posted 07-30-2003 07:24               

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Regards

posted 07-30-2003 11:27               

Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump interpretive centre is on route, about 3 hours into the drive.

posted 07-30-2003 16:20               

quote:

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Originally posted by Skul:
If you're up to a four hour drive one-way, I'd check out Waterton. Absolutely spectacular.
http://www.watertonpark.com/

Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump interpretive centre is on route, about 3 hours into the drive.

Sandra

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If you're going to Waterton, take highway #22 south (the Bragg Creek exit off highway #1 as you head back towards Calgary) - it's called the Cowboy Trail, and is a very nice scenic drive with mountains on your right, prairies/foothills on your left. Stop at Longview for some of their 'famous' beef jerky.

Eventually you'll come upon highway #3 - if you head west towards Blairmore & the Crowsnest Pass, you'll be at the Frank Slide within minutes. One night in 1900-something (1903?) the side of the mountain came down and covered a town. There's an interpretive center there and it's just an impressive site.

BTW, if you were to head east on highway #3, you'll hit Fort Mcleod that has an historic RCMP fort from the early frontier days, and the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is within a few minutes as well.

Drumheller and the dinosaur museum is a pretty big day , but it would also be pretty cool.

Drive to Jasper via the highway #93 Icefields Parkway & stop at the Columbia Icefields to actually go onto a glacier.

Or drive into B.C. on highway #1 and take the Takkakaw Falls exit. It's a bit of a windy drive to the parking lot, but then a pretty easy walk right up to some great waterfalls. Plenty of misting if you get close!

Or do the windy drive up to Moraine Lake near Lake Louise.

Callaway Park is an amusement park with quite a few rides close to Calgary along highway #1.

If you spend any time in Calgary, check out Eau Claire market in the downtown area.

About a 4-hour drive from Canmore takes you to Edmonton with the world's largest shopping mall, along with many other interesting things to see & do (many festivals, for instance).

Hope that helps!

posted 08-03-2003 16:20               

quote:

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Originally posted by Skul:
I'd check out Waterton. Absolutely spectacular

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Another vote for Waterton--it's worth seeing.

posted 08-07-2003 09:59               

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Regards

posted 08-07-2003 23:28               

It's a mess, that's for sure.

Bev

posted 08-08-2003 00:42               

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Regards

posted 08-09-2003 21:43               

Had a great time, in spite of the fires. Saw almost all the things we wanted to but had no time for fishing! Darn.

Le Beaujolais restaurant in Banff was great! C$39 for the early bird (6 to 6:15pm only)dinner-three courses. Wine was quite pricey.

The sirloin dinner at St. james Pub was awesome. Only about C$14.
If anyone has questions fire away. Barto gave me a lot of assistance. He's been to this area quite a bit.

I'll write a review on the Banff Rocky Mtn. Resort (small units)in a few days.

posted 08-16-2003 20:34               

On the 13th we saw a fair amount of smoke in the Canmore area and decided to chance a trip to Lake Louise and beyond, past Field. Past the 93 south turn off to Radium (which I think was closed) it started to clear up, and was really good at Lake Louise and beyond. Not sure if that was the case in the later days, but there was no significant rain in the area while we were there (8-15th).

Phil, glad you had a good time in spite of the smoke! Take care & talk to you again later.

posted 08-20-2003 13:34            

We just returned (Monday) from 3 weeks in Canada the last week of which was spent at Chateau Canmore. (Nice enough units but take earphones if you are a light sleeper! Not so bad when it was cool enough to sleep with the windows closed (no air conditioning) but myself and the children found the busy road and occasional trains passing in the night didn't make for a good night's sleep! Having said that however my husband had no problems.) The highlights of our week, certainly for the children were white water rafting (arranged with the Canmore rafting centre - they do a beginners trip suitable for families on the Kananaskis river) and a trip to Radium Hot Springs. The latter has a cooler pool as well as the hot pool. We went there on 15th and managed to get down there on highway 93 as we left early but the road was only open from 6 a.m until 11 a.m and was then closed. It was very smoky and in places we were taken through in convoy. We returned via Golden and the Yoho Park which is worth a visit if you haven't been there before. Emerald Lake was pretty and we found the walk around the lake interesting as the vegetation etc. changes as you walk around. You can hire canoes on the lake too. We actually preferred it to Lake Louise as there were less people. Also Takakkaw falls were very impressive.

There had also been fires at Deadman's Flats just outside Canmore and, when we left on Sunday, there were signs saying that all Backcountry travel was prohibited. We were going to stop on the Grotto Creek Trail on our way back to Calgary but the trail was closed. We also found that we couldn't get into the Revelstoke Park due to extreme fire hazard although trails in Glacier Park were open at the time of our visit. We went via Bow Valley Parkway to Moraine Lake one day too, intending to do the walk to Consolation Lakes - again the trail was closed due to bushfires - however we enjoyed canoeing on the lake instead so didn't mind.

