We will be in Alberta from August 15-August 25. We've already made our lodging reservations, but thus far have not made any reservations for activities and I'm not sure if we need to. It will be my husband, myself and our 9 year old son. At our son's request, we will be visiting the Tyrrel Museum and possibly Dinasaur Provinsial Park. We are outdoor types that like to hike, bike, ride horses, raft and nature watch. Are there any MUST SEE things we should do, plus what would you suggest we make reservations for.

Here's what I have booked so far.

Arrive Calgary around 4pm on August 15,
drive to Jurassic Inn and Drumheller.

August 17-19 Paradise Lodge (Lake Louise)

Aug 21-22 Pyramid Lake Resort (Jasper)

Aug 23-25 Hidden Ridge Resort (Banff)

Depart Calgary August 25, 6pm

Any suggestions for what to do and where to do it would be appreciated. I've always gotten great advide on the board.

You don't need reservations for the dinosaur museums, except for the field trips which have limits.

In fact, for the Royal Tyrrell Museum itself, I am not even sure if there is such a thing as a reservation.

However, some of the expeditions and fossil hunts are limited in how many can go, so there you should have advanced bookings where possible to avoid a let down.

I can suggest one good hike in the Lake Louise area: The Plain of Six Glaciers.
In Jasper, the Angel Glacier trail.

Where are you staying on the 20th?
You should be somewhere between Lake Louise and Jasper and there are precious few places to stay along that route.
I can think of exactly 3: Num ti Jah Lodge, The Crossing Motel, and the Icefields Chalet at the Icefields center.

I am not sure if you have included in your plans the trips along the Icefields Parkway. There are many short hikes and attractions to see, like the ride out onto the glacier, Athabasca Falls, Parker Ridge, Bow Lake, and a few others.

Typo on my part. We're at Pyramid Lake Resort on the 20th.

In answer to:
"am not sure if you have included in your plans the trips along the Icefields Parkway. There are many short hikes and attractions to see, like the ride out onto the glacier, Athabasca Falls, Parker Ridge, Bow Lake, and a few others."

Yes, we were planning on driving the Icefields Parkway. Is there a company in particular that does the rides to the glacier?

The company that operates the Snocoach rides onto the Athabasca Glacier at the Columbia Icefields is Brewster. Reservations are not required (and, indeed, not even avalable, as far as I know). It's first-come-first-served.

Since you describe yourselves as active, you may enjoy a guided walk onto the Athabasca Glacier instead of the Snocoach ride. If you choose the ice walk, you need reservations. Also, if you do choose to walk onto the glacier, you <b>must</b> do it with a guide.

http://www.icewalks.com/

The rivers tend to subside as the summer wears on. By the latter half of August they're usually getting a little lower. You might still be able to have fun on the Kicking Horse River in Yoho National Park, though. It would be best to do that on one of your Lake Louise-based days. Rafting also is available out of Jasper, on the Sunwapta and Athabasca Rivers. However, since those rivers are gentler than the Kicking Horse even at the best of times, they may be too gentle for your taste by August.

You can go horseback riding in several different places. Companies I've heard of are:

* Pyramid Stables (Jasper)

* Brewster Stables (Lake Louise)

* Warner Guiding and Outfitting (Banff)

I've heard that Warner Guiding out of Banff offers a greater variety of trails than Brewster out of Lake Louise.

When it comes to rafting and horseback riding, I think there is merit in booking the activities a couple of days ahead. I think it’s better to come to the area and find out what conditions are like at the time. For example, make enquiries about the state of the rivers before deciding if you’ll go rafting. You can do rafting in rainy weather, as you’ll get wet anyway. When it comes to horseback riding, I suppose you could do it in rainy weather too, but I think it would be more fun in sunny weather. When it comes to rafting and horseback riding, the fact that these activities are available in more than one place gives you some wiggle room. If you don’t get to do a desired activity in one place, you probably can do it in another.

Something that I have heard is fun, but have not tried myself, is guided caving in Kananaskis Country (southeast of Canmore). I feel mildly claustrophobic in confined spaces, so caving scares me a bit. But perhaps it would appeal to your family.

At the risk of sounding alarmist, I do not feel attracted to cycling in the mountains. Although these incidents happen only rarely, there have been a few occasions on which people have been involved in activities that have been relatively silent and that have taken bears by surprise. Activities that appear to have provoked bear attacks, rare though they have been, have included jogging and cycling in the mountains.

There's more information about the mountains on my website:

http://groups.msn.com/Calgaryan dCanadianRockiesTravelTips

That would be:

http://groups.msn.com/CalgaryandCana...kiesTravelTips

Judy, you're the best!! Thanks for all your help.