Kananaskis Country

Kananaskis Country is a set of provincial parks and recreation areas on the eastern slopes, created in the 1970s partly to take pressure off Banff, and it is where Calgary goes at weekends. Highway 40 climbs to Highwood Pass at two thousand two hundred and six metres, the highest paved road in Canada, and it is closed from December to mid-June, not for snow but to give wildlife an undisturbed corridor through the season. The area holds one of the densest grizzly populations in Alberta. Ptarmigan Cirque, a short alpine loop from the pass, is one of the easiest ways to reach true alpine terrain in the Rockies.

History

The name goes back to 1858, when the explorer John Palliser named the Kananaskis River after a legendary Cree figure. The Alberta government created Kananaskis Country in 1978, and Premier Peter Lougheed dedicated it that September; it covers about 4,000 square kilometres. Ten years later it hosted part of the 1988 Winter Olympics - alpine skiing and freestyle moguls at Nakiska, cross-country skiing at the Canmore Nordic Centre - and on 26-27 June 2002 the G8 summit met at Kananaskis Village (Wikipedia, Kananaskis Country).

Highlights

• Highwood Pass - Canada's highest paved road at 2,206 metres.
• The seasonal closure - a road shut half the year for wildlife rather than snow.
• Ptarmigan Cirque - a short walk from the pass into alpine terrain.
• The lakes - Upper and Lower Kananaskis lakes below the peaks.

When to go

Highwood Pass opens roughly 15 June and closes 1 December; outside that the southern loop is inaccessible. The rest of Kananaskis is open year-round. Larch turn in late September.

Before you go

A Conservation Pass must be bought online and enforcement is active. Highwood Pass is closed half the year, which catches visitors out. Grizzly density is high and closures for bear activity are common.

Nearby

Canmore lies north; the Cowboy Trail runs east.

Key facts