Sight · Peter Lougheed Provincial Park
A heated hut beside several cross-country ski trail starts.
Overview
Map
Plan your stop
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Peter Lougheed Tour Guide
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Peter Lougheed audio tourRecorded for this place
Pocaterra Warming Hut: A Ski-Day Shelter“Pocaterra Warming Hut is ahead, a heated public shelter beside several cross-country ski trail starts. It's useful for changing gear and warming up by the gas fireplace, with indoor picnic tables for your own lunch.”
Plays as you drive up to Pocaterra Warming Hut in the Parkwolf Peter Lougheed Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Guide
Pocaterra Warming Hut is a heated public shelter at Pocaterra Day Use Area, across from the Smith-Dorrien/Spray Trail (Highway 742) access. Several cross-country ski trails start here, so it’s a useful place to warm up, eat lunch or change into ski gear between outings. If you’re planning a ski day in this part of the park, it’s an easy stop to build around; without a trail outing, it’s a modest rest stop rather than a destination on its own.
There’s a gas fireplace, picnic tables and flush toilets, with ample parking at the day-use site. Bring lunch if you want to eat here: the tables make it a good warm-up stop, but no restaurant or menu is listed for the hut. Despite the name, this is a daytime shelter rather than overnight lodging.
Wildlife
132 sightingsGrizzly BearMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
17 sightingsCanada LynxMost seen around 8 PMSighting map
30 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 6 AMSighting map
69 sightingsMooseMost seen around 5 PMSighting map
176 sightingsBighorn SheepMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
19 sightingsBald EagleMost seen around 8 AMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Peter Lougheed. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
Keep exploring
EasyCanyon Snowshoe Trail1.7 km · 45 min · 1.2 km awayA low-climb link to Lower Lake and Penstock winter trails.
ModerateHigh Rockies Trail (Peter Lougheed Section)16.8 km · 6 hr · 1.4 km awayA forested High Rockies traverse from Lower Kananaskis Lake to Elk Pass.
ChallengingSouth Lawson Peak Trail7.8 km · 5.5 hr · 1.5 km awayA steep forest climb opens onto a rocky ridge above two lakes.
ModerateLower Lake Trail7 km · 1.8 hr · 1.6 km awayA shoreline walk with Spray Range views across Lower Kananaskis Lake.
EasyPenstock Loop Snowshoe Trail4.5 km · 1.8 hr · 1.6 km awayA winter loop with waterworks history and wide lake views.
EasyLower Lake Snowshoe Trail3.9 km · 1.8 hr · 1.7 km awayAn easy snowshoe along Lower Lake beneath a wall of peaks.
ModerateWintour Snowshoe Trail10.2 km · 3 hr · 2.2 km awaySnowshoe a 5.1 km winter road corridor with mountain views.
ChallengingKing Creek Ridge Trail7.1 km · 4.5 hr · 2.3 km awayA steep ridge climb opens wide views over the Kananaskis Lakes.
Campground · 1.1 km awayPocaterra Walk-in Tenting Group CampgroundGroup camping with a shelter and room for 20 units
Visitor center · 1.2 km awayPeter Lougheed Park Discovery & Information CentreA compact wildlife museum with a chance of meadow bears.
Campground · 1.3 km awayCanyon CampgroundA first-come, 50-site base for lake-area hikes and paved cycling.
Picnic area · 1.7 km awayCanyon Day Use AreaLake access and picnic tables under a rugged mountain wall.Picnic area · 2.2 km awayPeninsula Day Use AreaA lakeside picnic stop with a short Lower Kananaskis Lake viewpoint walk.
Sight · 2.3 km awayKing Creek Day Use AreaA creekside pause or canyon-trail start with mountain views.
Lodging · 3.9 km awayWilliam Watson LodgeBarrier-free cabins make a Lower Kananaskis Lake stay possible.
Campground · 3.9 km awayElkwood CampgroundA wooded campground with 126 sites for tents and RVs.Parkwolf’s Peter Lougheed ranking
The audio tour guide for the drive, plus offline maps, trails, and wildlife heatmaps for when the signal drops.
