Kananaskis Country

Kananaskis is an improvement district (a type of rural municipal administrative unit) situated to the west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the foothills and front ranges of the Canadian Rockies.

Located within the improvement district is Kananaskis Country, a 4,211 square kilometer tract of land with spectacular mountain and foothills scenery.

Recreation and tourism

Recreation and tourism is what Kananaskis Country is noted for. Development for recreation in Kananaskis includes several campgrounds, a golf course, some hotels, a holiday ranch, two alpine ski areas (Nakiska, which hosted alpine skiing and freestyle moguls skiing during the 1988 Winter Olympics and Fortress Mountain) and a competitive cross-country ski area (the Canmore Nordic Centre) that the public can use. The Canmore Nordic Centre was the venue for cross-country skiing events during the 1988 Winter Olympics. Most of the development is within Peter Lougheed Provincial Park and along the highway 40 corridor that parallels the Kananaskis River. Kananaskis has many kilometres of hiking, cross-country ski, and horse trails. Other activities popular in Kananaskis include mountain biking, scrambling, climbing, backpacking, hunting, and fishing.

Parks

Extent and locations of parks in Kananaskis Country

Several parks and one ecological reserve are located within Kananaskis. These include:

• Bluerock Wildland Provincial Park
• Bow Valley Provincial Park
• Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park
• Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park
• Don Getty Wildland Provincial Park
• Elbow-Sheep Wildland Provincial Park
• Peter Lougheed Provincial Park
• Plateau Mountain Ecological Reserve
• Sheep River Provincial Park
• Spray Valley Provincial Park

Special areas within Kananaskis Country that are not formally designated as parks or ecological reserves include the Bow Corridor Area, the Elbow River Valley Area, Evan-Thomas Provincial Recreation Area, the Highwood/Cataract Areas, Sentinel Provincial Recreation Area, Stoney Creek Provincial Recreation Area, Strawberry Provincial Recreation Area and the Sibbald Area (Sibbald Lake Provincial Recreation Area, Sibbald Meadows Pond Provincial Recreation Area).

Administration

On a provincial level, Kananaskis Counrty has been administered since 1945 as Improvement District No. 5 (Kananaskis). It was established by the Municipal Affairs branch of Alberta Government for multiple uses including timber harvesting, gas and oil extraction, cattle grazing, recreation and tourism. All activities are planned and facilities developed with watershed protection as a priority.

Demographics

No incorporated communities are located in Kananasks. As of 2001 the Kananaskis improvement district had a population of 462 in 210 dwellings spread over an area of 4,211.22 km², a density of 0.1 inhabitants/km².

Source: Statistics Canada 2001 Census

Photo gallery

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  View from Kananaskis Village
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  Kananaskis Country
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  Kananaskis Country
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  Cross-country skiing in Kananaskis

Trivia

• In June 2002, the area hosted the 28th G8 summit.
• Kananaskis Country has been used for the filming of documentaries.

See also

• The Canadian Rockies Trail Guide
• Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies
• Kananaskis Country Trail Guide
• List of Alberta provincial parks

External links

• Kananaskis Country