Horseback riding in Banff is one of the best ways to discover the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

With some of the best trails for horseback adventures and pack trips, Canmore and the Kananaskis is an awesome place for horseback riding. Banff Horseback and Trail Rides is one of the best horseback outfitters in our area.

Horseback riding is one of our most popular things to do in the Banff Kananaskis area.

For the best activities at the best prices, avoid the middleman and book direct. Go to Banff Travel.

Image Category: City View

Image Category: City View

Image Category: City View

Wildwater Adventures is considered one of the toughest jobs to get in Banff and Lake Louise, but it promises an awesome whitewater experience.

Those with the best skills, and the best luck, get jobs as rafting guides. There are many rafting companies around Banff and Jasper. The most sought after and difficult rafting guide job to obtain is for one of Canada’s oldest rafting companies – Wildwater Adventures.

Banff’s Toughest Tourism Job to Get

Considered the most difficult job to obtain in Banff and Banff National Park, Wildwater Adventures is known for having the most stringent customer service and safety policies. Most of their rafting guides are heavily seasoned guides with experience rafting some of the most challenging rivers in the US, Costa Rica and Argentina.

Whitewater Adventures was founded by Ted Bilson and Liz Webber, and employs only the best guides.

Many of the lower-end companies in town will hire kids with no experience who just got rafting certified.

“We get the best rafting guides coming to us because our rafting guides get treated well and we get great business,” says Ted Bilton. “Wildwater Adventures is is the top area rafting company that handles high level celebrities including top NHL players.”

Wildwater Adventures has been voted “Best Rafting Outfitter” of Banff National Park the past five years.
Want to see Banff, Canmore and Jasper live? Check out the Rockies.com streaming, user controlled TV cams at Rockies.com. Our towns are even more beautiful in person.

The East End of Mt Rundle reflected in Johnson Lake, Banff National Park

My favourite location for scenic photos at Johnson Lake in the spring is an early morning reflection from the trail that runs along the northwest side of the lake (accessed directly from the parking lot at the lake).  This just happens to also take you to the best wildlife viewing location, which is a small lagoon about 250 m from the parking lot on the northwest side.  This lagoon is home to nesting loons and grebes each spring and often has a resident muskrat or two swimming around.  If you go sit by the shore and wait quietly, you often get rewarded with some great photo opps.

Happy shooting!

John

With spring comes the first itchings to get out and get some non-snowy images in the mountain parks and photographers hitting up the Banff area and Banff National Park in the next few weeks have a few great spots they can check out as the ice and snow melts. One of my personal favourites is the Vermilion Lakes area near the Town of Banff.  There are a host of things you can photograph along here, with nature photography hotspots all over the place, including some stunning mountain views at First, Second, and Third Vermilion Lakes, as well as the area between the Second and Third lake.

Mt Rundle and Sulphur Mountain from Third Vermilion Lake in Banff National Park

Early mornings and late evenings are best, which at this time of year, means being there from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., then again from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m.

The Vermilion Lakes area is one of the first in the Banff area to start greening up, too, so photographers in early May should start seeing some greenery.

Nature photographers can drive along the length of Vermilion Lakes Drive to access any of the photo hotspots.

Happy shooting!

John

Rafting the Kananaskis River is only one of several fun things to do with your family in Banff, Alberta.

For those of you with an adventurous family, here is what I would recommend.

1) Raft the Kananaskis River: Raft the Kananskis River and enjoy the endless wilderness beauty of our Canadian Rockies. The Alberta Rafting Alliance has great deals to beat back any economic blues. And although the Kananaskis is not going to be a thrill for true adventure bums, it’s ideal for first timers and those who just want to enjoy the paradise we know as Alberta. Check out out Banff Rafting at banffrafting.org for more info.

2) Zip line tours: Zip lining is a rush, and it’s just a short drive from Banff. You can also take a shuttle. The Canadian Rockies outfitters at Banff Travel will shuttle you to base camp for an authentic Canadian Rockies adventure rush.

Check out the Banff zipline for an awesome Canadian Rockies adventure.

3) Banff ATV and Quad Tours: Think about this– You are on a dirt road, going 20 plus miles an hour, open air, looking at the incredible Rocky Mountains of Canada, forgetting about everything else, and here you are on a new Bombardier-powered ATV. Yes, that is friggin’ cool! I love ATV tours and adventures. The same outfitters at Banff Travel who provide Banff National Park area zip line tours also do ATV tours and rides. They will get you a guide or you can do it on your own. It’s more fun to go as group, which means it’s perfect for you and your family. These guys are all about safety and have the best track record in our area.

Get your family on some ATVs for quading in Banff National Park.

Want to see Banff, Canmore and Jasper live? Check out the Rockies.com streaming, user-controlled TV cams at Rockies.com.

Durango, Colorado is the perfect place to go for a run down the Animas River and then settle down to knock back a few pints at some great Colorado micro-breweries.

