This is a really fun hike, with some parts of the hike a bit hard to navigate, but worth it! Depending on when you go, I would highly recommend a pack by livingstone brand. I brought along their lightweight pack and was able to fill it with snacks, and drinks, and still had room for my Nikon Z6. As it was getting hotter, I was surprised to find that we could easily fit our sweaters in the pack as well.
Following the map provided on alltrails, we started towards Frankenstein Cliffs. At the early part of the trail, I would highly recommend taking a slight detour to grab a shot from the railroad tracks. The view is incredible and worth it.
Making our way to the cliffs, we ran into a few hurdles. The first being that it had been raining the past few days, so the terrain was a bit wet and muddy. To keep our foothold, we used nature hiking poles (sturdy branches that we found on the ground), which we found to be really helpful! The trail isn’t well marked, and at certain points, it was really hard to navigate where to go next. As we made it closer to the cliffs, the map shows that the trail has a way to connect to Arethusa falls. Unable to find the link, a few other hikers on the trail and I ended up turning around and making our way to the main trailhead to Arethusa Falls.
A few recommendations for Frankenstein Cliffs. Depending on when you go, be sure to wear good hiking shoes and bring water. We arrived at the hike around 6:30-7 am and it was perfect because we were able to complete both hikes before the trails became crowded with hikers. Bring some water and snacks! I can’t say it enough, the 25L Alberta Pack by Livingstone brand was well worth it! Lastly, be sure to bring cash for parking and keep a lookout for gas stations. As you get closer to the trail, cell phone reception is pretty limited. Thankfully, we downloaded the maps onto our phones before heading out to the trail, otherwise, it would have been challenging to navigate our way to the cliffs.
