"Kananaskis Country recreation area for... " a Kananaskis Lakes Travel Page by dabidc

Kananaskis Country was set aside as a Provincial Park in the 1970's and comprises more than 4,000 sq kilometres of mountain and foothill land as a year round recreation area. Parts of it are less than an hour away from Calgary, the furthest locations are no more than 2 hours drive west of the city.

There are two main access roads, from the Trans Canada Highway west of Calgary look for Highway 40 which heads south to the Kananaskis Village, to Nakiska ski area and to Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. From the latter area it is possible to travel north west to Canmore along the gravel Smith Dorien trail. Highway 40 also continues south and a connection can be made to High River and Okotoks, however this section of the Highway 40 over the Highwood pass is closed from November to mid June.

Note Peter Loughheed Provincial Park is one lage section of Kananaskis Country. There are two Lakes, Upper and Lower Kananaskis lake.

The other main access is from Bragg Creek west of Calgary on either Highway 8 or Highway 22X from the south side of the City. From Bragg Creek go west on Highway 66., this road stops at Forget Me Not Pond

There are also several smaller sections of the Kananaskis Park outside these areas e.g. The Sheep River area and the Bow Valley Provincial park just off the Trans Canada Highway west of the crossing of the Kananaskis river.

There is NO FEE for Kananaskis Country Park Access.

The view from Prairie Lookout, about the first major climb in the Park shows the view of the flat land to the East of the Park. The Trans Canada Highway crosses the land in the view and the Bow river flows from left to right as it heads towards Calgary

Barrier lake is a man made lake with the water used for hydro electric power, installation was in the 1930's. The Kananaskis river provides for some kayak events and raft excursions downstream of the dam.

Close to the access to Barrier lake there is a Visitor Centre, a Colonel's cabin from the World War 2 days when a prisoner of war camp was located nearby. The University of Calgary has a Field Research unit here. Opposite the Visitor Centre the Tim Horton Company has one of it's Children's Camp facilities.

There are hiking trails all over the Park, pick up a guide from the Visitor Cnetre and check out for Bear sightings. Keep going there are lots of places to explore.