Alberta & British Columbia: Banff, Yoho & the Canadian Rockies

Badger Bowl, McPherson and Bowbend Trails; 6 miles, easy

After enjoying an included breakfast your guides will meet you at 9:00 a.m. in the lobby of your Calgary hotel. Please be dressed for walking.

Once you arrive at Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park with your guides enjoy a first walk on the Badger Bowl, McPherson and Bowbend Trails led by a guide from the park foundation. During your walk you’ll learn about the history, wildlife, and flora of this park. Afterwards, drive to Fallentimber Meadery for a tour and tasting.

Tonight, gather for a welcome reception followed by dinner at The Crossing.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Ghost River walk; 2 miles, easy. Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary; 1 mile, easy

Satisfied from a hearty breakfast, head out for an exploration of plant medicine from an Indigenous lens. Meet our local guide for a walk on the grounds of the 145-acre property. Conclude your walk along the Ghost River and enjoy a picnic lunch prepared by your guides. This afternoon, drive to the nearby Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary for an introductory tour and walk, and learn about wolves and wolfdogs. Travel back to your hotel to relax.

Tonight, enjoy dinner at The Crossing.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Lake Minnewanka; 4 miles, easy to moderate; Wapta Falls; 3 miles, easy.

Savor another full breakfast at The Crossing. Shuttle (1.25 hours driving time) to Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park.

As you follow its pathways along the glassy-surfaced lake, marvel at your first up-close views of Banff National Park, a stunning canvas of spruce and fir trees and rugged peaks skirted by pine-green forest.

In Banff, enjoy free time to visit the Whyte Museum and learn about the cultural heritage of the Canadian Rockies and browse the shops in town. After lunch on your own in Banff, travel to Heather Mountain Lodge (1.5 hours driving time), your home for the next two nights. We will stop en route for a hike to Wapta Falls. Upon arrival, check in and unwind before joining your group for dinner at the lodge.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

Hemlock Grove Interpretive Trail; 0.2 miles, easy; Great Glacier Trail; 4 miles, 1,053-ft. elevation gain, moderate

Awake to the cool mountain air and another full breakfast. Today we drive to Rogers Pass Discovery Center in Glacier National Park. Rogers Pass has been designated a National Historic Site in commemoration of its role as an essential link in the building of the transcontinental railway.

First, walk the interpretive boardwalk through old-growth cedar-hemlock forest.

Next, we begin our hike on the Great Glacier Trail. The Illecillewaet Glacier, which has become known simply as the Great Glacier, is the biggest of 131 named glaciers in the park, and its name is Okanagan for “swift water”. The hike starts on a portion of a rail trail, which is what remains of the great Canadian Pacific Railroad in this area, passing the ruins of the Glacier House, once a 90-room luxury hotel. Flora along this trail included Dwarf Dogwood, Leatherleaf Saxifrage, and Lewis Monkeyflower. The view opens up to Illecillewaet Glacier Falls to the east and Cheops, Ursus Minor and Grizzly Mountains to the north. Pause here for your box lunch and then retrace your way back.

Once you are back at the lodge, unwind in your uncomplicated alpine hideaway. Later, enjoy another gourmet cabin-style dinner.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Enjoy an early included breakfast at Pomerpoy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge. Then, shuttle to Calgary International Airport (YYC) at 8:30 a.m. (1.5 hours travel time); you’ll arrive by 10:00 a.m. for your return flight. We recommend a flight out of Calgary no earlier than 12:00 p.m.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Badger Bowl, McPherson and Bowbend Trails; 6 miles, easy

Your guides meet you at 9:00 a.m. in the lobby of your designated meeting point hotel in Calgary. They’ll be wearing Country Walkers shirts. Please be dressed for walking.

If your arrival at the Calgary hotel is scheduled for later than 9:00 a.m. or if you are delayed, you must travel at your own expense to our hotel in Cochrane. Take a taxi (approximately $120), Uber or Lyft. Please contact The Crossing at Ghost River to advise of any travel delays or changes, and the staff will pass your message on to your Country Walkers guides. Please note that if you miss the Country Walkers’ transportation from Calgary, you will miss the first walk in Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park and the Meadery tasting. Once you arrive in Cochrane, check into your room. Meet your guides as soon as they return from the walk with the rest of the group (around 4:00 p.m.)

Once you arrive at Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park with your guides enjoy a first walk on the Badger Bowl, McPherson and Bowbend Trails led by a guide from the park foundation. During your walk you’ll learn about the history, wildlife, and flora of this park. Afterwards, drive to Fallentimber Meadery for a tour and tasting.

Tonight, gather for a welcome reception followed by dinner at The Crossing.

