Fri 16 Feb 2007
There is some excellent skiing to be had right within the city limits, and some amazing skiing to be had a short drive outside. Trail reports for in and around Edmonton can be found here.
In the City
Goldbar
Location: Off 101st Ave, 0.5km east of 50th Street.
Goldbar is the best place to go in Edmonton in my opinion. It has a good network of 12km of trails, ranging from easy to hard. There are some long, steep climbs and some gentle climbs and some flat. All trails are skating and classical.
Hawrelak Park & River Valley
Location: By Groat Road over the river.
There are two loops within the park itself, the perimeter loop (2.6km) and the inner loop (2km). Both are easy, the outer is classic only and the interior is both skate and classic. From Hawrelak Park is possible to take some nice groomed classic trails along the river valley. You can go 1.5km east to Emily Murphy Park (nice and easy). Or you can go 3.5km along a harder, more interesting trail to Whitemud, where it is possible to take another trail along Whitemud Creek right to Snow Valley ski hill. This trail has some steep hills in the section along the river valley section.
Kinsmen
Location Kinsmen Sports Centre underneath highlevel bridge on 109th Street.
This area is more for training than recreational skiing as there is just a 2km intermediate loop (classic) and a 1.5km beginner loop (skating and classic).
Terwillegar Park
Location: Riverbend at the base of Rabbit Hill Road.
There is a 4.6km beginner loop for classic and skating along with a more difficult area of hill trails in the southern end of the park that are for classical only.
This page has more information along with maps for some of the areas mentioned above.
Outside the City
Elk Island National Park
Location: 35km East of Edmonton on the Yellowhead.
Hayburger, Simmons, Shirley Lake, Moss Lake, Beaver Pond, Tawayik, and Wood Bison trails may be groomed for Cross-country skiing. Although in my experience this doesn’t happen often. The trails are suitable for ungroomed skiing though. The terrain is similar to Blackfoot with nice rolling hills, aspen forests and lakes. Look out for the bison though. Moose are also more common here than Blackfoot, and cougars have apparently recently moved into the park.
Strathcona Wilderness Centre
Location: About 25km East of Edmonton on the Yellowhead, then take Range Road 212 south.
If you are a beginner skier, then SWC may be a good choice for a place to go outside of Edmonton. However, for anyone else driving the distance you would be better driving an extra 10-15mins and going to Elk Island or Blackfoot instead. SWC is a little bit too plain and is not quite in the same wilderness setting. There are 12km of groomed cross-country ski trails. Rentals also available.
Blackfoot/Cooking Lake
Location: 40km east of Edmonton. Head 30km east of Sherwood Park on Highway 16 then go south on Range Rd 210 where 3 access points are signed.
Trail report: 922-4676 (tape)
This is by far the best cross-country skiing area within easy driving of Edmonton. Many people consider it’s skiing to be among the best in CANADA in terms of terrain. The scenery does not compare to the Rockies in my mind, and I would prefer lower-quality skiing and better views personally. Having said that, Blackfoot it still very pretty, with rolling Aspen hills and many small lakes. The trails themselves are perfect. A huge network of trails makes for seemingly infinite possibilities of loops of any length without backtracking. The undulating terrain means no long, herringbone ascents (nothing longer than a minute) but also no flat, monotonous areas. There are 65km of groomed cross-country trails including 32km of skating along with 35km of backcountry trails. Be warned, the access roads are never plowed so can be pretty nasty after a dump of snow. Take a shovel and some strong friends to push you out.
