Calgary, Alberta, Canada

One hour by car from the Rocky Mountains, land of deer, elk, rabbits, moose, and wandering grizzly bears.

Two rivers run through it, one fast and fierce, good for fishing but strong, the other shallow, slow, and fun for family rafting.

The Plus Fifteen system joins most of the buildings down town with passage ways fifteen feet above the ground.

Bowness Park has the best skating, an entire frozen lagoon, with fire pits, and benches, and a creek, and a concession...

Calgary has the greatest urban bike path system in North America.

The map at the right shows the Glenmore Reservoir bike path.
It is gorgeous, takes about an hour and a half if you just casually cruise, and only has two or three hills (one is, um, killer.)
But the views are awesome and when you are at the far west end, the Weaselhead wetlands area, you are in the wilderness (right in the middle of the city!) Highly recommended for intermediate to beginner bike riders.
Advanced riders whip by me all the time on that path; I think they do it in 30 minutes, but how do they enjoy the view and the atmosphere?

At the north end of the reservoir you can take the Elbow river bike path all the way downtown. There is only one hill, and it's down, (till you come back). This is a beautiful route, over small suspension bridges and by beaches (ahem) along the river all the way to Fourth St.(lots of restaurants for salad and wine) or on to the Stampede grounds and Lindsay Park rec centre.

You can get your bike path map at any sports store, bike store, or Canadian Tire store. Enjoy!

Raft down the river!

Rent an inflatable dinghy and float down the Bow or take your air mattress and laugh and splash down the Elbow. You'll have to leave a car at each end, one to drop you and the gear off and one at the end to take you back to the first one. Don't forget to take the keys on the voyage or you'll be sorry when you arrive wet and tired and sunburnt, realizing that you left them in your bag in the first vehicle.

Skating on Bowness Lagoon

This is a terrific and FREE family activity on a sunny and crisp winter day. Just bundle up and grab your skates and head down to Bowness Park in northwest Calgary.

There is plenty of parking
and a concession for nibblies and drinks and fire pits on the edges of the ice to rest at while you sip from your thermos of coco or gluwein.

This is a big park, old, with lots of mature growth. Dogwalkers love it. Kids love it. Mom and Dads love it.

In the summer boat rentals are available so that you can paddle around the lagoon or down the creek.

In the early 1900s the plan was to make the Bowness Park islands exclusive to the wealthy but it didn't quite turn out that way, and now it's one of Calgarys great free attractions.

Walk all over downtown without going outside!
(why? because of ghastly winter of course)

See the yellow route marked out on the map to the right?
Park your car in one of the parkades on the route, such as the Bay Parkade, and then wander all through the downtown buildings without going outside.

Enclosed walkways fifteen feet above the roads join the buildings, and you can go from mall to movie to gym to office without bundling up and getting snow on your face.

Weekdays and Saturdays are good days to explore the system.
Sundays aren't the best , as a lot of the buildings are closed. ...Get your +15 map at any tourism office, though there are guides here and there in the system.

Lake Minnewanka

Isn't in Calgary, but it's not far and it is still one of the best picnic and fishing areas within 80 miles !
The lake is located 15 minutes from the Town of Banff, (so you'll have to pay the $10. day use fee when you go through the Banff gates) in Banff National Park on the Minnewanka Loop road, north of the Trans Canada highway.
It is a 24 kilometer long, glacier created lake, that lies 5000 feet above sea level.
You'll almost always see mountain sheep here. (pictured above).
The Lake Minnewanka day-use area offers many activities for the entire family,
including: interpretive boat tours, fishing, Numerous hiking trails, and guided walks with a park naturalist.

(if you don't have a boat you can rent one cheaply by going directly to the marina
and asking about the various types of motorboats that are waiting there to be rented.
There are lots of websites that lead you to the expensive boats but, for our purposes,
it's a lot cheaper to go and rent directly).

(take the easy walking trail along the lake from the picnic area to the bridge over the splendid canyon, about half a kilometre.)
Also available: picnic areas, cooking shelters, a snack bar, washrooms, a boat launch and a marina. The Lake Minnewanka valley continues to offer some of the most spectacular scenery found anywhere in the Canadian Rockies.
Fishing on the lake is very popular,
with most fisherman catching Lake Trout
or Rocky Mountain Whitefish.
16 foot rental boats, fishing rods and tackle are all available
at the marina.
Lake Minnewanka is the only lake in Banff National park where power boats are permitted.