Ridgeback – R4 Details

Activities
- Mountain Bike
- E-Bike
- Winter Fat Bike
- Horse
- Hike
- Trail Running
Riding Area

Station Flats
Bragg Creek, Alberta
AKA

R4
Difficulty Rating

Blue Rate
Local Popularity
60 in Mountain Biking [+]
- 85 in E-Biking
- 85 in Trail Running
- 40 in Hiking
- 5 in Horseback
Global Ranking
#60611 in Mountain Biking [+]
- #9778 in E-Biking
- #36983 in Trail Running
- #115487 in Hiking
- #2816 in Horseback
Trail Type

Singletrack
Bike Type

AM, XC, Fat
Direction

Both Directions
Climb Difficulty

Blue
Physical Rating

Moderate
Dogs Allowed

Yes
eBike Allowed

Yes up to Class 1
TTFs on Trail

Bridge
Year Opened

2010
Land Owner

Alberta Forestry and Parks

The northernmost section of Ridgeback ("R4") is 300m north of R3. Tom Snow forks to the right for a 800m section that, while always wet and muddy, makes an alternative to the climb up R4 (turn left and climb up the mountain road until you reach the other end of R4). R4 meets the bottom of Moose Packers near the Shell gas valve station.

R4 is mostly fast and buff from north to south, with some short climbs at the south end. Easily the most buff and flowy part of the Ridgeback trails.

Ridgeback is one of the trails in Kananaskis built and maintained by the Calgary Mountain Bike Alliance. It's a mix of machine-built and hand-built construction, designed to provide an alternative to the perpetual wetness of the Tom Snow trail. Ridgeback and Tom Snow come together at three points, dividing both trails into four main sections, all of which are good in either direction. You can mix and match sections of the two trails to extend or shorten your ride. Note that the parts of Tom Snow that Ridgeback bypasses almost always have standing water, mud puddles and downed trees across them.

Access Info

Access from R3 to the south, Moose Packers to the west, or maybe the mountain road or Tom Snow to the east.

Trail Supporters

Calgary Mountain Bike Alliance
since 2009
Maintainer
past supporters

2009 - 2010
Builder

Local Trail Association

Calgary Mountain Bike Alliance (www.cmbalink.com)
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trail development & maintenance.
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Traditionally Indigenous Territory

Recent Activity on Trail

Past Week

0 rides

6 Months

5 rides
14 miles avg distance

All

292 rides
Last: Jun 6, 2026

c1	c2	c3	c4
January	February	March	April
May	June	July	August
September	October	November	December

update trails status or condition

Ridgeback – R4 Trail Reports

status	date	description
	Feb 13, 2026 @ 12:10pm (America/Edmonton) Feb 13, 2026	Couple trees down
	Nov 10, 2025 @ 3:54pm (America/Edmonton) Nov 10, 2025	So many downed trees. The wind did a huge number of ridelability of the trail.
	Sep 9, 2025 @ 10:23am Sep 9, 2025
	Aug 14, 2025 @ 7:13am Aug 14, 2025	All vegetation trimmed back. Some armouring of eroding steep sections.
	Jul 27, 2025 @ 6:09am Jul 27, 2025	All puddles drained. The worst of the thick overgrowth at the east end has been trimmed back. The entrance off of Mountain Road at the west end...