Kananaskis Country Hotels
Accommodation at Kananaskis Country hotels is extremely limited, so make reservations well in advance, especially in summer. The only hotel is within KANANASKIS VILLAGE, a modern mountain resort 90 km from Calgary that was built for the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. Here you’ll find POMEROY KANANASKIS MOUNTAIN LODGE (1 Centennial Dr., 403/591-7711 or 888/236-2427). It offers three distinct types of rooms in three buildings surrounding a cobbled courtyard. Even standard rooms are luxurious, with pillowtop mattresses, large bathrooms, and extras such as fluffy robes. Lofts have upstairs sleeping areas and private balconies. Outdoor seating from various eateries spills into the courtyard, and biking and hiking trails radiate out in all directions. All in all, this is a good place to base yourself for an overnight hotel stay.
Kananaskis Village.
SUNDANCE LODGES (Highway 40, 403/591-7122, mid-May to late Sept.) is a wonderful option for travellers looking to try camping or who want something a little more adventurous than a regular motel room. Campsites are available with rentals including tents, camp stoves, sleeping bags, and utensil kits available for a minimal charge. Next up are the tepees, 12 of them, each with colourfully painted canvas walls rising from wooden floors. Inside are mattresses, a heater, and a lantern. Finally, you can stay in one of 18 Trapper Tents, with similar interior fittings but larger and with a canvas-covered awning over a picnic table. When you tire of hiking and biking on surrounding trails, return to the lodge for fishing in a man-made pond, horseshoes, badminton, and volleyball. Other amenities include a general store, hot showers, laundry, and Internet access. Sundance sits beside the Kananaskis River, just off Highway 40, 22 km south of the TransCanada Highway.
Although a number of backcountry lodges are scattered through the Canadian Rockies, MOUNT ENGADINE LODGE (587/807-0570) is the only one accessible by public road. Technically, this means it’s not a true “backcountry” lodge, but it has the feel of one, and, besides, most people don’t even know it’s there as they speed past on unpaved Smith-Dorrien/Spray Trail. It comprises comfortable rooms in the main lodge and glamping tents and cabins set on a ridge overlooking an open meadow and a small creek. The main lodge has a dining room, a comfortable lounge area with two stone fireplaces, and a beautiful sundeck holding a hot tub. Breakfast is served buffet-style, lunch can be taken at the lodge or packed for a picnic, and dinner is served in multiple courses of hearty European specialties. All meals are included in the nightly rates. Mount Engadine Lodge is 40 km southwest of Canmore, at the turnoff to the Mount Shark staging area.
Glamping tent at Mount Engadine Lodge.