Where to stay in Canmore? Where to horseback ride?
 

Our family of four (kids ages 12 and 13) will be traveling to Calgary from Michigan in early June for 8 days. Our plans are to stay two nights in Calgary, 5 nights in Canmore and then our final night in Calgary.
1) Is the Lodges at Canmore nice? Would you recommend staying elsewhere?
2) If we plan to drive up to Jasper, would it make more sense to stay a night up there instead of trying to do it in a day from Canmore?
3) We would like to horseback ride (halfday trip). Would you recommend riding in Kanaskis or Lake Louise.
Please give any info if possible, we know very little about Calgary/Banff/Canmore/Jasper
Thanks!

>>>>>>Is the Lodges at Canmore nice? Would you recommend staying elsewhere?<<<<<<

I am not familiar with the property. It looks nice from its website. I have stayed along the same street, parallel to the railroad tracks, in Canmore. It has never bothered me. But in fairness I'll mention that some posters on the travel discussion forums complain about train noise along that stretch at night.

Other properties you might consider are Tunnel Mountain Resort and Douglas Fir Resort on the outskirts of Banff townsite.

>>>>>>If we plan to drive up to Jasper, would it make more sense to stay a night up there instead of trying to do it in a day from Canmore?<<<<<<

Yes, it would make more sense to spend a night in Jasper. In fact it would make even more sense to spend 2 nights there, and better still, 3 nights there. (You could get 3 nights in Jasper if you eliminated your initial stay in Calgary and subtracted a night from Canmore.)

>>>>>>We would like to horseback ride (halfday trip). Would you recommend riding in Kanaskis or Lake Louise.<<<<<<

If I had to choose between Kananaskis and Lake Louise for horseback riding, I would choose Lake Louise. But also consider Warner Guiding and Outfitting out of Banff. Finally, if you do go to Jasper, you could go horseback riding with Pyramid Stables. But you'd see beautiful scenery at any of these locations.

I personally don't believe Calgary deserves a place on such a short itinerary. Just my opinion.

Even on as short a trip as the one you'll be undertaking, the one non-mountain place that deserves to be seen, in my opinion, is the Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller. I cannot say enough about the dinosaur skeletons.

It would be quite easy to fit the Tyrrell in if you were to spend your first night in Drumheller. You could do the 2-hour drive there after landing at Calgary Airport (and after taking an hour or so to get through immigration and customs). Many US travellers arrive early - mid afternoon. If that applies to you, it would be feasible to get to Drumheller. You will be driving on easy, good, flat, little travelled roads across the prairies.

But if you arrived at night, as some travellers do, it would not make sense to go to Drumheller right away. In that case it would make sense to spend the night in Calgary, in the northeast quadrant near the airport.

If you overnight in Drumheller, I've heard good things about the Best Western Jurassic Inn. Certainly it would be an adequate place to spend a night.

It takes a good 2 hours to go through the museum, and it would be fun for your kids to do the 90-minute guided outdoor walk. Add lunch to the mix, and you're looking at 5 or so hours at the museum.

After that it would take you 3 hours to drive to Canmore / Banff. You can bypass Calgary's traffic by driving Drumheller - Beiseker - Airdrie - Cochrane (stop for an ice cream at MacKay's) - Canmore (and onto Banff if that's where you're staying).

The suggested itineraries on my website will give you an idea of what you can accomplish in your time frame. The TIPS section has links to practical information like weather, what to pack, national park entry fees, driving distances and times, maps, other good websites, etc.

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

If you insist on spending time in Calgary, the Calgary section of my website has a suggested downtown walking itinerary. :)

If you want to do sight seeing in Calgary, then it's best to stay in the downtown core. Failing that, the next best option is Motel Village, which is in the NW quadrant, but has good train access to downtown.

But if you're staying in Calgary only for airport access, then the NE quadrant is the most convenient.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the advice. Where would you recommend staying in Jasper? Also, I've read that early June is rainy. Any good rainy day ideas in the Rockies?

>>>>>>Thanks for the advice.<<<<<<

You're welcome.

>>>>>>Where would you recommend staying in Jasper?<<<<<<

Alpine Village, Becker's Chalets, Jasper House Bungalows, Patricia Lake Bungalows, Pine Bungalows, Pyramid Lake Resort

>>>>>>Also, I've read that early June is rainy. Any good rainy day ideas in the Rockies?<<<<<<

If you look at the monthly rainfall figures for Banff, June's rainfall is higher than July's or August's, but only marginally so. The reality is that the weather in the mountains changes rapidly, and you easily can experience all four seasons in a day (indeed, in an hour).

There really is only one way to cope with the mountains, in my opinion, and that is to take layers of clothing with you so that you can respond to changing weather conditions. If you go for a walk or a hike, one or two members of your party need to carry day packs so that you have something in which to carry the jackets, etc., that you peel off if you get warm.

From a sight seeing point of view, canyons are the best places to go when visibility is poor. A canyon looks lovely in the rain.

Besides that, there are very limited indoor activities (a couple of museums and lots of shopping opportunities in Banff townsite).

If you don't take clothes that will allow you to keep going through all weather conditions, you could be hooped.

