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by Cheryl Archer
March 17, 2023
While staying at Peaks To Pines Condo in Canmore, Alberta, you’ll find a multitude of things to do in every season. Enjoy!
1. Downtown Canmore
You won’t even need your vehicle. Just stroll down Main Street (one block east of the condo) and you’re in the heart of Canmore’s vibrant downtown. The views of the surrounding Rocky Mountains are spectacular. Locally owned and operated businesses, stores, restaurants and coffee shops offer an astonishing assortment of services, shopping, as well as amazing food and beverages. Downtown is also where you’ll find Canmore’s arts and culture community—with art galleries, local theatre performances and live music venues. Loads of fun just steps away from Peaks To Pines Condo.
Go here for a live webcam view of Main Street Canmore: https://youtu.be/emI8r2dfk6g
2. Outdoor Activities
Using Peaks To Pines Condo as your base-camp, you’ll find unlimited activities and adventures awaiting you in the surrounding Canadian Rockies. Near enough that you can leave your vehicle parked in the condo building’s underground parkade are kilometres of walking and biking paths. These trails are easily accessed by foot (or bike) from the condo, and run through the townsite and along the Bow River. In winter, there’s also skating on Canmore’s downtown pond.
A short drive away, the Canmore Nordic Centre offers world-class cross country skiing in winter (60 kms of groomed trail and 6.5 kms illuminated for night-skiing), plus over 100 kms of trails for mountain biking, hiking, trail running in summer, orienteering, and disc golf (on a challenging 18-hole course).
For the even more adventurous, there’s nearby mountaineering, climbing, and backcountry opportunities, as well as downhill skiing (five major ski resorts), snowshoeing, scrambling, kayaking, canoeing, and rafting. Local guides are available to take you to remote areas, where you’ll experience nature in the Rockies at its finest. Tours of the Canmore Caves are another highlight.
There’s also year-round fishing in the pristine lakes, rivers and streams. Not to be forgotten are six world-class golf courses in the area, making Canmore a hub for golf enthusiasts around the world. Nearby sled dog tours as well as helicopter sightseeing tours and heli-hiking/heli-walking/heli-skiing trips are also available.
3. Health and Wellness
Canmore is quickly becoming the centre for health and wellness practitioners of every discipline. Surrounded by the majestic Rockies, right next to Banff National Park, Canmore offers the ideal setting for you to rejuvenate your body, mind, and soul. Treat yourself to a well-deserved massage, a day at the spa, or enjoy a workout or yoga class. You’ll find everything you need just a short distance from Peaks To Pines Condo. You might even want to attend Thrive—Canmore’s premiere annual fall Health and Wellness Festival.
4. Events and Festivals
There’s always something to do in this amazing Rocky Mountain town. Here is a sampling of fun things you can do year-round:
artsPlace: Located right next door to Peaks To Pines Condo, artsPlace offers an array of events from stand-up comedy performances to theatre productions, films, family film nights, author readings as well as live music concerts, talks, slide shows and art exhibitions. Want to explore and develop your own creativity? You’ll find a variety of classes offered here: ceramics, painting, writing, journalling, jewelry-making, leather and wood working, flower arranging, photography, drawing, moss art, spring and summer camps for kids. Call 1-403-609-2623 for further information.
IBU Cup Biathlon Canmore: (February/March) At the Canmore Nordic Centre, home of the 1988 Olympic Winter Games and the IBU Biathlon World Cups 2016 & 2019. Free for spectators.
Canmore Winter Carnival: (February) Features ice carving, sugar shack, ice skating, street hockey, sled dog tours, axe throwing demos, log saw challenges, and a live music all-ages party.
Coldest Night of the Year in Canmore: (February) Walking event for the Homeless Society of Bow Valley, which raises funds and awareness of people experiencing hunger, hurt and homelessness. Please join in.
Mountain Cabin Quilters Guild Annual Show of Original Art Quilts: (March) All quilts are original works of art.
Canmore Public Library: (700 Railway Avenue) Features monthly free talks for the public, as well as courses, books, movies, video games, and even hiking poles to borrow.
Camba Palooza—Winter Fat Bike Festival: (March) A family-friendly winter festival with fat bikes, snow dogs, and seasonal activities.
The Women’s Soap Run: (May) Presented by Tourism Canmore Kananaskis, this run is for all ages. Events are 5 km, 10km, and a half marathon walk/run.
Canmore Mountain Market: (late May to early October) You can find this open air market in the heart of Canmore on Thursdays. Here you’ll find treasures such as baked goods, jams, clothing, jewelry, and other artisanal products.
Canmore Folk Festival: The longest running folk fest in Alberta, this event takes place over the August long weekend and offers concerts as well as kid-friendly activities. Let the tunes soothe and relax you at this mountain music festival.
Grizzly Canmore Ultra Marathon & Relay: (early October) This annual event is one of Canada’s largest and most popular ultra races. Trail runners come from near and far to tackle the 50 km course.
Elevation Place: (open year-round; 700 Railway Ave) A gem of a recreational facility, Elevation Place is Canmore’s indoor playground, offering a climbing gym with a large climbing wall, aquatic centre with a 25 metre pool, leisure pool, water slide, lazy river, children’s play area, hot tub, steam room, cardio/weight room, plus child-minding services for children 6 months to 7 years old. Modern locker rooms and showers are available.
Golden Larches in the Fall: Don’t miss the spectacular changing colours of larch trees in autumn. Amazing to behold, larch trees, the only needled (coniferous) tree to shed its needles in fall, change to a brilliant yellow colour mid-September. This gives the mountain landscape an incredible golden glow that attracts visitors from around the world. Add to that the distant bugling of elk (wapiti) in their fall mating season, and you experience Canmore and the Rockies at their absolute best.
Canmore Highland Games: (first weekend in September) These games celebrate Scottish ancestry and traditions. Bagpipes, dancing, the saber toss, food trucks. There’s something for everyone.
Tour the Rocky Mountain Soap Company: Available year-round, you can tour the workshop and discover how soap is made. The company’s gorgeous-smelling soaps are available for purchase at their flagship store in downtown Canmore. You’ll be using their lemongrass hand wash in Peaks To Pines Condo. Made locally and extracted from lemongrass leaves, the soap has a fresh, lemony scent, which is both stimulating and soothing—exactly the kind of experience your hosts, Cheryl and Jenna, want for you in Peaks To Pines Condo.
**note: workshop tours have been paused in 2023; please stay posted for future opportunities.
Bike the Rocky Mountain Legacy Trail: (Between Canmore and Banff National Park) Starting at the Travel Alberta Visitor Centre in Canmore and ending at the Banff Park East Gate, the Legacy Trail is 26.8 kms of paved trail with a 30 m elevation gain and an estimated timeline of two to three hours round trip for cyclists. Ranked as a beginner trail, this is a multi-use recreational pathway accessible mid- April to mid-October (weather permitting). Multiple rest spots, picnic areas, scenic views, and informative interpretive panels are available along the way. The Legacy Trail also links to numerous other trail networks.
5. Nearby Banff National Park
A twenty minute drive from Peaks To Pines Condo is Banff National Park. Canada’s first national park and the flagship of the nation’s park system, Banff National Park is home to Rocky Mountain peaks, turquoise glacial lakes, and loads of adventure. The park is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, protecting over 20,000 square kms of the Canadian Rockies. Although busy and bustling with people, the Banff townsite and its attractions are well worth the visit. Park passes (for the day or yearly passes) are available at the East Gate entrance.
*If you require any further information about things to do in and around Canmore, please send us an email.*
Hope to see you soon!
Peaks To Pines
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