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Access and
parking: Cave and Basin trailhead - from the parking
lot, follow Trail I of the Cave and Basin trails (see
description 6) for about 2 km to the junction of the
Sundance and Healy Creek roads; Healy Creek trailhead
-gravel parking lot beside the Sunshine road 0. 8 km past
its junction with the Trans-Canada Highway.
Length and classification:
Trail I (one-way) 4.8 km - easy
Trail 2 (one-way), 1. 8 km - moderate
Trail 3 (one-way), 2.8 km - moderate
Trail 4 (by-pass), 0. 2 km - moderate
Trail 5 (partial loop), 3.4 km -
moderate
Trail 6 (partial loop), 2.4 km -
moderate
Trail 7 (partial loop), 1. 7 km -
difficult
Trail 8 (one-way), 8.9 km - moderate
Description: This trail network
was used after the Second World War for the
Intercollegiate Sports Competitions sponsored by the
University of Alberta. Today, the Sundance trails serve
the leisure skier as well as the racer. Trail I follows
the Healy Creek road for 4.8 km from its junction with
the Sundance road at one end to the Healy Creek
parking lot at the other. As well as being a wide and
pleasant trail itself, it serves as the main access route
for Trails 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8. These trails are all clearly
signed where they meet or cross Trail 1. If you are out
for a day's skiing on any of these, the Healy Creek
bridge site, the beaver ponds near the junction of the
Sundance and Healy Creek roads, or the picnic shelter at
the end of the Sundance road make good lunch spots.
Trails 2 and 3 parallel the Healy Creek
road. Trail 2 travels on the uphill side of the road,
often within sight of it, for 1.8 km. Trail 3, which is
2.8 km long, parallels the road on its downhill side,
often out of sight of it. It has more bends and somewhat
steeper hills and is slightly more difficult to ski than
Trail 2. There is a viewpoint on Trail 3 where Healy
Creek and an unnamed creek from the Sundance Range flow
into the Bow River. Trail 4 links Trails 2 and 3 and can
be used to get on to or off either of them from the Healy
Creek road.
Trail 5 begins just past the metal
barrier across the end of Healy Creek road. Where it
meets Trail 6, it turns abruptly and drops downhill,
sometimes gently, sometimes steeply. It rejoins the Healy
Creek road at the same point as the east end of Trail 2.
Trail 5 provides access to Trail 6 which in turn provides
access to Trail 7. These three trails are located on a
heavily-wooded mountainside. The terrain is rolling and,
for Trail 7 in particular, steep. Views are almost
non-existent but these trails do offer skiers a choice of
loops of different lengths and degrees of difficulty.
These loops formed the original racing circuits for the
Intercollegiate Competitions.
Trail 8 also starts on the Healy Creek
road. It follows an old road for about 9 km to its end at
a private cabin and corral. The first part of the trail
is an uphill climb for approximately 2.5 km with several
switchbacks. From the end of the trail, take the same
route back.
Hazards: Thick forest makes it
easy to get lost if you wander off the signed ski trails.
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