Bucket List No. 8 - Hike - Top of the World Trail

Top of the World Trail - AllTrails Link

Why it is on my list:

View from the Top

I choose this trail as one of my first trails to actually hike because it seemed to have the potential for 

amazing views. It was a relatively short hike, listed with moderate difficulty (...which I didn't think was bad) and it was close to my parents place at the lake which meant it was accessible. The hike is 2.2 miles with 127 ft elevation gain. According to AllTrails it takes an average of 45 minutes to complete but it took us 1 hour 36 minutes to complete (note: this does not include the time we sat and hung out checking out the view and flying the drone). 

I did it! 

On September 18, 2024 at Falcon Lake, Manitoba with Justin. 

How I felt: Amazing! So many things went wrong on the way to the hike and had the potential to ruin the trip or make us cancel but I trust myself and not what I thought were 'signs' that we shouldn't do the hike. I relied on the fact that I'm always prepared and it was awesome. 

Reflecting at the top

I will say this - this was the hike that almost didn't happen. The skies were looking like they could storm but relying on many years of prairie girl knowledge of storms and some weather forecasts we were pretty sure that we could do the hike ok so we headed out. On the way out I noticed a sweet smell in the car and couldn't figure out what it was - I thought for a bit maybe it was a hand soap but it didn't make sense. We ended up stopped at the store in Falcon lake to check for something and when we did that I opened the back of the car and noticed that everything was wet. My entire water bottle had leaked all over the back of the car and my bag; and to make things EVEN better it started to lightly drizzle. I was so close to calling the hike at this point - I mean my bag was soaked in strawberry lemonade crystal light flavoured water and the car was wet and it was starting to drizzle. But I figured we had come this far we might as well take a little tour around the far side of the lake and see what we could see.. When we got to the parking lot I was pretty determined to not let these "signs" dissuade me from doing the hike and I mean I am generally over prepared for everything. So as luck would have it I found my compact hiking towel that I got off amazon or something like that in the car and I dried off what I could and then put the towel between me and the bag and decided off we would go. The hike was amazing - and it starts with going up a ski hill which was very reminiscent of one of my favourite hikes in my life into the mountains as a cadet. 

General Hike information:

Getting to the Trail:

Getting to the trail is really easy - you basically drive to Falcon Ridge Ski Slopes which is on the south side of Falcon Lake. It is located within a provincial park so a park pass is required. If you read all trails and everything else they are very specific about where you can and cannot park and it was slightly confusing - but the basics - keep driving until you can't drive anymore because you are in a parking lot and  the road ends. You will see other signs about parking for the lodge in the summer and restaurant - keep driving by those. You will know if you are in the right spot if you see a red outhouse on the edge of the parking lot. The other spots are for guests of the Lodge and restaurant. 

Navigation on the trail:

Trail Signs

Navigation on the trail I would say is fairly easy - one of two things: Download all trails and you get *most* of the hiking trails available in the area. As Top of the World is not the only hike here. I haven't tried it but I understand Trailforks have the entire system. If you don't want to do that then it's pretty easy just to take a picture of the resort map before you begin. The only thing I will say is a lot of people seemed to miss the turn off towards the cliff view - which honestly the entire reason to do the hike in my opinion. 

Starting the trail:

When you start the trail you will go up and to the right behind the outhouse and it is an ATV/Equipment trail for the most part. The nice thing is that all of the climb is at the start of the trail and it is a steeper climb up but there are no rocks or other things to be climbing over the path is mostly just packed gravel type situation. When you get to the point where you cut off that trail to go to the "top of the world" there is going up and down some rocks on the hike but it is very easy and no large climbs. 

When you get to the cliff there is a little bench and an amazing view where we took a break and flew the drone for a while.

Final thoughts: 

If you are looking for a nice, easier style hike that isn't just flat then I would recommend this trail. The best thing is - as you start wanting to develop you can add other sections on to the trail.