UKL is definitely pretty, but the real view of the lake, one that will blow your socks off, is from…read moreMt Sarrail. You can get there by following the path along the southern edge of UKL, and climbing up toward Rawson Lake. From there, you have to go around that lake to make the steep climb to Mt Sarrail. This is challenging, not in a technical way, but worth the view. Expect to stop several times on your ascent to catch your breath. Be mindful as well that there are several bears in the area. A grizzly forced a significant group of us off the trail in the early going, so bring bear spray just in case. The hike is a long one, most of it ascending and tiring, though much easier heading back. Expect around six hours at a leisurely pace, and roughly ten miles of hiking round trip.

Some Yelpers and I went on a snowshoeing excursion to the Hogarth Lakes Snowshoe Loop. The highways…read morethrough the park were ploughed, clear and well sanded. The signage on the highway was easy to read. The trail that we were on was active and it hadn't snowed in a few days so there was a solid path to follow, but if there hadn't been, the path was well marked with brightly coloured markers on the trees along the way. The trail was pretty easy and made for a nice little hike across a couple small lakes. The parking areas were clean which was a good sign as I didn't notice garbage containers provided which means people are packing everything out that they bring in.

This park is spectacular, literally words actually fail me I've never seen such beauty except in…read moreNew Zealand. I've been traveling around to provincial and national parks for 40 years, most of my time has been spent in Ontario in Algonquin, but my favorite country in the world is New Zealand, and this trip yesterday to best provincial park in Alberta literally is the only place in my life I've seen that rivals New Zealand. Anyway I don't even want to post this review because I don't want the place to get as popular as it deserves, But I just noticed I have over 20,000 viewers of my yelp page so I guess you guys deserve some rewarding gossip and advice. I highly recommend, it's absolutely gorgeous. Look at these photos and video. The only problem is meeting an obnoxious German Ranger lady who freaked out and screamed at me because I parked my car somewhere that said no picnicking... She screamed that I had to park it on the dam, which actually was much more convenient for where we were trying to get to, We were fishing at the dam but there were no sign saying it's OK to park on the dam. Why would it be better to park on a dam where there is very narrow road, versus parking way off to the side where there is a massive field and picnic benches that were deserted to come out enough room to park 100 cars and not a single person there. I pointed out to her that there is a sign that said no picnicking, but I'm not eating anything, she screamed that it says no picnicking which means also no parking and no nothing!!!!! I didn't realize that no picnicking meant no parking! How did I live on my life without realizing that signs that warn no picnicking mean actually no doing anything at all!? I felt like telling her she was totally living up to the stereotype of overregulated Canadian indentured civil servants but why waste my time when I have such beautiful mountains and turquoise lakes to look at!

Across the river and Up a gravel road to this primitive natural park site. Limited parking. No…read morefacilities. 100m walk on the grassy ridge to one of the best valley river mountain views in the valley. Great spot for a picnic. Bring a couple lawn chairs. Nice mature Douglas Fir trees. You will have a dusty vehicle on your way back. We had the entire place to ourselves just some campers near the parking spot. Peace quiet and nature.

On a recent visit to Kimberley (our first), we asked some folks for a lunch recommendation. One…read moreplace they recommended was Nina's. I couldn't understand why they were concerned about the weather during the discussion, but I wanted to check it out anyway. I let Google Maps navigate us there and it brought us to a house on Spokane St. There were quite a few cars parked along the road, so I assumed we were in the right place. Seriously, if it wasn't for the cars, I might have thought Google Maps was taking us for a ride. You walk up to the house and look right for the passage to the back. Down some stairs and you open into a beautiful garden. I'm not going to say much more - you have to experience it yourself. But yes, it's pretty much completely outdoors, so your experience will depend on the weather. I asked for a menu and it was explained to me that they only offer one pairing of food daily, a soup and a sandwich or just the sandwich. This day's offering was ham and brie on a Swiss bun and potato and leek soup. This is all made on premises by the cook, Roland. I met Roland and Nina after we ate. Such a pleasant couple. The weather cooperated. Lunch was great. You know the food is good when you catch all the staff grabbing a bite here and there between visits to tables. The ambiance was super relaxing. So glad we found the place. Bring a camera.

This is a beautiful little garden spot. Perfect place to spend an afternoon. But if you've got a…read morephotographer in your party, be prepared to eat without them.

Forgetmenot Pond is our favourite place to visit in Kananaskis country. It is at the end of Hwy 66,…read morepast Bragg Creek. It is not just off Hwy 40 as is stated in the caption accompanying the picture.

Who doesn't agree with Toad from Wind in the Willows that, 'there is simply nothing in life as…read morelovely as messing about in boats?' Since moving back to Calgary I've been trying to find places to swim and float that are kid-friendly. Forgetmenot Pond is so idyllic it almost feels like stepping into a painting. The water is mountain-fed so it gets the ticker going when you first get in but on a hot day, it is gloriously refreshing. Inflatable and paddle-boats are allowed. There are picnic tables, BBQs, a large parking lot, a fairly flat and short trail to the pond and well-maintained porta-potty style washrooms. The water is turquoise, the mountains are pristine, and even when day camps come to walk the path around the (large) pond it feels uncrowded and peaceful. I am already dreaming of returning. I will forget you not my beautiful Bragg Creek oasis!

