Hiking the hills and peaks in and around Crowsnest Pass offers an experience unlike anywhere else, attracting tourists and remaining a case of pride and fondness for residents. It’s an unparalleled landscape where the prairies meet the mountains, the Rocky Mountains, no less.

Kicking off this Friday is the Hike Your Pass Off festival, a three-day celebration of hiking in our mountains.

“We have amazing hiking in the Pass and we seem to almost forget it sometimes,” says Katherine Seleski, manager at the Pass Powderkeg Ski Area (PPK) and event lead of the Hike Your Pass Off Festival. “So we want to celebrate that and get more people out.”

Inspired by the Hike the Highlands 10-day fall hiking festival in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Joey O’Brien, Manager of Community Services with the municipality, thought it would be very fitting to host a similar celebration in Crowsnest Pass.

Pass Powderkeg collaborated and partnered with local and regional organizations to make Hike Your Pass Off a community event with so many activities, you won’t be able to do them all if you wanted to.

Events will kick off with an evening social at the PPK lodge, where you can meet some of the festival partners, and perhaps order a Summer Steak Night dinner. Or for a more active way to end the work-week, the Hike & Dine will take you through some of PPK’s prettiest spots, followed by a family-style meal at the end. A historical talk about the historical significance of the Crowsnest Pass and its hiking areas will also take place at the lodge that evening.

Then, throughout the weekend, you have your choice of a variety of hikes that are more than just an uphill trek. Each of them offers an experience that you can only find in and around Crowsnest Pass, whether it be due to the historical significance or the natural landscape along the trail.

And if hiking isn’t quite your thing, there are options for a more low-key way to enjoy the mountains, as well, like a hike & paint or a field lunch prepared by PPK Chef Alejandro Verdi.

Visit https://www.passpowderkeg.com/home/hike-your-pass-off/ for a schedule of events. Certain activities require you to sign up and/or have a fee to participate.

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