Reddit reviews Where Locals Hike in the Canadian Rockies: The Premier Trails near Canmore & Calgary

If you've never gone to Lake Louise and the Valley of the Ten peaks, I'd definitely head there first. Moraine lake as well, it's always busy out there but it's so beautiful, it's definitely worth it. If you haven't ever seriously been hiking, I'd start out with some of the more popular trails. This book is worth the investment for sure, especially if you want less well-known hikes. I've been hiking my whole life, if you have any questions feel free to ask me or PM me. :) enjoy yourself.

My wife is a definite non-hiker, and so I searched the book Where Locals Hike in the Canadian Rockies and looked for hikes that are classified as "easy", are around 4 hours or less, and have an elevation gain of less than 500 m. I also preferred hikes that weren't in like Lake Louise, because we don't always want to spend 2-1/2 hours in the car each way and/or $20 for a park pass.

Here are some good ones:

• West Wind Pass - 393 m elev and 3 hours - south of Canmore along the east side of the Spray Lakes road (hwy 742). A bit difficult/unintuitive to follow the trail, but nice views of the Spray Lakes reservoir going up, and a great view at the pass.
  
  
• Rawson Lake - 300 m elev and 3 hours - from Highwood Pass (hwy 40). Beautiful backdrop behind a mountain lake for the price of a short hike.
  
  Johnston Canyon, as others have mentioned above, is a classic too. It doesn't have the high mountain views, but the canyon itself is neat, and I like the 1950s metal walkways. 215 m elev and 4 hours to the ink pots (small mineral pools). Note that you have to buy a park pass for this one.
  

Hit up MEC, get a guide book.

In my experience, Kananaskis was an easy area to start hiking in; lots of good hikes of varying difficulty, and almost all of them are accessible from one of two highways.

We've used this book over the years as a guide: http://www.amazon.ca/Where-Locals-Hike-Canadian-Rockies/dp/0973509945

Do invest in a set of topographical maps for the area you want to start hiking in though, along with a compass/GPS. It's well worth the investment when you take a wrong turn at the shady trail marker.