Great Divide Trail: Section C – Boulton Creek / Peter Lougheed Provincial Park to Field (8 days / 202 km)
Prepare to be inundated with glorious views and diverse landscapes in this section. From Kananaskis, to Marvel Lake, to the Rock Wall, this section of trail offers up some of the most beautiful vistas on the GDT. Overall, the trail is better maintained than other sections of the GDT, but you will run into more fellow hikers as a result. This section offers a mix of challenging climbs, and breathtaking views, making it a memorable experience and rewarding those who take it on.
Trip Completed: August 2022
Trip Summary
Location: Canadian Rockies Mountains
Traditional Territory: Section B is located primarily on Treaty 7 territory and is on the traditional territory of the Káínai, Piikáni, Siksiká, Stoney-Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations.
Maps & Resources
Maps and Navigation: I used the FarOut App—formerly known as Gut Hooks—for navigation on the trail and for planning my hike. I would strongly recommend that anyone attempting to hike any part of the GDT download the app and the appropriate map/s. The GDT can be sparsely marked in places and wayfinding can be difficult at times.
Other Resources:
Great Divide Trail Hikers Facebook Group is a wealth of knowledge for anyone hiking the trail. Search the posts for what you are looking for and if you cannot find your information, ask.
Every year the Great Divide Trail Association (GDTA) has webinars on topics like Training for your hike, Risk Management, Gear Selection and Planning your hike. These videos can be found on YouTube.
Dusten Lynx Guidebook “Hiking the Great Divide Trail – 4th edition” is a great resource for all things Great Divide Trail. It can be purchased on amazon.ca.
Permits & Reservations
Campsite Reservations: The campsite reservation system for hiking a section or the entire GDT can be quite overwhelming. The Great Divide Trail Association has created a resource that they keep as up-to-date as possible. They also maintain a list of campsites on the trail and outline which Park or area it is in and what reservations are required.
Permits: When you’re camping on Alberta Crown Land, an Alberta Crown Land camping pass is required.
Know Before You Go
Season: The start of the hiking season greatly depends on the depth of the snowpack from the winter and how quickly it melts. As a rule of thumb hikers usually plan their hikes in the Waterton Area to start around the first of July or later. With warm gear hiking in this area can generally continue into October. Even in the summer, I experienced temperatures on the trail, as high as the mid-30 degrees Celsius during the day and dropping as low as –5 degrees Celsius at night. Be prepared and bring clothing and sleep systems that can accommodate both of these extreme ranges.
Cell Reception: Cell service is not available for the majority of the GDT. In Section B, from my memory, there was cell reception in the town of Coleman and on top of Fording River Pass. There was a pay phone at the park store in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. I would suggest having an emergency communication device, such as a Garmin Inreach or a Spot for emergency use.
Resupply Options: The Great Divide Trail Association maintains a resource that contains all the resupply options along the entirety of the Great Divide Trail. The store at the Peter Lougheed Provincial Park does sell a very limited number of items that could be used to resupply; however, these items are pricey.
Water: Water is very accessible throughout the trip but should be treated or filtered. For Section C, 2 litre carrying capacity should be sufficient.
Wildlife: This is bear territory. Make sure you manage your food and travel using best practices in the backcountry. There is a very large chance of encountering wildlife, such as black bears, grizzlies, mountain goats, deer, porcupines, etc. Please carry bear spray. Here is a great resource that explains the wildlife in the Canadian Rockies.
Waste: All campsites in the national parks have thunderboxes. When you are camping outside of the National Parks you should follow leave-no-trace practices, carry a poop trowel and bury your human waste. Make sure to carry out everything else with you, that you brought into the backcountry.
Shuttles & Outfitters
Outfitter: No outfitter was used for this trip.
Getting From Calgary to Peter Lougheed Provincial Park
There are not a lot of options available to get you from Calgary to Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. Securing a ride out from family or friends would be your best option. In the summer there is a substantial amount of tourist traffic in this area, hitchhiking from Hwy 1, Canmore or Banff would likely be viable.
