Elbow River Valley

Canmore Alberta, Canada is a neighbour to the Elbow River Valley and the village of Bragg Creek. The valley is a popular destination for a wide variety of outdoor adventures year-round because it covers such a vast area of protected parks and wilderness forests.

The Elbow River Valley includes the Elbow-Sheep Provincial Park, McLean Creek OHZ Zone and the Don Getty, Sheep River and Bluerock Provincial Parks. The region neighbors other parks also like the Peter Lougheed and Spray Valley Provincial Parks. All connected by trails, roads and rivers.

During the summer months some of the activities enjoyed in the Elbow River Valley region include hiking, horseback riding, fishing, kayaking, camping, swimming, off roading, mountain biking and backpacking.

During the winter months, the lakes, trails and rivers become destinations for cross country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling and ice fishing.

Elbow-Sheep Provincial Park is a protected wilderness park within the valley with opportunities for wildlife sightings like bighorn sheep, black bears and cougars. Backpacking trails lead into the backcountry regions of the park and to wilderness campsites.

The Elbow River is a fishing and kayaking destination. Fishing is for whitefish, brook and bull trout. Kayaking is enjoyed on the river from Cobble Flats to Bragg Creek - a 33 kilometre stretch with some whitewater rapids, some calm water and a few drops.

The North Fork region in the valley, the Mesa Butte area, and the Forgetmenot Pond area in the Don Getty Provincial Park are popular staging areas for horseback riding adventures.

Cross country skiing is enjoyed in the West Bragg Creek Recreation Area near the community of Bragg Creek. During the summer months the xc ski trails turn into hiking, horseback riding and mountain biking routes.

The Elbow Falls day use site is a picnic site as well as a trailhead for the waterfalls. From the day use site there is a 10 kilometre one way wilderness trail leading to the falls at the Elbow River Recreation Area. Other trails accessed along the route include the Riverview and Sulfur Springs Trails.

Too many trails to list but some of the notables in the Elbow River Valley region include the Big & Little Elbow Trail, Wildhorse Trail, Powderface Ridge Trail, Moose Mountain, Elbow Pass Trail, Mount Cornwall Trail, Banded Peak Trail, Piper Creek Trail, Fullerton Loop Trail and the Iron Springs Trail.

The McLean Creek OHZ Zone. It is a designated area for 4x4s, off roading, atvs, dirt bikes and snowmobiles. There are 100s of kilometres of easy to difficult trails to explore with two staging areas near Fisher and MacLean Creeks.