Grotto Mountain

"With C. We did east side trail / ridge ( Carter route). My 3rd time up there , did ACC trail and direct route many years back. Quite a bit so snow on the ridge. Just over 11km , 6.5 hours." — PawelG • May 23, 2026

"For those of us who slack off over winter, the first scramble of the season is a humbling leg-destroyer, and Grotto Mountain did not disappoint. We went up the Cougar Creek ascent and down the east route (the most interested route IMHO). There's still some snow along the ridge, but nothing too sketchy. 12km hike, 1380m elevation gain, 7 hours" — geoffhardy • May 3, 2025

"Nico and I tried to do the Grotto Traverse with a couple of cars. We ended up decending down the Grotto "Hard" route since it was crazy hot and we didn't bring enough water. for the entire traverse. So we'll call this a half-traverse - or maybe the "Grotto Half-Assed Traverse". " — danradu • Jul 8, 2023

"Traversed from Grotto, terrain on the unnamed peak was more complex than I anticipated so route finding's key on this one. Climber's scramble unless you approach via the valley between this unnamed peak and Gap Peak which likely has easier lines but a whole lot of creek bashing to get there." — haldanborglum • May 20, 2023

"The Bataan Scramble route is fairly interesting until you pass the tree line then its a slog up to the weather station. My gps track is all over the place, probably from walking up alongside the cliff wall most of the time. Plus I walked into town after. Going up the G9 trail I did pass the old Bataan trail that was closed a few years ago due to blasting in the area. I continued following the G9 trail up. I reached a cairn with another trail, I followed it. Unfortunately it lead to the old trail. I should of stayed on the G9 trail longer to reach the new trail. My second time using this route." — Randy • May 31, 2022

"Had an awesome day this particular day on Grotto mountain. Took the ACC route instead of the direct route. This is a much better choice. Even though it adds more distance, the views throughout are better and the ridge is quite fun." — Slogenstein • Jan 24, 2021

"Liz is working on her Kane list...25 to go. This one was never a high priority, but it made for a nice quick on on a bad weather day. We slept in, got a great meal in town, and headed out on the trail in mid afternoon. An electrical storm rolled in when we were 400 meters up, so we needed to take cover for a bit. Fortunately, we were not exposed, and the storm blew on through. The rest of the day was a mixture of beautiful sun, mist, and rain. Went up Kane's "direct route" and down the ACC trail. The ghost was in the sun for our summit stay, so we had some nice views in that direction. Otherwise, this one isn't too interesting. Great exercise though. " — mike_rogers81 • Jul 6, 2019

"we left a bit late (9:15 ish) on a short day (January 21). Encountered post-holing past treeline to the ridge proper. To avoid the hazard of cornices, went down into the bowl instead of sticking to ridge, which was much harder & slower going. Turned around approximately 60 vert and 600 m horiz from the summit as started to worry about making it down in darkness." — apfelstrudel • Jan 21, 2018

"Attempted this one back when I was 13 so I had to cross it off my to do list, started at 7 because of the 30+ degree day prediction in Canmore. Super fun ridge walk with a really cool rock window that you can check out." — snowsurfer • Jul 8, 2017

"Did the Acc route so I could experience the amazing ridge walk twice, saw the rock window and mount Assinaboine, got caught in a T-storm on the way down the mountain, a bit scary, pelted with pea sized hail, soaked to the bone, sliding down mud trails streaming with water, but an awesome hike!" — mountaindad • Jun 8, 2017