VAIL, COLORADO – I can’t believe I get paid to travel, run up and down the Canadian, Colorado, and Montana Rockies, and blog. You know, this is about as good as my days in the University of McGill drinking lots of beer, hanging with loose women and having free *****.

Starbucks is ready to throw me out, so here is my itinerary for thrill-seeking around the Rockies come June and July: I’ve got a 450-mile bike ride starting in Gunnison, Colorado called “Ride The Rockies,” winding through the Colorado Rockies going to Gunnison. But, being the certified whitewater rafting junkie that I am, I’m not content to leave it at that. I mean come on, this is a guy who plans to name his next child Kicking Horse. That’s right! I’m going to name the the little dude Kicking Horse! (Cool? Or do you think my future mate may have issues?) Anyway, I’m throwing in some whitewater rafting as well.

With nothing more than meager pay, a backpack, a beat up old Volkswagen, and an all-carbon bike, I’ve got some cool Colorado whitewater rafting spots on tap. Yes, the bike is worth more than my car–I’m vintage Canadian.

So here is what I got. Quit drooling. Really.

I’ll hit Durango, Colorado and the Animas River in late May. I am doing to take a raft down the incredible Smelter Run, which is cool because after I flip it, I will swim to shore, hit the park, dry out, and then saunter over to downtown Durango to have some pints at the Carver Brewing company. That’s all they will give me. Then I am going to bum some real rafting down the Piedra and Animas Rivers from Durango Whitewater.

Colorado Springs and some Royal Gorge Rafting

Royal Gorge whitewater rafting is some of the craziest rafting in the Colorado Rockies. Make sure to check out the classifications before you head out onto the rapids!

Colorado Springs, Colorado is a little too conservative for chaps of my breed, but I’ve got friends there and that means free digs. Royal Gorge rafting is killer! Even many experienced whitewater rafters can struggle with Colorado rafting if the mountain run-off is determined to be huge that day. It’s jagged, rocky, twisty and–well–some of the most beautiful whitewater rafting south of the Banff, Canada area’s Kicking Horse rafting. Funnily enough, Colorado Springs whitewater rafting companies advertise Royal Gorge rafting as a family friendly deal. Well, like….yeah, maybe for those trailer park relatives you hate or that family that will give you a good inheritance.

Buena Vista, Colorado offers some mild whitewater rafting, but it's a great place to check out some other activities and things to do in the Colorado Rockies.

Buena Vista, Colorado

I swear, half the tourism economy is rafting and the rafting is pretty mild stuff. Buena Vista is a favorite place of mine because I can go rafting and then take several hours to  bike to Leadville, Colorado (11,000 feet), come back, swill some beer at a Colorado cowboy joint, then think about golfing Collegiate Peaks the next day. Hey! It’s cheap, but the views are killer. They make fun of my accent in clever ways, while thinking I’m a real idiot.

Make sure to check back because I have some more great stuff coming up. And, well, Rockies.com has me traveling, rafting, swan-diving out of airplanes and doing some really jacked up stuff – all in the name of entertaining travelers, tourists and the unemployed who always hope to stay unemployed.

BANFF, ALBERTA, Canada – Beautiful vistas are in no short supply on Lake Minnewanka. Take the cruise and take in the scenery on Lake Minnewanka, only 15 minutes from downtown Banff.

The Lake Minnewanka Cruise is One of the Best Things to Do in Banff

Our experienced crew will guide you through this rugged paradise richly steeped in history, native folklore and geology. This one-hour sightseeing tour is available on one of two 48-passenger Lake Cruisers or on board the larger 65-passengar Alberta Explorer. All three ships operate throughout the day from mid-May to mid-October. This magnificent interpretive lake cruise of Minnewanka and the scenic Canadian Rockies provides unique photo opportunities unavailable elsewhere.

Discover More About The Canadian Rockies at Lake Minnewanka

The narration is intriguing, entertaining and informative. You will learn about the wildlife and vegetation that inhabit these mountains, the early explorers who named them and the tremendous forces that created them. The Lake Minnewanka valley offers some of the most interesting and spectacular scenery found anywhere in the Canadian Rockies.

Canadian Rockies Lake Tour

Explore the largest lake in Banff National Park on this magnificent one hour interpretive cruise that introduces the rugged paradise richly steeped in history, native folklore and geology. Travel on a modern Lake Cruiser, as an experienced captain and entertaining guide explore the ‘water of the spirits’ and share tales of First Nations people and early explorers that first discovered the area. Learn about the tremendous forces that created the surrounding mountains and stay on the lookout for wildlife that frequent the lake. Lake Cruisers depart hourly on the hour between 10am and 6pm (last departure – evening wildlife cruise).

Your friends and family will enjoy spending time with you out in the middle of relaxing Lake Minnewanka, so why delay? Make it part of your Canadian Rockies vacation.