Kananaskis Country and Canmore

Working out where to go? Browse the trip reports by objective for this area, and check the forecast before you commit.

The largest region here, and the one with the most choice. Highway 40 south of Kananaskis Village and Highway 66 in the Elbow are both gated in winter — check the seasonal closures before counting on a site beyond the gate.

Bow Valley Provincial Park (Exshaw / Seebe) — Alberta Parks

• Reservable — Bow Valley, Willow Rock, and others
• First-come, first-served — Three Sisters

There is no frontcountry campground at Barrier Lake itself — it is a day-use trailhead.

Peter Lougheed, Spray Valley, and Sheep River provincial parks — Alberta Parks

• Reservable — Elkwood, Lower Lake, Interlakes, and Boulton Creek (Peter Lougheed PP); Sandy McNabb (Sheep River PP)
• First-come, first-served — Canyon and Mount Sarrail (walk-in tents, Peter Lougheed PP); Eau Claire and Spray Lakes West (Spray Valley PP); Bluerock (Sheep River PP)

The Elbow and McLean Creek (Bragg Creek) — Alberta Parks

There is no campground at West Bragg Creek itself; the nearest basecamps are along Highway 66.

• Reservable — McLean Creek (year-round), Little Elbow, Paddy's Flat (also has FCFS sites)
• First-come, first-served — Beaver Flats

Public land camping

This is the region where random camping helps least, and it is worth knowing why before driving out looking for a spot. The four public land use zones here — Kananaskis, McLean Creek, Sibbald, and Cataract Creek — all permit random, no-service camping, but camping is not permitted within 1 km of a road in any of them, on top of the usual 1 km from any Provincial Recreation Area. Everything within reach of the highway is therefore a booked site, and the zones are worth the walk only if you wanted to be a kilometre out anyway. The provincial parks above are not public land and none of this applies inside them.

See how it works for the pass and the rest of the rules, and the Interactive Recreation Map for the boundaries.

Hostels

• HI Kananaskis Wilderness Hostel — Ribbon Creek, Highway 40; the main hostel basecamp for the region
• HI Canmore — in town, and the same building as the Alpine Club's Canmore Alpine Hostel, which is the club's national clubhouse

Alpine Club of Canada huts

Huts book through the Alpine Club of Canada on a rolling window — six months ahead for members, three for everyone else.

• Elk Lakes Cabin — over Elk Pass from Peter Lougheed, and listed again under BC Rockies and the Purcells, where it physically sits