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Travel: Canmore-Spray Lake

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View of Canmore and Goat pond from Dam

Canmore Maps

Canmore Features
While the town centre of Canmore is on the east bank of the Bow River, many of the communites tourist and recreational atractions are on the west bank.

On the west bank of the Bow River is the residential community of Rundle, and further southwest is the new development of Three Sisters. The new Three Sisters Parkway connects (shortly) the hotels and residences in Three Sisters with the Stewart Creek Golf Course and Bow River Campground, which already have their own exit off the Trans-Canada Highway. Above Rundle, continuing up on Spray Lakes Rd, you pass the Canmore Nordic Centre which lies beside the town's reservoir.

View of pipes running from Spray Lake to the Canmroe Reservior Continuing further up the road (now called Smith Dorrien Highway a few kilometres, you reach Spray Lake, which is dammed above Canmore, and provides stunning views of the town (shown above) and the Bow River Valley. Smith Dorrien Highway continues to meet Higway 40 at Lower Kananaskis Lake in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park (you can make a day trip with this circular route!).

Canmore Nordic Centre, used for mountain biking in the summer Canmore Nordic Centre
Located on the Spray Lake Road to the west of town, this was the host of the nordic and cross-country ski events during the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. During the winter, many world-class competitions are held. In the summertime, its many miles of trails are popular with area mountain bikers. You can even bicycle from here to Banff on pleasant back-country trails.

Spray Lake, streching south from dam above Canmore Spray Lakes Reservoir
This 55-mile, 88 km long lake is used both for recreation and to generate power for Canmore and the rest of the Bow River Valley. It is easily accessible from Spray Lakes Road/Smith-Dorrien Highway in Canmore, and from the Smith-Dorien Creek road (unpaved) from Kananaskis Lake in the south of Kananaskis Country. This area used to be inside Banff National Park's boundaries, but was released to enable hydro-electric development. The natural exit for the lake is the Spray River, which meets the Bow River below the Banff Springs Hotel.

Spray Lake, streching south from dam above Canmore Three Sisters Resort & Stewart Creek Golf Course
This resort and recreation area is built around the abandoned coal mines of Canmore. The fairways of 18 hole Stewart Creek Golf Course wind their way past several mine shaft openings (they're gated), and have beautiful views up the Bow River valley.



Community Map

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