A lovely, easy hike with a HUGE beautiful pay off at the end! It's a family friendly stroll with…read moreplenty of parking at the trailhead and it's easy to do in a couple of hours at most. The elevation is easy, and the stroll through the forest is leisurely and beautiful. In the winter you may want cramp ons or hiking poles since the packed down snow can get slick, but they're not necessary. At the end you'll find the beautiful Troll Falls. In the winter they're frozen the most miraculous bright blue and ice climbers have a great time climbing it's relatively easy verticals. Unlike the Johnston Canyon hike in Banff National Park, the Troll Falls hike allows you to get right up to the water falls, which makes for a truly special experience. Check my photos for proof!

In the mountains and wanna go hiking, but need a spot that's not too difficult and also…read moreentertaining for wee kids? This is it. We were looking at different trail maps and unsure where to take our two year old for a hike that would grasp her attention span and also would be able to drag her along in a sled if she gets tired from all the walking. When Troll Falls popped out and had everything e were looking for. It's right at the bottom of the ski slope so if you find yourself driving up the mountain, you've gone too far. There is a decent sized parking lot by the entrance to the trail. The secret weapon for kids entertainment (aside from nature chats) are the hidden Troll Dolls around. Fun for everyone to try to be the first to spot them along the way! Even in December this was a fantastic crisp walk to do and at the end you come to a frozen waterfall. It was the most amazing thing to see, and to be able to walk on the frozen river. Just breathtaking! My husband is a geologist so he gives me all the geology chat along the way too. Really fantastic walk, I can't wait to do it again in summer and have a totally different experience. We seen a wolf run across the main road as we drove down to the trail so remember to stay safe when you are out there!

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!

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!

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!

This was an intense hike with a steep learning curve! (haha…read moresee what I did there? ) This place was a lot easier to find than I thought it would be, thank goodness! Basically head down Hwy 66 until you come to winter closure gates. When the gates are closed you can park on the side of the road, with several trailhead options right beside the road. They all meet up to the main trail so we took the one past the gates. It's pretty much like hiking Vancouver's Grouse Mountain - a ~700m gain thigh-burning grind of a ~3km climb straight to the summit! And being that we live in Alberta, I tend to forget mountains have an entirely separate agenda when it comes to weather, regardless of what season it currently is on ground level lol. It was spitting rain when we started our hike about 9:30am, which slowly turned to sleet after 20-30 minutes up the trail, until finally snowing a little further up Thank god I had a random poncho hiding in my car, because I was ill-prepared for snow! With leftover winter still gripping the mountains, it was a little difficult without spikes for traversing the snowy bits, but I managed with great trail runners haha. As we got past the tree line towards the summit, it turned into a complete whiteout of hard snow/sleet pelting against our faces! The flagpole at the top still stands though, with the little thrashing about in the strong winds! It's a great view from up there, as you can see from the pictures lol. I must say the way back down was ridiculous fun, sliding down snow, bouncing between trees for braking and running down the mud! I am definitely coming back to actually see the majestic valley view without snow!

Awesome pit stop And great picnic area. The trail is only 1km and perfect for trail running with…read morebeautiful views and reflections on the water of the mountains surrounding the area. Value 5/5 Atmosphere 5/5 Service 4/5 Quality 4/5 18/20

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.

I recently did a trail run to Chester Lake and back on the Chester Lake Trail. Chester Lake is such…read morea beautiful lake. The view of Gusty Peak, the Fortress and Mount Chester in the background while standing on the shores of this lake is so picturesque. You can see the reflection of the mountains and the clouds in the clear water. Mount Chester is named after the HMS Chester, which was severely damaged in the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Chester Lake is a small lake in the Alberta side of the Canadian Rockies. It is located inside Spray Valley Provincial Park in Kananaskis Country. The lake itself is located in a small valley just northwest of the base of Mount Chester. I was here during the summer with my running group and Chester Lake Trail was one of our runs. We passed several people on the trail that were hiking. In the winter, the trail to the lake is popular for snowshoeing. Even though I dreaded the elevation climb, I enjoyed this trail run and was able to take some great photos of Chester Lake before heading back. A Kananaskis Conservation Pass is required to park your vehicle in Kananaskis.