Red Hill Winter Loop
The trailhead for any hikes into the Red Hill area is 6 km up the Lac du Bois Road from the cattleguard. A parking area, gate, and sign are on the right. From the gate, trails go left, right, and up the hill. The trails dwindle on the east side of Red Hill itself, but the whole area is open grassland and sagebrush so hikers can make their own routes around or over the hills.
On my last exploration of the area, I took a group to the top of Red Hill for the view, then around the large ponds in a clockwise loop, but this time I went counter-clockwise, picking different hills for new views.
From the top of East Hill the upper pond was iced in, surrounded by grassland hills.
From the top of East Hill, I descended down to the east side of the Red Hill Pond, then walked on the frozen pond around the shoreline.
The pond will start to melt soon, so hikers will then have to follow the sagebrush shorelines around the perimeter.
This scenic route is only 3.5 to 4.0 km, depending on the route chosen.
Someone had cleared a small ink rink on the lake for some winter pond hockey. The hike to the lake is short, only about 850m. When I was at the lake no one else was there, but this is a very nice spot in the off-season.