May 4, 1997
On any given summer weekend, first-time visitors to the city of Calgary will, without benefit of a map, have very little trouble finding their way to the east gates of Banff National Park. They can just follow the hordes of tour buses and rental cars leaving the Calgary International Airport heading west on the Trans Canada highway. For those who wish to avoid the always overflowing campgrounds, the $10 per vehicle user/entrance fee, and the bright shopping lights of Banff Avenue while still enjoying spectacular mountain scenery, an alternative strategy is suggested. Head just slightly south of Calgary on one of the well-maintained secondary highways, and follow a vehicle with Alberta license plates. Chances are you’ll find yourself in Kananaskis Country, Alberta’s best-kept secret.
To be perfectly honest, Kananaskis Country is not the secret it once was. First it was the development of the 36-hole Kananaskis Country Golf Course (where no expense has been spared in making it one of the most dramatic and aesthetically pleasing courses in the world) that brought in the golf set. Then the 1988 Winter Olympics drew the world’s attention to both Nakiska Ski Area and the Canmore Nordic Centre, two of Kananaskis’ world-class facilities. Hollywood has also done its part by filming “Little Big Man,” “Unforgiven,” and “Legends of the Fall” all in Kananaskis Country. However, K-Country (as it is locally called) remains far less busy than Banff National Park (which borders to the west) and is still the escape place of choice for many Calgarians who appreciate its proximity and relative quiet. Kananaskis Country is 90 kilometers (56 miles) to the southwest of Calgary, and is bordered by the towns of Bragg Creek (on the east side), Longview (to the east and south) and Canmore (to the west). Kananaskis Village is in K-Country, on Highway 40, and is open year-round.
In 1977, then-premier of Alberta, Peter Lougheed was in the enviable position of running a government with a cash surplus, due to revenue generated by a healthy oil industry. Lougheed used some of this money to designate “Kananaskis Country,” a 4,000-square-kilometer (1,600-square-mile) piece of land on the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies, as a multi-use recreation area. Not a park, K-Country is generally divided into eight different zones, including four provincial parks: Bow Valley Provincial Park, Bragg Creek Provincial Park, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park and the Elbow-Sheep Wildland Park. According to the perceived sensitivity of a specific region, planners decided which areas needed prime protection, and which would be suitable for development. As a result, Kananaskis Country is an area where development is found in varying degrees across its boundaries. Hydroelectric generation, logging, ranching, and some natural-gas extraction take place in K-Country today, as they have in the past.
It was Captain John Palliser, sent from England to explore the Canadian West, who first bestowed the name Kananaskis to the valley which now runs through the heart of K-Country. Palliser had heard of a native warrior by the name of Kananaskis who had miraculously survived an ax blow to the head. Thinking that this man’s great courage and stamina paralleled the strength necessary in traveling through the valley, he named the valley the same. Today, visitors to the Kananaskis Valley will find that traveling here requires very little effort at all, as a well-maintained paved road (Highway 40) will carry one from one end of the valley to the other.
During the winter months, the highway is partially closed to protect sensitive wildlife habitat. The closed sections are inaccessible from Dec. 1 to mid-June each year. Cross-country skiers and cyclists, however, are permitted to use the road year-round. Many of the other roads in K-Country are not maintained during the winter or are closed. In the summer, road closures are not a problem, but many of the smaller roads in the park are gravel roads, and can be quite dusty.
Summer season in Kananaskis starts fairly early in the most southern parts of the area, with some places cleared of snow as early as April. The higher mountainous regions often are snowed under until July. As in other high-alpine locales, summer weather is unpredictable and changes occur quickly.
Kananaskis Country has over 3,000 campsites, ranging from fully serviced, paved RV sites open year-round, to primitive backcountry sites with only the basic bear pole from which campers can hang their food. All the provincial parks have excellent campgrounds, many with firepits, hot-water showers, visitor centers and group campsites. William Watson Lodge is a beautiful facility built to accommodate physically challenged individuals and their families. Kananaskis Village hosts a number of first-rate hotels, and a few smaller mountain lodges and hostels are also in K-Country’s expanse. The communities of Bragg Creek, Longview and Canmore have overnight accommodations, with some excellent bed-and-breakfasts with gourmet cooking and top-notch hospitality.
The major attraction in Kananaskis is the remarkable scenery. From the foothills and rolling ranges in the east to the towering Rocky Mountains in the west, K-Country exhibits some of Alberta’s best landscapes. Glacier-formed valleys, dense pine forests, clear mountain lakes, open alpine meadows, rolling grass hills and stands of aspen and poplar are all found here. Wildlife viewing opportunities are numerous, and it’s not uncommon to find some of the higher-elevation hiking trails closed due to bear activity. Other animals to watch for are elk, deer, moose, wolves, coyotes, cougars, bighorn sheep, mountain goats, golden eagles, ospreys and owls. Between the Sheep and Elbow Rivers, bands of wild horses roam, adding a touch of Wild West romance to the area.
K-Country’s multi-use area mandate means that a variety of activities take place in the park, although many are restricted to a particular area. For example, 4×4 off-roading and dirt biking are limited to the McLean Creek area, while lower-impact activities such as backpacking, can be done most everywhere. Activities such as hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding co-exist on many of the trails with little or no conflicts. The primary focus is keeping trails open for all users. Education and efforts by different user groups to work together are creating an atmosphere of peace amongst users and hopefully creating the opportunity for the future generations to enjoy these activities.
With Kananaskis Country not falling under a provincial parks mandate, or the National Parks Act, many feel that not enough is being done to keep the area from being overdeveloped and exploited. Its multi-use designation causes problems for groups who feel forestry and natural-gas extraction no longer have a place in K-Country. Others would like to see a halt come to activities such as hunting and the stocking of lakes with fish. As we learn more about how ecosystems function as a whole, we are also beginning to understand that designating only pockets of Kananaskis as sensitive areas has very little effect when considering the overall movement patterns of wildlife, and the succession of vegetation from one ecological zone to the next.
Still, area managers have a huge amount of pressure put upon them by those in the outdoor recreation and tourism industries to ensure that K-Country remains one of the few places in Alberta where activities of all sorts are permissible. People who come to the area to enjoy these activities also demand that accommodations, restaurants, gas stations and other conveniences are nearby. Finding the balance between progress and preservation has always been a tricky combination; Kananaskis is proving to be no exception.
In both summer and winter, Kananaskis host many recreational and cultural events. Throughout the winter, Nordic ski and biathlon competitions take place at the Canmore Nordic Centre, on the west end of Kananaskis. A large dog-sledding competition takes place here at the end of January. In the summer, the Nordic Centre hosts local, provincial and national mountain bike competitions. Every September, Nakiska Ski Area (near Kananaskis Village) is the site of Mozart on the Mountain, an outdoor concert put on by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. In both the early spring and again in the fall, birdwatchers flock to Kananaskis to watch the migration of the golden eagles as they pass over the mountains in the area. Canmore celebrates the Festival of the Eagles in the fall.
While Banff continues to be the most popular tourist destination for visitors to Calgary, Kananaskis Country offers a less-crowded (for now) alternative.
Marianne Wasch & Aydin Odyakmaz