Getting from Field to Calgary
At the time of this report, it appears that Rider Express has two buses, daily from Field to Calgary, visit the Busbud website for more info.
Trip Report
Day 1: Boulton Creek Campground (340.2 km) to Beatty Lake (362.8 km)
After a great night of good food and some beers, James and his friends were ready to head out by 9 am. My original plan was to take a zero day and rest at this campground, but I did not see the sense in spending the day here alone. James dropped me off at the Elk Pass Trailhead, where he had picked me up, the day before. With my pack full of food again for this section, I set off.
The first kilometre was a road walk, and I missed my turn. As I was walking back to it, at the intersection that I was supposed to go down, I saw a small grizzly bear come charging out of the undergrowth, chasing after a groundhog. I was about 150 feet away, so I quickly moved to the far side of the road I was on, pulled out my bear spray and watched. The grizzly barreled across the intersection and down into the ditch line on the far side, in hot pursuit of that poor groundhog. I lost sight of them both.
Minutes later, the grizzly came sauntering out of the ditch line and crossed over to my side of the road and walked away, taking no notice of me. I was able to give him a wide berth. A couple of guys had stopped to watch the grizzly, and they said that I could get into their car if I needed to. With the morning excitement now over, I continued. The trail made its way along the shoreline of Upper Kananaskis Lake, on cruisy trails with beautiful scenery and Mount Lyautey towering to the west.
I decided to take the South Kananaskis Pass Alternate, instead of taking the main trail up and over North Kananaskis Pass. The first 12 km are rolling with no significant uphills or downhills, until you get to Fork Campground, where you are greeted with a 400 m climb, over 6 kilometres, up to Three Isle Lake Campground. The cruisy trail that I had, around Upper Kananaskis Lake is now gone, but the trail is well-defined and well-used.
After taking a short break at Three Isle Lake Camp, another 2 kilometres brought me to Beatty Lake, where I would spend the night. At Beatty Lake I would share the area with 2 other GDT hikers, one whose trail name was “River” who was hiking the GDT, both northbound and southbound in one season. The other hiker was Rory (trail name Rabbit Foot), whom I had camped with previously on the trail.
Camp: Beatty Lake is a very nice fully serviced backcountry campsite, right on the lake, with Bear lockers, a food prep area, and thunderboxes.
| Total Distance | 20 km |
| Days Assent | 868 m |
| Days Descent | 403 m |
| Campsite Reservation | Height of the Rockies – No Reservation / Permit |
Day 2: Beatty Lake (362.8 km) to Marvel Lake Camp (400.0 km)
Rabbit Foot and I decided to hike together for a little bit, I was happy for the company. We said goodbye to River and were off again. Right away out of Beatty Lake, we had a 600 m elevation downhill over 5.5 km to take us to Palliser River Ford. And then right back up 500 m to the top of Palliser Pass at 12 km for the day. At the top of Palliser Pass we crossed from BC back into Alberta and Banff National Park.
The hike from 12 to 27 km, was uneventful and we would lose another 350 m of elevation. The hike took us through a series of mountain meadows, where water was abundant, and I had to put on my water-crossing shoes half a dozen times during that day to get across streams. Once we left the meadows, it was a forest walk on a very good trail for the last 10 km into Marvel Lake Camp.
Camp: The Marvel Lake Camp is not actually on Marvel Lake. The campsite is a fully serviced Alberta backcountry campsite, with designated tent pads, bear lockers, a food prep area and thunder box’s. Water comes from Bryant Creek that flows right beside the camp.
| Total Distance | 38.2 km |
| Days Assent | 876 m |
| Days Descent | 1253 m |
| Campsite Reservation | Banff National Park – Backcountry Zone: Marvel Lake |
Day 3: Marvel Lake Camp (400 km) to Porcupine Camp (425.4 km)
After the previous big hiking day, I ended up sleeping in and not leaving Marvel Lake until 9:30. Rory decided to go on to Sunshine Village Ski Resort and get off the trail to resupply and take a zero day in Banff, so I was alone again. It was overcast and rained off and on all day. This would prove to be my only full rain day in 50 days of hiking the whole trail. The day consists of a 9.2 km, 600 m climb out of Marvel Lake Camp up to Wonder Pass and a 600 m descent over 16.2 km, with a few ups and downs along the way.