I did one of my trail runs with my running group here at Spray Valley Provincial Park. This was…read moredefinitely the most scenic run that I did during my trip. Spray Valley Provincial Park is a provincial park located along the Spray River in Alberta, Canada. Spray Valley borders Banff National Park. The park features forests, alpine lakes and rugged peaks. Activities in Spray Valley include camping, hiking, canoeing and fishing. We ran on the Chester Lake Trail to beautiful Chester Lake. The views along the way were just breathtaking. At the lake, you get a glimpse of both Gusty Peak and The Fortress. The water was so clear and had a nice reflection of the surrounding mountains and clouds. I stopped at the foot of the lake to enjoy its beauty before jumping back onto the trail to finish my run. The trails in Spray Valley Provincial Park are a mix of easy, moderate and challenging trails. Spray Lakes West Campground is the main campground in Spray Valley. There are many lakes within the park with Spray Lakes Reservoir being the largest. The Smith-Dorrien Trail (also known as Spray Lakes Road) is a scenic drive on a dirt road that has incredible views of the valley and mountains. A Kananaskis Conservation Pass is required for vehicle parking.

A friend of mine recommended the Troll Hike in Kananaskis country so we ducked out of Banff for an…read moreafternoon of exploring the parks just outside. It was beautiful! Mountains galore and lots of great outdoorsy opportunities for winter and warmer weather alike. During our drive we happened to see a bunch of guys in a parking lot near the road loading and unloading kayaks. Most of the water we had seen had been frozen so I was curious to see what the river looked like so my husband and I pulled over. I read the little guide at the start of the trailhead and it informed us that this part of the river is rapids heavy and a well loved route for extreme kayakers, with a course mapped out with markers and everything. We took the short stroll to the water and enjoyed watching a few fellas do their thing in the raging water. The water was bright blue and SO beautiful. It was a highlight of our day and we didn't even plan on it! Check it out if you're in the area. I wish I could remember where exactly it was in the park, but follow the river and you should be able to find it!

We spent an afternoon on this beach and had an awesome time…read more This beach has full amenities including a ample parking lot, public bathroom, food shack, and rental kiosk that offers rentals such as canoes, kayaks, paddle boards and such. Also if you take a short swim there are two slides located out in the deeper parts of the water. You have to be a pretty strong swimmer to get to them so I'd suggest bringing or renting a life jacket for the kiddos. The beach is a little rocky but there is sand worthy of creating a sandcastle.

Absolutely disgusted by this relatively "new" facility. On the 150th anniversary of Canada Day, the…read morewomen's washroom has three toilet stalls but only two are in working order! This is a disgrace - how can you encourage tourism and want people to use your beach if there are inadequate facilities?! The beach is incredibly busy today and EVERY long weekend. I don't think there are even enough toilets for half of the people who are here on a "slow" day. Very disappointed. UPDATE: I sent an email to the District of Invermere on their Facebook page. It told me they usually respond in a few days - I have yet to have my email even acknowledged 10 days later. How incredibly disappointing.

My son and I spent several days fishing the Elk River Valley in Mid Aug 2019. Although we had…read morecaught many cutthroat and even some small bull trout on our own, it was not until we fished with the folks at Homewaters that we took our results to the next level. The day that we spent targeting big bulls with Curtis Lamey was epic. Jeff had used his network to gather intel and ID water that was producing bulls and Curtis lead us on a great adventure pursuing them. Curtis is an absolute pro with decades of experience. Of course he really knows all of the productive waters - both local and afield - right down to stretches that the bullies haunt. He is very personable and engaging and he has a great way with his clients. He took us on a great hike in postcard-like surroundings and he guided us on beautiful waters up and down the river until we found the fish we were coveting so much. Once we located fish, Curtis gave expert advice and worked tirelessly at changing flies until we found the right offering(s). In the end, we both walked away with photos of double digit bull trout, ticks on our bucket lists and great memories of an epic day of fishing in the Rockies. Of course my son and I highly recommend Jeff, Curtis and all of the professionals at Homewaters, without reservation. Joe Serensits, Oakville On.

I left a fair review on the home waters google review page and it was deleted. Jeff runs a bunch of…read morenames for his companies Home water / dry fly heaven / freestone angler. None of those companies have a poor review and here is the reason why but ask yourself why have so many names, what is there to hide. Well a lot really. I organised with Jeff to fish on his jet boat on the bull river. Jeff sold me on his jet boat getting away from other guides. On arriving in Fernie i caught up with Jeff and he told me how well the bull river was fishing. 5 days later and Jeff had changed his tune the bull river was low and clear and not fishing well he wanted to fish the town pools. I hadn't travelled 175000km to fish with a chump through town so pulled the pin. Jeff blew his lid, I received some out of control texts. I was in the local super market car park watching him go bat shit crazy luckily he didn't know I was watching his behaviour, I didn't feel safe in Fernie with that personality type so left Fernie as quickly as I could as I had fears for my safety. When I arrived in a nearby town I was shown pictures of huge bull trout being caught in the bull river. Plain and simple Jeff had not been honest as to why he pulled the pin on the days I had booked with him. So let's go back to jeffs google reviews Jeff claimed on his review page that I had not actually booked with him nor paid a deposit. Unfortunately for him I kept our emails which confirmed my deposit and Jeff's not wanting to take a deposit. When I posted those on Jeffs website reviews he had my review deleted. Straight up deleting reviews is not honest to your potential clients who are researching who to fish with in Fernie. Getting caught out and exposed to you peers and competition on your own website is embarrassing but Jeff made his bed he needs to accept his character traits not hide them. Trying to deceive your clients and potential clients catches up with any poor business. Jeff's competition have seen Jeff's posts and weighed up the evidence go and have a chat with any other guiding operation and save yourself the stress of dealing with this fake guide. None of Jeff's companies are members of tourism Fernie or fishing BC but other guides in town are my advice go and seek them out. There is no place for a guiding business that tries deceive anglers.