/km.
Details
| 0-3.6 km | Roots & rocks on a forest trail, uphill all the way |
| 3.6 km | Intersection with trail to Upper Stoney Squaw |
| 3.6-3.9 km | Dirt forest trail, short downhill section |
| 3.9 km | Norquay Ski Area. Turn around or continue on to other trails. |
Links
Overview
Lower Stoney Squaw takes you from the Trans Canada Highway all the way up to the Norquay Ski Area and drops you out right by the Spirit Chair. It is primarily a mountain biking trail and you can thank the local Bow Valley Mountain Biking Alliance for the good state of the trail. Keep a good eye open for any bikes flying down the trail. It is not very common to find hikers/runners on this trail so any bikers will probably be surprised by you.
Trailhead
The trail starts very close to town even though it seems quite remote once you are on it..
Car: If you are accessing this trail by car the best bet is to either park at the Norquay exit from the Trans Canada Highway (park on the road to the Juniper restaurant) or else if you are driving Westbound, pull in to the old entrance to the (now defunct) Buffalo Paddock almost directly opposite the turn-off to the Industrial Compound. You could also park in the Industrial Compound and cross the highway to start the run.
Run: Run out of Banff on Lynx Street past the Hospital and Brewster Bus Depot and across the railroad tracks. Run to the intersection with the Trans Canada Highway and take the Westbound exit ramp, heading east. In other words run into the westbound traffic. About 1km along the highway, just as you are about to cross a small river, you will see a gate on your left which marks the start of this trail.
Alternatively you can run through the Industrial Compound and cross the highway (take great care). The quickest way to get to the Industrial Compound is to run eastbound along the railroad tracks until you see a small footbridge on your left. This will take you into the compound, if you keep running in the same direction you can pick up another trail at the back of a maintenance lot which will veer off to the right and take you to a gate in the fence on the highway.
Public Transit: Not Applicable
Lower Stoney Squaw Trailhead
Banff Townsite, 
Lower Stoney Squaw Trailhead
Trail
A really fun trail with a few technical sections. Lots of roots and rocks as well as soft forest floor trail. It's basically an uphill trail all the way. If you choose to run it as an out and back it's obviously downhill all the way out but if you use it as a connector then you will keep climbing on most of the trail options.
You can run this as an out & back or use it to gain access to other trails that radiate from the Norquay Ski Area.
Connector Options:
Cascade Amphitheatre
Cascade Mountain
Forty Mile Creek
Edith Pass
Upper Stoney Squaw
Road back to Banff
Route
| Google Maps | Google Earth | MotionBased | GPX
Elevation
Up, up, up and then down, down, down. Perfect Trail.
Photo Gallery
Safety
This is a likely trail to run into a bear so make lots of noise and make sure you are carrying bear spray.
The trail is popular with mountain bikers so keep your eyes open for fast downhiller's.
Tips
You can use this trail as a connector to several other trails.