Middle Sister via Heiko’s Trail (2 days / 18 km)
Heiko’s Trail (also known as Rocky Road, or Mountain Lake’s Trail), is a popular route that takes hikers into the alpine backcountry near Fernie, BC. The trail has a nice diversity of ecozones and trail styles and can be done as a relaxed overnight trip. It was created by the late, legendary founder of Fernie Alpine Resort, Heiko Socher.
I’ve done this trail twice and will include details from both trips, but with a focus on the more recent September 2023 trip. The hiking on Heiko’s is not too difficult, but the route is remote with no services, so hikers should be familiar with backcountry travel.
Trip Completed: September 2023/August 2022
Trip Summary
Location: Fernie, BC
Traditional Territory: This route passes through the following traditional territories: Ĩyãħé Nakón mąkóce (Stoney), Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla, Ktunaxa ɁamakɁis
Maps & Resources
Guidebooks:
Rumors, Routes & Rapids by Bernie Palmer and Steve Short
Hiking Heiko’s Trail in Fernie BC | Tourism Fernie
Topographic Maps for Heiko’s Trail:
Permits & Reservations
Campsite Reservations / Permits: This hike is on crown land, no reservations or permits are required.
Know Before You Go
Season: Mid June-Early October
Cell Reception: Some cell reception in summer
Water: There is water up until km 10, at Fairly Creek Meadows. No water at Windy Pass or Summit.
Wildlife: The area is known for its grizzly bear population. Encounters are common at Fairy Creek Meadows and Windy Pass.
Waste: Outhouse at Trailhead and lower campsite. Pack out all garbage.
Outfitters & Shuttles
Outfitter: We did not use an outfitter for this trip. Hike Fernie and Island Lake Lodge may offer a private guided trip.
Shuttle: We did this trip as an out-and-back route. It is possible to hike the trail from point to point, starting or ending at Island Lake Lodge. In this case, self-shuttling is needed. Tunnel49 may be able to arrange a private shuttle service.
Trip Report
Day 1: Hartley Lake Road to Windy Pass (7 km)
Heiko’s Trail is one of the most famous and popular routes for people in the Fernie area. It was created by the late founder of Fernie Alpine Resort and combines several pre-existing alpine trails. The route is a quick but challenging trek into the alpine. Heiko’s Trail gets significantly less traffic than the more famous hikes further north in the Banff-Canmore area. It can be done without bookings or permits, making it an easy trip to put together quickly with friends. This is exactly what we did one Saturday in September.
Our loosely planned group met at noon at the snowmobile staging area on Hartley Lake Road, a couple of kilometres outside of Fernie. Hartley Lake Road is an FSR, accessed off of Dicken Road, outside Fernie. There is a small, hand-painted sign in a yard on Dicken Road pointing up to Hartley Lake, but it can also be found using Google Maps. Hartley Lake is a rough and pot-holed road, so a high-clearance 4×4 vehicle is definitely recommended. The road is also radio-controlled, but most users travel without radios.
From the staging area, we left the cars behind and piled into two 4×4 trucks for the drive up Hartley Lake. The access to Heiko’s is 15 km up Hartley Lake Road, past Hartley Lake campsite. There is a small spur on the left side of the road, with space on the side of the road for parking. From the spur, it is another 2 km of a rough 4×4 trail to the trailhead. Many people choose to hike the section, but we were confident in our vehicle’s abilities and chose to drive the whole way in. If you choose to drive the whole way, be prepared for mud, rocks, and overhanging branches. The trail ends with a larger parking lot, an outhouse, and a sign giving some background on the trail.
We started from the trailhead at an easy rhythm. We hiked as a group of 10 people (the largest non-guided hiking trip I’ve been on!). The trail starts with an easy, flat walk through a forest and along a small brook. From the forest, the trail begins to climb. This is where things get exciting and unique. The trail has some fun infrastructure to help bypass cliffs and climbs. There are ladders, stairs, bridges, and ropes. They are steep but fun and exciting. The climb passes a small waterfall coming out of a mountain spring (“The Jumping Waters”).
After about 2 km of hiking, the trail reaches Bisaro Cave. Bisaro Cave is the deepest cave in Canada. There is a large mouth, and about 50 m in, a ledge. Some members of our group climbed over the ledge and walked further into the cave to explore. The rest of us took a snack break and rested in the cool cave.
From the cave, the trail begins to climb more. It crosses a deep and narrow stream with a narrow steel girder bridge, then begins to follow a long bowl into the alpine. The trees begin to thin out, revealing views of the Three Sisters Mountain and Mt Bisaro.
There is a campsite around km 6, with clearings for a couple of tents, firepits, an outhouse, picnic tables, and a bear hang. There is a small tarn below the campsite, which is the last point to fill up water on the trail. We chose to hike past this campsite, as we had planned to hike the summit for sunrise and wanted to minimize the distance for the morning.
Past the campsite, the trail climbs a pass between Three Sisters and Bisaro S4. At the top of the pass, there is a campsite with a picnic table and room for a couple of tents. Because our group was so large, we decided to find a place with room for more tents, and we also wanted to give space to a group that was already set up at the pass. We hiked about 300 m further to a low flat spot, and set up camp. As the fire ban had just been lifted for the season, part of our group collected dead wood and started a small fire.
