Touring Alberta's Foothill Country

by Darrell Noakes in Saskatoon
with Don Hollingshead in Calgary
for Canadian Cyclist Magazine, August 1997

So, you're thinking about a cycling holiday, but the thought of grinding up steep mountain passes while dodging throngs of car-bound tourists is making you reconsider? Well, consider this alternative to overcrowded national parks: Alberta's foothills give you all the things you enjoy about riding in the mountains plus a much more relaxed tour.

Early European explorers first encountered this dramatic landscape of rolling hills on their westward quest for the Pacific Ocean and dubbed them the foothills because they lay at the foot of the towering Rocky Mountain range. Cyclists riding through here quickly discover why the area today is known as Alberta's cowboy country.

Routes can provide cyclists with trips as short as a weekend or as long as two or three weeks. Weekend tourists can try Calgary - Bragg Creek - Cochrane - Calgary (highways 22x, 22 and 1A; 110 km round trip).

A side trip to the award-winning Millarville farmers' market (highways 22 and 762; 46 km) or into Kananaskis Country (highway 66; 56 km return) can round out the trip. Several films, including the popular television western Lonesome Dove and Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven were filmed here, so you may experience a little deja-vu while cycling in the area.

Travelling further afield, try a four-day tour through Kananaskis Country and over the Highwood Pass. Beginning in Okotoks, the route passes through Millarville, Cochrane, Peter Lougheed Provincial Park, Longview, and Black Diamond , before returning to Okotoks (highways 549, 22, 1A, 1X, 1, 40, 541, 22 and 7; 350 km).

Kananaskis Country follows the eastern slopes of the Rockies, encompassing more than 4,000 square kilometres of dramatic mountain scenery. It includes three provincial parks and is adjacent to the Four Mountain National Parks.

Besides offering great touring potential, Kananaskis has more than 250 km of paved trails and 460 km of unpaved trails - more mountain biking than any other Alberta destination. Campgrounds are open late into fall (some even year-round), Highwood Pass is Canada's highest drive-able pass, providing an exhilarating descent into the foothills. The town of Longview, known as Little New York, boasts Clint Eastwood's favourite restaurant. The movie, Unforgiven was filmed at a nearby ranch. When we passed through last summer, the outhouse made famous in the movie was on display behind a local business.

Heading south from Longview, Highway 22 stretches 110 km through the most spectacular foothill country. Until a few years ago this was a gravel road. Now paved with wide shoulders, this highway attracts cyclists looking for an alternative to the busy freeways 40 km to the east.

The Bar-U Ranch National Historic Site (13 km south of Longview) commemorates the history of ranching in Canada. Billy the Kid often worked at the Bar-U while waiting for things to cool off south of the border.

Chain Lakes Provincial Park (39 km south of Longview) and Maycroft Provincial Recreation Area (27 km north of the highway 22/3 junction) provide quiet, if rustic, opportunities to rest or stay overnight. There are no services between Longview and Lundbreck (115 km) and you should be prepared to travel up to 50 km between water supplies at Chain Lakes and Maycroft.

Emerging from Highway 22 into the Crowsnest Pass region (highway 3) is like entering another universe. The area contains over 940 campsites within a 50 km stretch of highway. The Frank Slide, restored underground mines and local museums tell stories of prospectors and coal mining, rather than of cowboys and ranching. Lundbreck Falls (near the junction of highways 22 and 3) makes a refreshing rest stop for touring cyclists.

Instead of travelling on Highway 3, consider taking Highway 507 through Beaver Mines into Pincher Creek (39 km from the highway 22/3 junction).

The Pincher Creek Museum and Kootenai Brown Historical Park are well worth the visit (John "Kootenai" Brown was the first superintendent of Waterton National Park). If you arrive around the Father's Day weekend, you can take in Canada's oldest and biggest cowboy poetry gathering. Pincher Creek has all the services you'll need to stock up for more bicycle touring, including a cappuccino bar.

Highway 6 connects Pincher Creek and Waterton Lakes National Park (55 km to Waterton townsite). Cyclists can take a break about half-way at the Twin Butte general store.

Waterton is the most well-known destination in southwest Alberta. Even so, the area is not as crowded as Banff and Jasper national parks and has retained more natural wilderness.

Waterton and Montana’s Glacier National Park make up Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. The combined park, recognized by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site, is a popular destination for road cycling and mountain biking.

Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park takes cyclists over the highest mountain pass in North America. Logan Pass is the most picturesque of the northerly passes over the Great Divide.

Within Waterton park, the Akamina Parkway to Cameron Lake and Red Rock Parkway to Red Rock Canyon make good cycling routes.

Outside the park, cyclists can ride loops through Hillspring (highways 6, 505, 800 and 5; 75 km excluding 9 km to Waterton townsite) or Pincher Creek and Glenwood (highways 6, 507, 505, 800 and 5; 89 km excluding 9 km to Waterton townsite).

Highway 5 to Cardston (45 km east of Waterton Lakes National Park) is a scenic route east of the Rockies. Cardston is the nearest town with all services.

Mountain View (20 km east), with a well-stocked general store, and Leavitt (32 km east) make good rest stops.

A four-day trip joining Pincher Creek, Fort Macleod, Cardston and Waterton Lakes National Park (highways 3, 2, 5 and 6, 200 km round trip) offers possibilities for side trips or alternate routes on quieter secondary roads (highways 507, 810, 505 and 800).

For cyclists seeking longer daily distances, consider a tour that includes Lethbridge and Milk River (highways 3, 4 and 501, adding 245 km to the route).

Anyone heading through Fort Macleod will find a trip into Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump worthwhile (18 km west on Highway 785). The jump is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Through the interior displays and theatre presentations housed in the four-storey structure built into the hillside, local guides from the Blackfoot Nation give visitors a significant understanding of their culture and traditions.

Paleontologists have discovered fossilized dinosaur eggs in Devil's Coulee near Warner and take visitors to the site. You can arrange tours through the Devil's Coulee Dinosaur Egg Site and Interpretive Centre in Warner. The visit is well worth effort, although you may need to arrange transportation to the site (gravel access).

Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park (Highway 501, 42 km east of Milk River) contains one of the most extensive collections of pictographs (rock paintings) and petroglyphs (rock carvings) on the continent. Park naturalists conduct hikes and interpretive programs.

The very busy and well maintained campground (showers but no groceries) at Writing-On-Stone is set amidst extraordinary hoodoo formations. The warm water and beaches of the Milk River offer a pleasant alternative to the bicycle saddle for awhile.

Darrell Noakes is a CAN-BIKE National Examiner, bicycle tour operator and member of the Saskatoon Cycling Club.

Don Hollingshead is a CAN-BIKE National Examiner, professional photographer, member of the Elbow Valley Cycle Club and author of Canadian Cycling Association manuals on bicycle touring.

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