Starting out I had an elevated view of Marvel Lake, the dark turquoise water is stunning, I am sorry I did not get to see it in the sunlight. The views on top of Wonder Pass were the day’s highlight. The descent from Wonder Pass was on an excellent trail, and the wildflowers were amazing. Around the Assiniboine Lodge, I misjudged a turn and ended up walking 2 kilometres down the trail in the wrong direction to Mugog Lake.
This forced me to walk back that same 2 kilometres and cost me an extra hour of hiking. Through the valley of the rocks, it started to hail, and I stopped under a stand of trees to wait it out. I finally got into camp at about 7 pm. The temperature had dropped, and I can remember doing jumping jacks while my supper was cooking to keep warm. After eating I got into my tent and was dead to the world until morning.
Camp: Porcupine Camp is a BC backcountry campsite. In 2024, they changed their policy in this regard, and it is now a requirement to have a reservation to use this site. The camp has 4 wood-framed tent pads, most with tree cover. There are bear boxes, an outhouse and a fire ring. I did not see the food prep area. Water is from a stream that runs through the camp.
| Total Distance | 25.4 + 4 km Off trail |
| Days Assent | 885 m |
| Days Descent | 902 m |
| Campsite Reservation | Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park – Backcountry Zone: Porcupine Camp |
Day 4: Porcupine Camp (425.4 km) to Ball Pass Camp (458.9 km)
During the night, the skies had cleared. I knew I had a tough day ahead of me, but also that there were rewards coming. I had set myself up to be able to stop at the Sunshine Village ski resort pub for lunch and to enjoy some cell service. I got away a little late again, it was cold in the valley, and it was hard getting out of bed. Through this area, the trail jumps back and forth across the Alberta, BC border and my phone kept flipping time zones, so it was hard to know exactly what time it was.
The climb up and out of Porcupine Camp, up to Citadel Pass was 600 m over 4.3 km and took about 3 hours. The views looking back towards Porcupine were stunning. In another 4.1 km, I was to the top of Quartz Hill Saddle, and it was mostly all downhill to Sunshine Village. At 13.3 km for the day, I reached the Pub where I gorged myself on beer, a burger, Ceasar salad and fries and gravel. The pub was hiker-friendly, and they allowed me to charge my power bank while I ate.
Extremely full, I decided to walk the trail out of the village instead of taking the gondola, which I remember was quite an expensive option at $35, one way. Onto the Simpson Pass Trail, I had to go down 100 m to get to Simpson Pass. Then up another 100 m to get to Healy pass at 22.6 km for the day. This area was extremely beautiful and there were lots of day hikers enjoying it. 3.4 km from Healy Pass, I was in Egypt Lake.
This is one of the hardest campsites to reserve on the whole GDT, and I was not lucky enough to have gotten a reservation, so I moved on. 2.8 kilometres and 300 m of uphill and I was at the top of Whistling Pass, that was my last climb of the day. A 5 km downhill with a descent of 300 m put me into Ball Pass Camp at 9:30 pm. I set up camp and ate in the dark, everyone else in camp was snug in already their tents. I settled in for my coldest night on the trail. This 1600 m of elevation of the day, I believe was my biggest elevation day on trail.
