Ask yourself which trail you actually used last week. Was it the postcard hike up to the turquoise lakes, the one every visitor photo of Canmore seems to feature? Or was it the loop that starts at the turn-around near the end of your own street? If you live in Peaks of Grassi or Quarry Pines, the answer to that question tells you almost everything you need to know about how much this summer's rockfall actually changed for you.
Because it did close something. A slope above Canmore has been unstable since the end of May, and the closure that followed has now stretched across an entire summer with no fixed end date. But the closure map and the way residents here actually move through the terrain are two different things, and conflating them is how you end up avoiding a trail network that never stopped working.
What actually happened above town
Heavy rain at the end of May triggered a rockfall off the East End of Rundle, directly above the Grassi Lakes access road. Alberta Parks closed Highway 742 above Canmore and shut down the entire slope, including the Upper and Interpretive Grassi Lakes trails and the Reclaimer trail. The closure took effect on June 10, and as of this September it remains in place with no confirmed reopening date. Crews from Alberta Parks and Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors have been working to clear debris and large rocks still at risk of falling, and officials have said the closure is in place to protect public safety and allow crews to complete the work safely. The area reopens once it's been determined safe, not on a set calendar.
That's a meaningful loss if the Grassi Lakes hike was part of your regular rotation, and it's worth being honest about the scale of the detour. The trailhead sits about ten minutes up the hill from Canmore in normal conditions. With the road closed, reaching the same slope now means driving around through Highway 40 or Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, a trip closer to two hours each way. That gap, ten minutes versus two hours, is the actual size of the disruption, and it's the number worth knowing before you plan around a trail that isn't reopening on your schedule.
Closed, open, and the difference between them
| Trail or access point | Status this September | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Grassi Lakes Upper & Interpretive | Closed indefinitely | Rockfall hazard off East End of Rundle, closed since June 10 |
| Reclaimer | Closed indefinitely | Same rockfall zone above the Grassi Lakes access road |
| Fun Forest (Peaks of Grassi connector) | Open | Sits below the closure zone, never part of the affected slope |
| Highline (neighborhood turn-around access) | Open | Separate trailhead reached from within Peaks of Grassi |
| Quarry Lake loop and dog park | Open | Accessed off Spray Lakes Road below the closure point |
The pattern in that table is the actual story. Every trail that's closed sits on the same unstable slope above the old Grassi Lakes turnoff. Every trail that's open is reached from somewhere else entirely, mostly from inside the neighborhood itself.
The network the rockfall never touched
Fun Forest is the trail most Peaks of Grassi residents already use without thinking of it as a named route. It's a short, easy connector, rated green difficulty and running just over a kilometre, that links the neighborhood directly to the meadow beside Quarry Lake and its parking area. It was built as a local link, not a destination hike, and it sits well below the slope that triggered June's closure, so nothing about this summer changed it.
The Highline Trail is the other piece worth knowing about, mostly because so few visitors realize it has a neighborhood entrance at all. Most guides describe reaching Highline through the Quarry Lake parking lot, but there's also an access point in the middle of the turn-around on the east side of the Peaks of Grassi community itself. That's a trailhead most people drive past to find, and residents here can walk to it.
And the Quarry Lake loop, the flat path that circles the lake itself, was never in question. The road closure runs between the Grassi Lakes turnoff and the dam further up Spray Lakes Road, well above where Quarry Lake sits. The lake, the loop, and the dog park below it have operated on a normal summer schedule the entire time the slope above has been shut down.
The rules that actually get enforced at Quarry Lake
If Quarry Lake is doing more of the daily work for your household this year, the two pieces of it worth knowing are the dog rules and the parking.
The dog park has two official off-leash zones, a meadow area and a pond area where dogs can swim. Both are clearly marked, and Canmore's animal control bylaw caps off-leash dogs at three per person there, a limit put in place specifically to reduce wildlife conflict at what's consistently the busiest dog park in town. Fines for off-leash violations outside the designated zones start at $250, and harassing wildlife, including the elk and bears that move through the area, can bring fines up to $2,500. Enforcement isn't theoretical. Town records have shown Quarry Lake accounts for the majority of off-leash tickets issued anywhere in Canmore.
Parking is the other detail that trips people up, mostly because the rules changed enough in the last couple of years that old habits don't apply. The lot charges roughly $20 for two hours, but Canmore residents holding a valid Resident Parking Permit get up to three hours free per day, provided they start a session through the town's payment app or at the machine. The lot is actively patrolled, so skipping that step isn't a quiet option.
What this means if you're planning tonight's walk
None of this requires a new routine. It just means matching your plan to the map above rather than to the general sense that "the trails are closed."
- If your evening walk is the Fun Forest connector to Quarry Lake, nothing has changed. It sits below the closure zone entirely.
- If you're heading out on Highline from the neighborhood turn-around, that access point is open and always has been this summer.
- If Grassi Lakes was your go-to for out-of-town guests, plan around it for now. There's no reopening date, and the alternative route adds close to two hours each way.
- If you're bringing dogs to Quarry Lake, keep the count at three or fewer and stay inside the marked meadow or pond zones. That's where enforcement is concentrated.
- If you're parking at Quarry Lake without a resident permit, budget for the paid lot and start your session before you walk away from the car.
The value of Peaks of Grassi and Quarry Pines has always been the same thing: a trail network that starts at your door instead of requiring a drive. That's still true this September. It just requires knowing which part of the map moved and which part never did.
If you're weighing what a property here is actually worth given how residents use this terrain day to day, not just what a listing photo shows, Vincent & Wright Group can walk you through it. Connect with a Canmore & Banff property specialist who knows this neighborhood from the ground up.
