You Are Here: Mt Cube

Another perfect weather forecast, another opportunity for big views. I opted for Mt Cube, I was on a time restriction today and this fit the bill. I knew it would be busy, Mt Cube is one of the more popular summits in the area. When I arrived on Baker Road, I was the 3rd car. 4 and a bit hours later, there were 20 cars. Thankfully I think I passed most of those people as I was descending, so the summit wasn't too bad when I arrived. I chose the Cross Rivendell Trail for my ascent. There are 3 trail options for Mt Cube, the other 2 being the Appalachian Trail from the North and South (otherwise known as the Mt Cube Trail and Kodak Trail). Parking on Baker Road, there is a pull off area 0.1 miles from the trailhead. This trail ended up being a contender for one of my most favourite trails to date. It started off super smooth and very gradual in ascent. At about 0.7 miles you encounter a large boulder and the trail starts to steepen just a little and get a little more technical with rocks and roots. Just as your quads start to warm up with that terrain it gets a little steeper again and the rocks become a little larger, but nothing overly crazy or sketchy at all. You hit an area of spruce forest with beautiful tall trees. There is one little area cleared which provides an early peek at what is to come. Due to my earlier departure, there was a beautiful undercast still hanging around the area. A little further on, you hit the first of the ledge slabs and the view opens right up, which provides a great place to catch your breath. The trail then descends just a little before making the final climb which is rocky and rooty again. About 0.2 miles from the summit the trail climbs a rather steep slab, which I imagine would be rather treacherous in Winter or if it was wet. The summit is beautiful, lots of space for everyone to spread out and enjoy the views. I particularly liked looking over at Smarts Mountain where the fire tower appears as a tiny speck above the trees and thought back a few weeks to being up that tower myself! I didn't really linger on the South summit as I was going to head over to the North Peak, where I had read the views are equally beautiful but much less crowded. I continued over to the Mt Cube trail and descended about 0.1 miles before reaching the intersection with the North Peak Side Trail. From here it is not marked, but easily followed. Once you reach the ledges, look out for little cairns that mark the way to the views. The ledges are all quartzite, which was sparkly in the gorgeous sunshine. I highly recommend taking the time to visit. It was 0.5 miles each way from the South summit and well worth it. I relaxed and enjoyed a snack before heading back down the way I came up. The trail maintenance on the Cross Rivendell trail is definitely worth noting. The CRT is a 36 mile trail, which begins/ends depending on your direction of travel at the Mt Cube summit. The trail was one of the best maintained trails I have been on. Mt Cube is definitely a peak worth visiting!

Strava Activity

My pictures uploaded backwards for some reason?!