Camp: The Lost Creek Camp is an old horse camp and is in and amongst a stand of black spruce. There are hitching posts for tying up horses, lots of flat areas to pitch tents, and a big cooking area was a table, a chair, and a fire pit. Water is easily accessible from the nearby stream. There is a pit toilet on the west side of the camp, but no bear lockers.
| Total Distance | 33.9 km |
| Days Assent | 1634 m |
| Days Descent | 1484 m |
| Campsite Reservation | Castle Wildland Provincial Park: No Reservation / Permit |
Day 5: Ball Pass Camp (458.9 km) to Floe Lake Camp (479.7 km)
After hiking over 100 km in the last 3 days, I was tired, but I was awake by 6:30 am and out of camp by 7:30 am, before anyone around me was up. I was very cold during the night, and I awoke to both of my water bottles being frozen solid. After packing up, I headed the 2.3 km and 400 m of elevation up to the top of Ball pass. On top of Ball Pass, as I ate my breakfast, I met Andrew and Lucy for the first time, a nice couple from London England who were hiking the GDT.
The next 9 kilometres and 900 m for elevation drop took me to the Flow Lake Trailhead, where I got to at about noon. The trailhead was very busy and overflowing with cars. There was not a cloud in the sky and the summer heat was intensifying as I started by climbing up to Floe Lake. This part of the trail is a burn section, and I remember there being very little shade.
The 9.6 kilometres and 700 m climb took me almost 4 hours because of the heat. I remember stopping in the shadow of burned-out trees to get some relief from the sun and the heat. Exhausted, I finally reached Floe Lake and rested, taking in the beauty of this amazing campsite. The lake and the mountain behind if, look like something out of a painting, truly breathtaking.
Camp: Floe Lake Campsite is a fully serviced Alberta backcountry campsite, complete with tent pads, a food prep area, bear lockers and thunderboxes. This is one of the busiest campsites on the GDT, there are lots of tent pads and lots of people set up on them.
| Total Distance | 20.8 km |
| Days Assent | 1193 m |
| Days Descent | 1092 m |
| Campsite Reservation | Banff National Park – Backcountry Zone: Floe Lake |
Day 6: Floe Lake (479.7 km) to Tumbling Creek Camp (496.2 km)
I reluctantly said goodbye to Floe Lake and was away by 7 am. My plan was to take a shorter day and only go as far as Tumbling Creek Camp, 16.5 km. In 2.6 km and 300 m of climb, I was on top of Numa Pass. The walk out of Floe Lake took one of my most memorable pictures on the GDT of Floe Lake and Floe Peak. This section of trail is called the Rock Wall Trail because there is an approximately 30 km long rock wall that the trail parallels and it is magnificent.
Most people who hike the Rock wall hike it north to south, so they do not have to make the climb up to Floe Lake. The trail is well maintained and cruisy, and wildflowers were everywhere. It was another cloudless day, but by getting away earlier, I hoped to miss most of the day’s heat. From Numa Pass, the trail descends 800 m down to Numa Creek Camp, being 9 kilometres in, it was a great place to take a break and replenish my water for the 5 km long climb up 700 m to the top of Tumbling Pass.
Much of this piece of trail was very good, but there was some area that was overgrown. On both the way up and down from Tumbling Pass you are treated to lots of small glaciers that hang from the Rock wall. The 2.5 km descent down from Tumbling Pass to Tumbling Creek Camp takes you down 300 m of elevation. I was happy to arrive at camp at about 3 pm. I took advantage, cleaned some of my clothes and got to bed before 7 pm for a much-needed rest.
Camp: Tumbling Creek Camp is a fully serviced Alberta backcountry campsite with food prep areas, outhouses, bear lockers and tent pads. Tumbling Creek which runs near the campsite, is silty in places, but there is another spring-fed creek that is close to the camp that is much clearer. The flies were very bad at this site.
| Total Distance | 16.5 km |
| Days Assent | 1063 m |
| Days Descent | 1204 m |
| Campsite Reservation | Kootenay National Park – Backcountry Zone: Tumbling Creek |
Day 7: Tumbling Creek Camp (496.2 km) to McArthur Creek Campground (520.6 km)
With a spectacular view of the Tumbling Creek glacier, I left camp at about 7:30 am. I made my way up towards Wolverine Pass (Rockwall Pass) under brilliant blue cloudless skies. Continuing to follow the rock wall, the climb started immediately upon leaving camp and continued for 3.8 km and up 300 m of elevation. The trail was still good, and water was plentiful, but silty at times. Down from Wolverine Pass to a small mountain lake at 6.1 km for the day, the descent was 200 m, then back up to Limestone Peak Saddle.