Included Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Ghost River walk; 2 miles, easy. Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary; 1 mile, easy

Satisfied from a hearty breakfast, head out for an exploration of plant medicine from an Indigenous lens. Meet our local guide for a walk on the grounds of the 145-acre property. Conclude your walk along the Ghost River and enjoy a picnic lunch prepared by your guides. This afternoon, drive to the nearby Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary for an introductory tour and walk, and learn about wolves and wolfdogs. Travel back to your hotel to relax.

Tonight, enjoy dinner at The Crossing.

Included Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Lake Minnewanka; 4 miles, easy to moderate; Wapta Falls; 3 miles, easy.

Savor another full breakfast at The Crossing. Shuttle (1.25 hours driving time) to Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park.

As you follow its pathways along the glassy-surfaced lake, marvel at your first up-close views of Banff National Park, a stunning canvas of spruce and fir trees and rugged peaks skirted by pine-green forest.

In Banff, enjoy free time to visit the Whyte Museum and learn about the cultural heritage of the Canadian Rockies and browse the shops in town. After lunch on your own in Banff, travel to Heather Mountain Lodge (1.5 hours driving time), your home for the next two nights. We will stop en route for a hike to Wapta Falls. Upon arrival, check in and unwind before joining your group for dinner at the lodge.

Included Meals: Dinner

Hemlock Grove Interpretive Trail; 0.2 miles, easy; Great Glacier Trail; 4 miles, 1,053-ft. elevation gain, moderate

Awake to the cool mountain air and another full breakfast. Today we drive to Rogers Pass Discovery Center in Glacier National Park. Rogers Pass has been designated a National Historic Site in commemoration of its role as an essential link in the building of the transcontinental railway.

First, walk the interpretive boardwalk through old-growth cedar-hemlock forest.

Next, we begin our hike on the Great Glacier Trail. The Illecillewaet Glacier, which has become known simply as the Great Glacier, is the biggest of 131 named glaciers in the park, and its name is Okanagan for “swift water”. The hike starts on a portion of a rail trail, which is what remains of the great Canadian Pacific Railroad in this area, passing the ruins of the Glacier House, once a 90-room luxury hotel. Flora along this trail included Dwarf Dogwood, Leatherleaf Saxifrage, and Lewis Monkeyflower. The view opens up to Illecillewaet Glacier Falls to the east and Cheops, Ursus Minor and Grizzly Mountains to the north. Pause here for your box lunch and then retrace your way back.

Once you are back at the lodge, unwind in your uncomplicated alpine hideaway. Later, enjoy another gourmet cabin-style dinner.

Included Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Columbia Wetlands. Marble Canyon. Dinner at the lodge
Canoe or kayak, easy, 3 hours; Marble Canyon; 1 mile, easy

This morning, after a hearty mountain breakfast, travel (one hour driving time) to the Columbia River, home to the Columbia Wetlands, the largest intact wetlands in North America, and provides the life support system for hundreds of thousands of birds, fish, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. They sustain the second-largest concentration of great blue heron residents in western Canada, more than 300 pairs. Migrating waterfowl—15,000 each spring and autumn—depend on the wetlands to survive their journeys. Songbirds, shorebirds and birds of prey rely on the Columbia Wetlands, as do Kokanee salmon, Rocky Mountain whitefish, ling cod and several varieties of trout.

You will explore the wetlands, nestled between British Columbia’s Rocky and Purcell mountain ranges, in a canoe, kayak, or Cataraft. These wetlands are the source of the largest river flowing into the Pacific Ocean in North America—the mighty Columbia. It is here in BC’s own wild backyard that everything begins.

These wetlands provide essential winter habitat for hundreds of elk and deer. Moose, wolf, cougar, coyote, beaver, river otter, and grizzly bears are just some of the larger mammals that call this place home.

Conclude your wetlands experience at the Captain’s Dock for a filling BBQ lunch. You will be struck by the sheer beauty and peacefulness of this setting.

Next, you will travel (two hours driving time) through Kootenay National Park, pausing to walk the interpretive Marble Canyon trail which is located at a hanging valley where Tokumm Creek joins the Vermillion River. (Tokumm is a native word that means “red fox.”). Travel to your lodge in Kananaskis (1.5 hours driving time), your home for the night. Upon arrival, check in and unwind before joining your group for dinner at the lodge. During our special farewell dinner, savor locally sourced food served family-style accompanied by wines from British Columbia.

Included Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Enjoy an early included breakfast* at Pomerpoy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge. Then, shuttle to Calgary International Airport (YYC) at 8:30 a.m. (1.5 hours travel time); you’ll arrive by 10:00 a.m. for your return flight**. We recommend a flight out of Calgary no earlier than 12:00 p.m. If you have a flight that departs later than 1:00 p.m., you will be scheduled on a separate shuttle to the airport. You may have to check out of your hotel room, but the hotel can store your luggage while you wait for your transportation.

Included Meals: Breakfast