Kitchitwaa Shkwaandem Trail (Heavens Gate)

Dogs No Dogs

Features Commonly Backpacked · Fall Colors · Geological Significance · Lake · Views · Wildlife

Bring a GPS or Mobile Phone with the trail pre-loaded. You'll not have cell coverage the entire time, and you'll get lost at least twice. You'll need a reliable GPS device to get you back on trail.

The trail is poorly marked, so you have to keep an eye out for various types of markings! Primarily marked with white plastic rectangles nailed to trees, and rock cairns (small piles of rocks) when climbing the steep mountains. However in some locations it is also marked with yellow or blue blazes or plastic markers. In a few locations, its quite a distance between markers and very easy to get off trail, so keep a watchful eye and have a GPS to guide you with the trail pre-loaded. You'll be very deep in the backwoods, so don't get lost.

There are 3 pre-determined camp sites with good water supply, flat areas for your tent, and a fire pit.

This trail has over 4,000 feet of elevation change, and it gets very steep in some locations, so plan for slow ascents and a 2.1 - 2.8km/hr pace for the majority of the trail.

On much of the trail, there is little to no mobile coverage. You'll gain mobile access a top a few of the mountains. At least once a day you should have cell service if you have a good provider, but I recommend bringing a secondary form of communication such as a Garmin InReach or other satellite communicator. SPOT most likely won't work here either due to the small number of satellites on their network and deep gullies and valleys.

All in all, a difficult trail that is hard to navigate, but it offers great solitude as it is not used often, and the views it offers are spectacular. I traveled it in early September and loved it. The nights did get cool, down to -4 degrees Celsius, but manageable, I recommend traveling it mid to late September in the fall colors.