From the top of Limestone Peak Saddle, the trail goes down to Helmet Falls Camp at 11.2 km for the day, descending 400 m. Beautiful views of Helmet Falls are visible for most of the descent. The trail became slightly overgrown in places, but nothing too bad, the trail remained very good most of the way. By 1 pm I started my accent to Good Sir Pass, a 400 m climb over 4.2 kilometres that took me through many memorable mountain meadows. The views from the top of Good Sir Pass were epic, but I could not stay there forever so, I eventually started down my final 700 m descent over 9 km to McArthur Creek Camp.
The descent was overgrown and logs across the trail, in place again, but not terrible, by any means. I got to McArthur, just after 5 pm. The campsite was empty except for one other tent. I set up camp and went down to the river and met Blair, who was a friend of James’s that had hiked in to surprise him. Blair did not know that James had been forced off trail, because of injury. She had carried in several craft beers, to share with James, and I had no problems drinking James’s beers in his absence. It was a wonderful trail magic experience for me. Blair and I chatted and watched the sunset over the mountain at the nearby ranger cabin.
Camp: McArthur Creek Camp is a fully serviced Alberta backcountry campsite. There is a food prep area, a bear hang, tent pads and an outhouse. This camp is in the middle of a spruce forest, with tons of dead trees, a lot of which had been cut down and just left in place. I would caution against staying in this campsite during high winds. The water in McArthur Creek is very silty. Heading north out of the camp toward the trailhead there is a clear stream crossing the trail about 200 m from the camp.
| Total Distance | 24.4 km |
| Days Assent | 1101 m |
| Days Descent | 1504 m |
| Campsite Reservation | Yoho National Park – Backcountry Zone: McArthur Creek |
Day 8: McArthur Creek Camp (520.6 km) to Field (544.1 km)
I left McArthur Camp at 6:45 and headed down a forestry road to get to the Ottertail trailhead and Highway 1. The 14.7 km walk to the trailhead parallels the Ottertail River is through a forest and has several clear streams crossing it. I got to the highway by 10:30 am and started the 9 km walk down the highway to the town of Field. Stopping at the Field Information Centre, I enjoyed some snacks and cell service. Then I made my way over to the Truffle Pig, where I would stay for the next two nights.
| Total Distance | 23.5 km |
| Days Assent | 315 m |
| Days Descent | 557 m |
| Campsite Reservation | N/A |
Trip Video
Reflections
The saying that the trail will provide rang true for me on this section. It provided companionship, after saying goodbye to James and leaving Boulton Creek alone, hiking with Rory, staying at Floe and Tumbling, meeting lots of great people and meet Blair at McArthur, I never had the chance to feel lonely on this section of trail. The rock wall trail was fantastic and if you can only ever hike one section of the GDT, I would say Section C should be that section. It is both longer in distance and has more elevation than both Section A and B, but to me, the trail seemed easier.
Author Bio
Chris is semi-retired and now finds himself in the position where he has the desire, the means and the time to go adventuring in the backcountry. His backcountry time is spread between canoeing and hiking. During the summer of 2022, Chris hiked part of the Great Divide Trail (GDT) from the US border, at Waterton National Park, up to Maligne Lake in Jasper – just under 800 km in 33 days. In September 2023, he returned to Jasper and completed the remaining 350 km of the GDT.
Over the years, Chris has done some amazing canoe trips with his dad and two boys. This includes the East and West Branches of the Spanish River, several trips into Algonquin and as well as paddling around Phillip Edward Island. Chris has lots of great memories of his dad and boys out in the wilderness, pushing their limits and enjoying life. Those memories were the catalyst for this trip and many more to come.
Instagram: @havanamild
YouTube: @lostwithoutyou