We spent a few days at Shuswap Lake and were unable to travel North from there to Jasper on Highway 5 and this also prevented us from visiting Well's Gray Park. But the situation is constantly changing. We found the tourist information centres were very helpful with information and advice about road closures, alternative routes etc. (the one in Canmore is just up the road from Chateau Canmore).

The Centennial Museum in Canmore is worth a visit to get a bit of background information on the town and information on the geology of the area. They have leaflets on some walks including the Grassi lakes walk. (Also displays of crochet if you are into that sort of thing!) If you are hiring a car it may be worth checking your terms and conditions carefully, especially if you want to drive on gravel roads such as the Spray Lake route. Ours said that we shouldn't use the car on unsurfaced roads. If you do that circuit we found that the information centre near Kananaskis Lakes was quite interesting for the children and they loved the Shiatsu massage chair! We stopped off at Beaver pond picnic area on our way back to Canmore - didn't see any beavers but the dams were interesting if you haven't seen them before and we watched the courtship ritual of two squirrels close up!

I've a feeling you asked somewhere about places to eat - we found Craigs just up the road from Chateau Canmore was convenient for breakfast. My daughter and I shared a breakfast - three eggs, five pieces of bacon and three pancakes for $7.99. We also enjoyed a lunchtime meal in Canmore at Melange. Nice crepes and tapas and the pear tatin and white chocolate mousse trifle seemed to go down well. We didn't find portions excessive but that was fine for a lunchtime meal. Tried to get into the Spaghetti Factory in Banff one evening for a meal but there was a 40 minute wait for a table so we went to Earls instead (only a 20 minute wait!) - had a very nice meal with large portions - if we had known the size of them we would have ordered one desert between two!

For maps and books on the area if you need them it is worth a look in Second Store - near to Melange and down in the basement - they have what seemed like a good selection, including some with waterproof coating.

Hope you have a great time.

Jean

posted 08-22-2003 13:29               

We've been to Takkakaw Falls a few times before and really enjoyed it. You have to take a fair winding drive off Highway #1 near Field to get there, but then it's VERY VERY easy walking to get right up to the base of the falls. If you're brave, or feeling hot, you can really get soaked if you want to!

We went to Emerald Lake for the first time this summer, so it was a very pleasant find for us. It's just past (west of) Field, a very short drive off highway #1. Beautiful lake, gorgeous-looking accomodations there (expensive, of course) and it did look like a perfect place to go out on a canoe. I meant to see how the price compared to Lake Louise for an hour, but forgot. I think we'll do our next canoe rental there rather than Lake Louise!

Also check out the Natural Bridge in that same area. It's a very short hop off highway #1, and seems to get a lot of tourist buses there, so it won't be a quiet secluded kind of thing. Still interesting though - the river cut through a strip of rock to leave a 'natural bridge' across the river that flows just underneath.

I'd give another vote for Melange for places to eat in Canmore - they're very accomodating if you have special requests or dietary needs as well. Evvia is a 'family' restaurant with a Greek flavor, including good pizza. Also we tried Santa Lucia for the first time (also along Main Street) - very very slow service the night we were there, but pretty good food & prices.

Great suggestion about the used bookstore along Main Street - "Second Story Books". It's actually in the basement, but USED to be up on the second floor. Then the concern about the weight of all the books made a move to the basement necessary. and they do have a good selection of new books, mostly about hiking & things to do in the Canadian Rockies. They also take trade-ins towards used books, or will just outright buy them from you (for less). We've restocked our daughter with books to read doing this trade-in thing, and if you want something to flip through during your stay but didn't bring anything, it's a fairly cheap way to find something to keep your attention.

If you're staying in a place with kitchen facilities, I'd recommend the Safeway along Railway Avenue. It's the newest one and is HUGE - bigger than the biggest Safeway here in Edmonton, I think. Good deli with take-out chinese food if you like, good subs made to order, and so on. Just down the same street is IGA (with a fairly recent expansion) is also a good choice. Marra's, on Main Street, is vastly smaller and has a 'cozy' feel - an independent grocery store started in 1948, according to the sign outside.

Also don't forget to check out Valbella Meat & Deli, which is located in the Elk Run Industrial Park. It's easy to get to if you follow the Bow Valley Trail east as if you're going to take highway 1A to get to Exshaw, Seebe, and the like. Just after the turnoff to get onto Highway #1 (not 1A) is the turn into the industrial park, and Valbella is on the corner of the second block you come to on your left. GREAT ciabatta sandwiches, pot pies, sausage rolls & other hot foods, plus a great selection of 'gourmet'-style foods ready to take home and put on the barbecue or in the oven.

Also in this same industrial park is Fisherman's Grotto, a Cajun/Louisiana-style small restaurant that occasionally has live jazz. I don't recall exactly how to get to it, but a free tourist map of Canmore and the address should serve you well.

And Jean, I remember well the loud trains coming by when we stayed at the Chateau Canmore a few years back. I thought the units themselves were very nice, but it took a few days to get a good night's sleep because of the train noise. (Yet we're going back there for New Year's!)