Kananaskis Country, a unique region in Alberta!
Kananaskis Country
A unique region in Alberta, Canada
The impressive mountains at Kananaskis Country were formed over the course of 200 million years. The tectonic plates forced layers of rock to pile, break, and fold into mountains. Interestingly, the mountains which resulted from this pressure were originally much taller than today’s post glacier peaks.
On the other hand, it is known that the jagged peaks and u-shaped valleys in Kananaskis Country were formed more than 12,000 years ago.
"They are a good reminder of the last ice age."
Archaeological evidence of humans in Kananaskis Country goes back over 8000 years. The Stoney-Nakoda, Siksika, Blood, and Kootenai First Nations all have deep connection to this land. Although they inhabited this region many thousands of years ago, it was not until recently when the first recorded exploration took place.
The 23th of May 1859, the royal geographical society awarded its Patron’s Medal to Captain John Palliser for the explorations, upon which he was then still engaged, in what is now western Canada. So this region and what is today known as Kananasks Country was first explored and recorded by John Palliser, who investigated the geography, climate and ecology of the area.
Today Kananaskis Country includes five provincial parks, four wildland provincial parks, one ecological reserve and several provincial recreation areas.
"The Peter Lougheed Provincial Park is one of the largest provincial parks encompassing 117 sq. miles (304 sq. Km) around Kananaskis Lakes."
The park is renown for its backpacking trips. This is because some of the most popular routes for hikers in Kananaskis are found here. The Upper Kananaskis Lake Trail, for instance, offers unique views of this picturesque lake.
“The hike wasn’t easy, even worse with all the snow. We got our feet all wet, slipped and fell down, walked in fresh bear paws, got scared, saw a mountain goat, but finally, the view was all that mattered!”
"The trail offers a number of activity options and is best used from March until October."
Overall the park provides amenities for camping and fishing along with trails for hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding and cross-country skiing. In addition, a variety of wildlife can also be found in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. Grizzly bears, black bears, elk, deer, moose, bighorn sheep, cougars, lynx, wolves and the occasional mountain goat roam freely around this land.