That said, I have never experienced a day in the mountains during which it has rained solidly. I have experienced a few days of relentless sunshine in the mountains. But my most common experience in the mountains has been a little bit of everything on a given day. Also, when it does rain, it tends not to be the torrential downpours that I've experienced in the southern USA. It tends to be a light rain.

The day packs that I mentioned are useful for other reasons. For example, if you go for a hike, you should take bottles of water. Water from hotel taps is safe to drink, but water from streams and lakes is not.

In my previous post I gave you a link to my website. If you go to the TIPS section, you'll find links to pages on weather and what to pack. There is a good deal of detail there about all this stuff.

Hope that helps.

Great advice. I was not planning on going to Jasper this trip but after reading all the great reviews about Jasper, it appears to be a place we would be foolish not to see. I think I will have to rearrange our days so we can fit in 2nights in Jasper. In you opinion, is it worth the trip? What makes it so special? and, do you know anything about the Luge ride in Calgary at the Olympic Center? Would the kids like it?

>>>>>>In you opinion, is it [Jasper] worth the trip?<<<<<<

Absolutely.

>>>>>>What makes it so special?<<<<<<

The Icefields Parkway (Hwy #93), which connects Lake Louise and Jasper, is an exceptionally scenic drive. Along it is one of the three most beautiful lakes in the Canadian Rockies, Peyto Lake (the others being Moraine Lake near Lake Louise and Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park). Well that’s my opinion anyway. Another point of interest is the Athabasca Glacier, which is part of the Columbia Icefields, and onto which you can ride in a Snocoach. Besides that there are more scenic lookout points and hiking trails along the Icefields Parkway than you can shake a stick at.

The town of Jasper is smaller than Banff townsite, and it's less crowded with tourists (which is a bit of a cheek for me to say, since I myself am a tourist when I go there).

Maligne Canyon outside of Jasper townsite is more impressive than Johnston Canyon outside of Banff townsite (although Johnston Canyon is really neat too). If you’re willing to do the extra hike to the top of the mountain, the tram ride up Whistlers Mountain gives you a better view than Sulphur Mountain in Banff does. (That said, the view from Sulphur Mountain also is stupendous, and the gondola takes you right to the top.) The Angel Glacier / Cavell Meadows hike in Jasper National Park is gorgeous. Oh yes, I don’t think it’ll be open yet in June. However, even the drive to the trailhead at Mount Edith Cavell is very scenic. Also, Miette Hot Springs in Jasper National Park is a more natural setting than the hot springs in Banff townsite. My favourite “restaurant” in Jasper is the beach at Pyramid Lake (which requires that you pick up a picnic dinner from a deli in town).

About the luge at Canada Olympic Park. I’ve never been on it myself, but I’ve heard it’s a lot of fun.

Judy, is it reasonable to drive from Calgary to Becker's Chalets in one day? Becker's looks like a nice place to stay. Also, how much time would we save in driving staying on NW end of Calgary as opposed to staying where we are currently booked at Comfort Inn and Suites South on MacLeod Trail?

>>>>>>Judy, is it reasonable to drive from Calgary to Becker's Chalets in one day?<<<<<

It depends at what time you set out from Calgary for Jasper, where Becker’s Chalets is located. It takes about 5 hours, non-stop, from Calgary’s western city limit to reach Jasper. However, if you were leaving from Calgary Airport or elsewhere in Calgary, you’d need to add about half an hour for crossing the city. Also, it would be very unnatural to do that drive without stopping to look at a couple of scenic lookout points along the way and also to eat a meal. So add an hour for a meal (Lake Louise would be a good stopping point just a little short of half way from Calgary to Jasper) and a couple of other brief stops.

If you’ll be driving to Jasper after landing in Calgary, remember that it’ll take you about an hour to get through immigration and customs at the airport. If you live in another time zone, your body clocks may be an hour or two ahead of Calgary’s time zone. Also, you may have had to wake up early that morning to get to the airport and take off, so you may be tired. So, while driving all the way to Jasper on your arrival day can be done in theory, in practice it may be quite a stretch. You know better than anyone else the circumstances of your trip, your typical energy level, and your kids’ tolerance for hours and hours of sitting.

If, on the other hand, you plan to drive from Calgary to Jasper on a day other than you arrival day, it is VERY feasible to do so. You’ll have enough time to stop at many scenic lookout points and do a short hike along the way.

>>>>>>Also, how much time would we save in driving staying on NW end of Calgary as opposed to staying where we are currently booked at Comfort Inn and Suites South on MacLeod Trail?<<<<<<

Quite a bit. The Comfort Inn and Suites on Macleod Trail is not particularly conveniently located with respect to the airport. Neither is it conveniently located for getting out of Calgary and heading to the mountains the next morning. It’s a fairly short distance south of Stampede Park and is within walking distance of a train station, so would be a good location for someone who was coming to Calgary for the Stampede. I believe there also is a Comfort Inn and Suites in Motel Village, near the university, in the NW quadrant of Calgary. (I don’t think you need a good train connection to downtown, but for the record Motel Village has that going for it too.) The Comfort Inn in Motel Village would be quite a bit more convenient for you than the Comfort Inn on Macleod Trail. Motel Village is just off TransCanada Highway / 16th Avenue NW, which is the road on which you’ll head out towards Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper.