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Hi,
Just after some advice. Am going to Canada from 15th - 26th with my wife + inlaws.
We're travelling to Calgary where we will drive to canmore for 2 nights, then Jasper for 2 nights then Lake louise for 2 nights.
I would like to get a trip (or two) of mountainbiking (I'll be by myself) in and was wondering if anyone has any advice as to where would be best and if there is anywhere good to hire a bike and a guide?
Many thanks in advance for any help.
Kind regards,
Miles
Didn't ride in Canmore but there's marked trails up at the Nordic centre, google will show more.
I can recommend Chez Francois for breakfast and dinner in Canmore. There's a few decent mtb bike shops in Canmore, the ones we shopped in were very helpful.
Canmore Nordic center has plenty of riding at the Nordic center and some decent bikes for hire. (Remember to ask them to switch the brakes). In terms of minimum hassle it's by far the easiest option. Rebound cycle also do weekly group rides on Wednesday (I think) and can rent you out a bike with lights etc. If you are riding at Canmore you're advised to carry bear spray / make some noise..
How much time have you got available? These [url= https://www.alberta66mtb.com/ ]https://www.alberta66mtb.com/[/url] are friends of mine and can show you everything from easy meanders to full on DH trails depending on time / expense etc. If you have the time Prairie View / Jewel pass out by Barrier lake is often considered to be one of the best rides around.
Trailforks (via Pinkbike) has almost everything marked. Download the app and have it'll be good to go. Not a huge amount of riding near Lake Louise as it's touristy. Being honest I prefer the hiking.
Jasper has some good stuff but I've never been.
I've ridden a hire bike from the Nordic Centre, sang all the way around to try and scare off any bears before I came across them!
Picturesque, headed off down the Bow river to Banff, back the other side of the mountain.
Went the next time, but later in the year....and the centre was full of skis not bikes. Doh. Ended up cross country skiing in baggy shorts with a Camelbak.....
Take a short drive from Canmore down to Kannanaskis area. God's own country and some awesome trails. Or at least, they were 15 or so years ago.
Loads of stuff on trail forks for that area.
https://www.trailforks.com/trails/map/?lat=51.111287&lon=-115.268616&z=11&m=trailforks
Canmore - just hire a bike, ride up the mountain and pick the trail to Banff. Easy enough, but you'll get the shakes if alone thanks to worrying about being eaten. Back from Banff there are side trails further on that bring you back down to Canmore. The locals will no doubt have constructed things that will make you wonder as to their sanity. Beer in Canmore from a brew pub at the end. Job done.
Cheers all for the help - got some stuff to look into now!
Thanks again,
Miles
A nice ride is up past the nordic centre to the reservoirs, down goat creek trail into banff and follow the legacy bike path back to Canmore. It's tarmac and by a free way but its still nice.
McDonalds in Canmore has crappy wifi. There are also gophers in eveey patch of grass, they like Reeses ice cream.
As above canmore good, or down to kannanaskis, but there are a couple of really good trails
in lake louise. Take the old tramway up towards the lake then onto a great climb to moraine
lake, carcking descent back down.
Also find the trails star wars and return of the jedi, their is also another longer whistleresque
one nearby which was great 2 years back, good luck, the scenery is jaw droppingly beautiful. 😀
Slackalice +1
The shore of Lake Minne****a (stop laughing at the back)
Years since I was there though......
If you're in Canmore then The Grizzly Paw is a great place to try the local ales. Can recommend the Taster and Grumpy Bear Honeywheat. Lovely stuff.
Lake MW is okay but it depends what the OP is after. High on scenery and once past the initial climb it's got some good riding with mellow tech. It sometimes (like now) has a Party of 4 restriction due to bear activity..
[url= http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/tcond/cond_e.asp?oPark=100092 ]http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/tcond/cond_e.asp?oPark=100092[/url]
Topp Notch is the trail Germinator refers to and it's got a very different feel to other areas.
[url= https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1316/4593241485_6b8c219787.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1316/4593241485_6b8c219787.jp g"/> [/img]
[/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/7ZTyEH ]Lake Minni****a Trail[/url]
Obviously not in Autumn but featuring another member of this parish....
A lot of land closures due to wildfires over here currently, most of the East Kootenays closed to hiking and biking unfortunately.
Not sure if you were thinking about any of these areas, but the map in the link below should help:
http://tourismfernie.com/news/bc-wildfires
Here is the official notice from the government of BC:
http://bcfireinfo.for.gov.bc.ca/hprScripts/WildfireNews/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=2881
Here is a fact sheet on the backcountry closure:
When I was in Jasper for 2 nights a year ago I rented from a shop in the town (Vicious cycles) and did a couple of hours on the local trails just using the trail map the shop gave me and a recommended route from them. found my way easy enough
[url= https://www.strava.com/activities/679775662 ]Strava of my Jasper Jaunt[/url]
We rode in all of those places last year. Trailforks is definatley your friend. Loads on it and works really well to make self guiding straight forward.
As has been said the Nordic centre is an easy option as you can hire bikes and there are marked trails. Downside is that it is like a trail centre which isnt the point of riding in canada.
We did a ride called Valley of 5 lakes or something like that in Jasper, again easy to self navigate using trailforks. That was much better in that it was into the real landscape. Not alot of up or down on it but plently of single track.
The one I would most recommend is at Lake Louise, its an out and back to moraine lake starting off the road to moraine lake. Nice single track up and down / traverse all on singletrack once you are off the start road and moraine lake is much nicer than Lake Louise
Valley of the 5 Lakes in Jasper is a pleasant ride. Easy to follow and a popular area which helps keeps the bears away-ish.
Bike Pirate is also good to find trails, I think you can download gpx files. Trail Forks is good for self navigation with a smartphone.
There is a lovely descent that takes you from behind the big hotel in lake Louise to mirror lake. You can return on the old highway which has an excellent deserted atmosphere. I think it is called mirror lake, anyway. Not a long ride, but a pleasant one.
Bears are busy in autumn feeding up for hibernation. They can get grumpy if they think you are eating their food. If you haven't, read up on being bear aware.
It is lovely there. It is very dry, so drink loads and use hand cream!
heres a trip report from when we rode there in 2008
http://www.mtb-hol.com/Canada2008/Canada_2008_MTB.html
Cheers everyone,
Just got back from a ride with Laura from Alberta66 around lake minne****a. Was great fun and Alberta66 were awesome to deal with so thanks for that suggestion sweaman2!
Thanks also to everyone else who took the time to post- wish I had more time here but hopefully will be bk before long!