Short on time but looking for an adventure, the hike to the Heart Creek Bunker is just what you are after. This easy trail can be done year round but the trailhead parking lot can get very busy in the summer and on weekends. If you are planning on doing this trail at peak times, plan to start early or in the evening if light allows.
The hike to the heart creek bunker traverses through the forest to the bunker which was built into Mount McGillivray.
The Heart Creek Bunker Trailhead
The trailhead to hike to the Heart Creek Bunker is just off of Highway 1 at Lac Des Arcs, it is clearly signposted from the highway. The trailhead is located just under 20 kilometres east from Canmore and around 86 kilometres west of Calgary.
The hike to the Heart Creek Bunker is in Kananaskis Provincial Park and therefore you’ll need to purchase a conservation pass. You can purchase one for the day or annually online.
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Hiking To The Heart Creek Bunker
Distance: 3.8km return
Elevation: 94m gain
The heart creek bunker hike doesn’t start at the same point as the main heart creek trail. Instead it starts from the opposite side of the parking lot, at a yellow sign titled Bow Valley Connector trail. When we hiked it, there hadn’t been any fresh snowfall in a while so the trail was well packed and really easy to follow.
If it’s just snowed, I’d recommend snowshoes to break trail, otherwise we packed ice cleats, but didn’t require them, but they are good to have, just in case the trail is a little slippery. There are some hills which would be tricky to navigate if they were slippery.
The hiking to the heart creek bunker is fairly easy, it starts flat and through the trees, past an interpretive sign about being in bear territory, so don’t forget to have your bear spray ready.
The trail passes through two creeks, in winter these are cold windy spots where the snow has a tendency to pile up. On the way to the bunker there is one big downhill, we took this slowly.
Shortly after getting to the bottom of the hill the trail forks, we kept left which followed the packed trail, however eventually the two trails reconnect near the power lines.
There isn’t much about the trail to heart creek bunker that can be described as peaceful since it pretty much follows Highway 1 for the majority of its length, just above and through the trees.
Eventually you’ll come to a second junction, again, keep left, up a steep but short hill which does a switchback. After the switchback, the trail continues to gain elevation slowly, before reaching the end, the heart creek bunker entrance is on the left.
There can be avalanche risks from above here, so make sure to be vigilant after a big snow fall and don’t stop in the area just before the entrance.
Once in the heart creek bunker there are lots of little areas and offshoots to explore. You’ll need a head torch to fully enjoy exploring inside the bunker as it is very dark the further back you go.
When we were there in the winter, the back of the bunker was actually considerably warmer than the outside which was a nice break from an otherwise chilly day!
What Is The Heart Creek Bunker
The Heart Creek Bunker was originally created to store important documents. There was even a plan to allow people to survive in the bunker if they needed too. However it turned out that they were building the bunker into Limestone rock, which is porous and therefore it wasn’t going to be possible to store paperwork in there after all. The project was abandoned.
Other Hikes In The Area
If you are looking for other short, family friendly hikes in the area, check out Grotto Canyon or Jura Creek. Both of these trails are incredible at any time of year, but my favourite time to hike them is in winter.
These winter photos are so beautiful! Looks like a memorable hike, although I think I would be a bit too claustrophobic to enter that bunker 🙈💕
Thanks so much! The bunker definitely gave me the creeps a bit. It isn’t often I wish there were there were other people on a hike but I think I would have felt better if there were others in the bunker!