Anne-Charlotte PasseraStay in Kananaskis Country, located 1hr away from Calgary and from Banff.
Coming upon that area is absolutely beautiful, the Rockies actually sneak up on you. Even though you start seeing them from afar, all of a sudden BAM they are right in front of you.
Growing up in France we went skiing in the Alpes a few times and got there by car. I don’t remember being that impress by the sight of the mountains than I was by the Rockies and I love the Alpes.
The mountains that we see today in Kananaskis Country were once covered in ice from the Bow Valley Glaciers. (Bragg Creek and Kananaskis Outdoor recreation)
What does Kananaskis mean?
Kananaskis has different meanings depending on who you talk to. According to the white men, the name is derived from the Cree language and means ‘meeting of the waters’. However, the Cree didn’t live in that area.
Another version is it was a native’s name which meant ‘one who is grateful’ who was attacked by another man with an axe all because of a woman.
Finally, there is an area inside Kananaskis Country called Nakiska which is a Cree name that means ‘meeting place’. You might have heard of it as it was where the alpine events for the 1988 Winter Olympics were held.
Why stay in Kananaskis Country
We had 3 nights planned in the area of Banff during the month of July.
Banff was either booked (hostels) or way too expensive for the three of us, at least 300$/night.
Canmore which is right outside Banff National Park didn’t have any vacancies either.
Next best thing KANANASKIS COUNTRY.
The cons
It’s a good 2hr extra driving a day (roundtrip) if you plan to go into Banff park.
You’ll spend more on gas.
The extra driving was a bummer, especially for Big Boss since he was the designated driver.
It meant getting up extra early to try to beat the crowds inside the parks. However, it is totally doable. Had we had more vacation time, we wouldn’t have felt a rush of visiting as much as we did.
We would have done things more smoothly but again I travel, I don’t vacation.
The pros
You get to be surrounded by nature, peace and quiet.
Spot black bears and grizzlys which we didn’t inside the Banff National Park.
Where to stay in Kananaskis Country
Since Banff and Canmore were booked, I needed a solution.
While researching other lodging options I thought about ready-made tents or tipis and BINGO, found one in Kananaskis Country.
Sundance Lodges
At the time of booking, we couldn’t reserve online and see what was available at Sundance Lodges. So we had to wait for a response by e-mail and cross our fingers for availability. Usually, it’s supposed to take up to 5 days to get a response. On day 6 I had to call.
Unfortunately, they only had 2 out of my 3 desired nights available. So we booked 2 nights there which meant we had to find somewhere else for the first night.
The cost for a small tipi is about $80/night for up to 3 people + 15$ for double bedding/stay +10$ for an extra cot/stay.
You can bring your own bedding which we did for Blondie Bear and dogs are allowed.
A furnace for inside the tipi and a light is provided free of charge.
We really enjoyed our stay but our site was close to the road so maybe not the best spot. Oh and showers are free!
Mount Kidd Manor
We spent our other night in Kananaskis Country at Mount Kidd Manor, a beautiful place to stay at.
It was the only place I could find and our most expensive night of the entire trip: 254$ for a room with a king size bed.
After all, it is a mountain resort, so it’s very fancy.
The restaurant is expensive so we ate some appetizers at the bar and made that our meal. The food was good and the interior was very comfortable and on point.
Since we had forgotten to gas up and buy extra food for the next morning, Big Boss went on an adventure…45 min 1 way!
One thing you need to know about Big Boss is that he doesn’t have a great sense of direction. So while he was playing dude where is my car in the parking lot, Blondie Bear and I were at the pool. We enjoyed it even if the water was a little cold.
Mount Kidd Manor is a very nice place to stay at in Kananaskis Country but really not our speed. It also makes for a great place to have a wedding or a family gathering. You can’t beat the view of the surrounding mountains.
Random fact: A G20 leader’s summit was once held there.
Things to do in Kananaskis Country
We didn’t spend a whole lot of time exploring Kananaskis Country during our stay since we just used it as a base camp to explore Banff National Park.
Spotting wildlife
Why go to Banff to spot wildlife when you can go to Kananaskis Country and spot some, for FREE.
Our first night there, after dinner, we hopped in the truck to try to spot some bears as Big Boss during his ‘travels’ saw 2 black bears and 1 grizzly. I think Big Boss was trying to save himself from embarrassment by telling us this wild tale about spotting bears as we didn’t see any that evening.
We later found out that the grizzly bear was a female nicknamed by the locals Margaret.
However, the next morning we did indeed spot our very first bear!!! It was very exciting and it had big claws. Somehow though, I was not impressed, but still excited to have seen wildlife!
As if that day couldn’t get any better, we saw for the first time Margaret, the Kananaskis Country grizzly bear on our way to get some Tipi action at Sundance Lodge. Of course, we weren’t on the proper side of the road. That’s okay, we ended up running into her quite a few times during our stay in Kananaskis Country.
Horseback riding
In order to catch a break from driving, we decided to take it easy one day during our stay in Kananaskis Country.
We spent our morning horseback riding at Boundary Ranch and had a steak lunch. Boundary Ranch is located about 1 hour away from Banff in the Kananaskis region. The ranch is beautiful and the horses seem to be treated well.
This is not a budget-friendly activity (horse riding never is) as the cost of the 2-hour ride and meal was 125$/person.
However, we decided to splurge on it, as it isn’t an activity we get to do back home, and the setting is just stunning.
We really rode for 2 hours, so at least you don’t get ripped off with the setting up part. The meal was very good with good portions.
There are more options available like horseback riding day trips or backcountry trips. As we are not experienced riders we didn’t think that would be feasible for us.
Luckily we didn’t though, as we were so sore from just the 2-hour ride and the 16km hike from the previous day Lake Louise’s Teahouses.
Where to go next?
Stay in Kananaskis Country for an off the beaten path experience, away from the herd of tourists. It’s a great place to have a base camp at if you are only exploring Banff and its surrounding area. Otherwise, you might have to consider setting up camp in another area. Why not try around Yoho National Park?
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