Distance
The trails are open for hiking and mountain biking during the rest of the year.
Moe’s Canyon is not truly a canyon but a narrow, steep-sided valley about 2.5 km long that features a small old-growth stand of western larch trees. There are only about a dozen large larches with trunk diameters of about a metre.
This trail is best for hikers in spring for wildflowers or during the second week of October when the larches are in their golden autumn colour. This trail is best suited to hiking. (Not suitable for mountain bikes, as the trail follows a talus-filled gully. Neither is Moe’s Canyon recommended for cross-country skiers, as the trail emerges onto the lower face of the Kimberley Alpine Resort downhill ski hill and the Moe’s Canyon slopes could avalanche in high-risk conditions.)
At the Kimberley Cross-country Ski trailhead, take the right fork. Hike up the road for a kilometre or so to a large clearing. Take the right fork again, uphill, and when the hill levels off, look uphill for a small signed trail to the right: Moe’s Canyon. As you hike the track up into the old-growth larch forest, the trail bends right and into the canyon. In about 2 km the trail emerges on the lower face of the ski hill, with views of Kimberley and the Rockies. Hike down the ski hill and turn right on the Gerry Sorensen Way paved road. Follow the road back to the vehicle in about 1 km.
Directions
Road: any vehicle
In Kimberley follow the road toward the Kimberley Alpine Resort ski hill on Gerry Sorensen Way. Continue on the main road past the resort entrance on North Star Boulevard and keep going up a couple of switchbacks. Resort condominiums line the roadways and their access roads branch off frequently. Stay on the main road. Park at the signed Kimberley Cross-country Ski Trails network, at the very top and end of the road.
Janice Strong
Janice Strong is an established professional outdoor photographer. Her images grace collections all over the world and appear in many respected publications. She is passionate about hiking and is also an avid snowshoer and skier, exploring the outdoors of the East Kootenay in southeastern BC year round.She openly shares her passion for the outdoors with others and has introduced hundreds of people to the joys of hiking. For a decade she led hikes for the City of Cranbrook – Parks and Recreation. With her guidance, many people have themselves become enthusiastic hikers.
Climbing mountains, finding new places and enjoying the experience of the journey have always been important to Janice. She cherishes the little things she sees along the trail, as well as the grand destinations.
When Janice is not writing, hiking or taking photographs, she is involved in various creative digital, website design or photographic projects for her clients. She and her husband, Jamie Levine, enjoy their rural property, near Cranbrook, BC.