Note: there is no water on the pass, so anybody planning to start a fire should have a plan for extinguishing it.
As the sun went down, our group climbed a small rise to watch the last light over the mountains. On the rise, we ran into a group of hunters. They had set up a spotting scope and were watching a grizzly bear and cubs about 2 km away.
Every member of our group took a turn looking through the spotting scope. It was incredible being able to safely watch a grizzly existing peacefully in its natural environment. Though the bears were far from our campsite, the thought of them definitely stuck with everybody throughout the night!
After dinner, we all walked far from our camp area and hung our food in trees. There are lots of trees on the pass, but not many with strong, high branches, so choosing a tree for a bear hang is best done in the daylight.
We hung out around the campfire for a couple of hours, happy for the warmth and light in the cool September evening. As we went to bed, the wind really picked up in the pass. Because we opted for a site with lots of space, we sacrificed trees and bush cover. The wind shook our tents all night long. The noise, paired with seeing the bears earlier in the day led to poor sleep for most of the group!
Campsite: We camped on a low, flat area just below the pass. It was chosen because it had space for lots of tents and was a fair distance from other groups. Overall, the spot was very exposed and not that great.
Alternative Campsite: In August 2022, I did this hike but camped on the summit. The summit has some small rock bivvies set up to protect tents from the wind. There are bivvys for 3-4 tents at the summit. The summit was cold and windy, but offered a spectacular sunset, and also allowed us to watch the sunrise on the summit without having to hike! We were not worried about bears that far into the alpine, but we did have to fight with a pika during the night, who managed to chew up our boots, hiking poles, and rain jackets.
| Distance | 7 km |
| Campsite Reservation | No reservations required |
Day 2: Summit and Return to Trailhead (11 km)
After a poor night’s sleep, we all woke up at 5:00 am to hike the summit. From the pass, it is 2 km of hiking with 500 m of elevation to reach the summit of the Middle Sister. There is a clear trail to the summit, but it is steep and exposed. The trail mainly follows a sharp ridge and is all on scree. We were able to gain the summit in about an hour and a half. Up top, we curled back up into our sleeping bags and puffy jackets and watched the sun rise over the Elk Valley. We shared some snacks and made a big pot of coffee for the group.
After watching the sunrise, we descended rapidly back to the campsite. Most of us hiked on the trail, but a couple of people decided to run down a scree field to cut off some distance (and have more fun). Distances and elevations are tough to judge from the top of Three Sisters, so be careful if choosing an alternative route. It’s very easy to get pulled into a gully and end up further down than anticipated.
Because our campsite lacked water, we packed up quickly and hiked about 1 km down to the lower campsite. There, we refilled and filtered water, and used the picnic tables to make more coffee for the group. We were all parched by this point, so being able to refill water was very refreshing.
After lingering over breakfast and coffee, we took off down the trail. Walking back down went quickly and easily, with everybody joking about the poor sleep they had the night before. We reached the trailhead before noon, and were back in town for a beer and lunch at the Fernie Hotel in no time!
| Distance | 11 km |
| Campsite Reservation | No reservations required |
Reflections
Heiko’s is an awesome trail! It reminds me of how an amusement park would build a hiking trail. There is a ton of diversity and variety in the ecozones and views, and the infrastructure keeps the hike fun and exciting. The biggest challenges on this trail are the remoteness and the lack of water. If I were to hike with a large group again, I would probably stay at the lower campsite, as it has more room and shelter than the spot on the pass where we stayed. However, if doing it with a small group I would opt to stay on the summit. Being able to see the sunset and sunrise without having to leave the tent is an incredible experience. Either way, I’ll definitely be bringing more capacity for carrying water the next time I do it.
Bears are common in this area. I have heard stories from several people about hearing bears in the camping areas at night. Bear spray and bear awareness is absolutely necessary. Because this route is on crown land, there are sometimes groups out hunting, or carrying firearms as “bear protection”.
From the pass, there are several other trails offering point-to-point hikes. The most famous is the “Full Heiko’s Trail”; taking the trail further on through Fairy Creek Meadows and Windy Pass, eventually ending at Island Lake Lodge outside Mt Fernie Provincial Park. There are most logistics involved in doing the trail this way, as it involves shuttling a car. Island Lake Lodge is accessed via a private road and is only open on certain days of the week. It is also possible to take the Rocky Road Trail from Windy Pass across the Summit of Mt Fernie, and then down into the Alpine Meadows neighbourhood in Fernie.
This hike is fun, easy to plan, and spectacular. I’ll be doing it again, and taking friends on it whenever possible. It is easy to do the out-and-back journey in 24 hours, but it is also popular to do as a big day hike. Among locals, there is a popular Type 2 Fun option too: Bikeo’s! The Bikeo’s challenge is to do the whole route from town on a mountain bike. It involves a lot of hiking and carrying the bike, but ripping down through the alpine meadows makes the whole experience worth it!
This hike is best done in the late summer or early fall, as snow can linger in the mountains long into the summer months.
Author Bio
Liam is passionate about paddling and hiking and has guided paddling trips in Manitoba and in Algonquin Provincial Park. His favourite river is the Bloodvein in Manitoba, followed closely by the Manigotagan. When he’s not paddling he works as a geologist.
Instagram: @mckinno