If you're looking for an early season backpacking trip in Banff National Park, you'd do well to choose the hike to Glacier Lake. On a scale of difficulty, it's an easy, mellow one and a great choice for families. The hike is 9 kilometres one way with just 238 metres of elevation gain. In early summer, when so many other trails are buried under a metre or two of snow, it's a real treat to…
Waterton Lakes National Park, A UNESCO World Heritage Site in southern Alberta, is an absolute gem of a place to visit in summer and fall. It's the smallest of the Rocky Mountain National Parks - with drop-dead gorgeous mountain scenery that's easily accessible. That means you can cover a lot of ground in the national park if you're short on time. If you're not, explore at a more leisurely pace, trying a variety of activities…
If you're looking for unique places to stay in Alberta, check out the Charming Inns of Alberta - a collection of 12 distinctive properties covering a swath of the province from Jasper National Park in the north to Waterton Lakes National Park in the south. Choose from romantic small inns, log cabins, B&B's, boutique hotels, and even glamping tents in a world-class mountain setting. Most of these properties are family and pet-friendly. Many are locally…
If you're a camper, I think you'll find the MoonShade to be an incredibly useful piece of gear. It's a lightweight, portable awning that attaches to vans, cars or trucks (via two very strong magnets) or to windows via suction cups. Don't have any of the above? You can still tie it off with guylines to a fence, tree or door frame. The bottom line - it's very portable and it can be used in…
Drumheller, a town of about 8,000 people (10,000 if you include greater Drumheller) is a fantastic destination if you love any combination of the following - canoeing, biking, badlands scenery, world-class museums or dinosaurs. I have been to the Canadian Badlands area on many occasions and always find new things to do in and around Drumheller. There's a lot to discover in the area if you're the curious type. I think you could easily spend…
As a Calgary resident, I often hear people say that summer is such a nice time to be in the city that they don't want to leave. I don't mind some city time - more to stay on top of my garden than anything - but what I really love to do is get into the mountains. Even with COVID in our midst, I feel like I'm leading a close to normal life while I'm…
If you're looking for a long day hike or a backpacking trip in the mountains, within a few hours drive of Calgary, check out Three Isle Lake in Kananaskis Country. It's a great choice as it also offers several options to continue beyond the lake - including the difficult but reportedly fabulous Northover Traverse along with the easy hike to South Kananaskis Pass and Beatty Lake. Fortunately the hike up to the lake is worthwhile…
I first learned about the South End of Lawson hike via Instagram. Someone had hiked it under cover of snow and their photo caught my eye. The hike sounded intriguing - and the views from the first photo I saw were outstanding. After a bit of research, John and I decided we'd do the hike one June day on the way up to a two night stay at Mount Engadine Lodge as the trailhead is…
The 10.0 kilometre return hike to Rummel Lake in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, is a great choice if you want an easy mountain hike that leads to a lake partially ringed by larch trees. You won't find nearly the crowds on this hike that you do on the nearby hike to popular Chester Lake. The Rummel Lake hike - which gains just 315 metres in total, also offers beautiful views of the Spray Lakes Reservoir.…
Alberta's Goat Creek Trail offers a fun mountain bike ride that traverses the beautiful valley between Mount Rundle and Sulphur Mountain. The trail starts above the town of Canmore at the top of the Smith Dorrien Road- Spray Lakes Road and finishes at the Spray River West trailhead, located approximately 150 metres beyond the Banff Springs Hotel at the northern end of Spray Avenue in Banff. From there you can cycle through Banff to pick…