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.

What you actually see

• 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.

Honest expectations

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.