This blog post will be of more interest to my readers who live north of Calgary.
We received a couple Groomer’s Reports from Eric at Crimson Lake provincial park. I had never heard of this place before, so I asked Eric to send some additional information and photos.
“There is a 10km loop around Crimson Lake called Amerada Trail, this trail is groomed but not track-set as I have found that maintaining the track-set has become futile. Needless to say it is a fun loop to do on skis and many locals in Rocky frequently ski the trail.
Our track-set system varies year to year depending on work being done in the campground loops and staff availability. This year our track-set system in unfortunately short around 4km and encompasses the Wolf Track, North Woods, and Fallen Timber Trails.
Users are welcome to cross-country ski on Crimson Lake itself, but this is an activity that is not encouraged or endorsed by Alberta Parks. There are no formal trails on the lake and there will never be.”
There are other groomed cross-country trails in the vicinity, so you could do a tour and check them all out. We already know about Little Red trails, Sundre, Bearberry, and Red Deer. Eric sent along the following info on a couple other areas:
“Near to Crimson Lake Provincial Park is an area called Pony Club, I am unsure who is maintaining those trails as the guy who volunteered to do it has since retired and no longer lives locally. Pony Club is a 5.7km loop trail just north of the Twin Lake Parking Lot. Users need to be aware the road into Twin Lake is not frequently plowed.
Further south of there is the home of the Rocky Mountain House Cross Country Ski Club. I am not familiar with what they do, they have trails at the Pine Hills Golf Club. They have a public facebook page ‘Rocky Mountain House Cross Country Ski Club’.”
