Grand Valley Road out and back

Lake Louise to Waterfowl Lake is an amazing 120 km cycle along the Icefields Parkway. The route takes you over Bow Summit with an opportunity for a rest stop at Peyto Lake (likely one of the most photographed lakes in Canada). This ride is recommended for expert cyclist comfortable with riding in the shoulder for long distances.

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Highwood Pass: Through Route to Longview; Gate to Gate to Gate; Kananaskis (North Gate) to Summit; Longview to Summit; South Gate to Summit…the options are endless

Highwood Summit – June 6, 2019 Is that snow??!!

Note: As of June 3, 2021 the road surface is not as good as in past years. For the North gate to Summit route there are sections of rough pavement as well as a few herds of mountain sheep to contend with on your swift descent. Our current recommendation, is to do this route from the South gate to the Summit as the road is in better condition. On Sunday, June 12, 2021 there were cyclists reporting that it was snowing at the summit.

Through Route to Longview – Ride Statistics

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Ride Difficulty Rating: Expert , also an expert level of logistics and planning required!!

Distance: 98.9 km…darn, just shy of a metric century ride

Estimated time: 5 hours based on cycling speed of 20 km/hr, but you might be quite a bit faster because there is quite a long descent on this route.

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Nanton to Chain Lakes – More Details Coming Soon

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Ride Statistics

Ride Difficulty Rating: Intermediate

Distance: 58.5 km

Estimated time: 3 hours assuming 20 km/hr

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Horse Creek Road, Grand Valley Road Loop

Big Sky country! Riding up Horse Creek Road.

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Ride Statistics

Ride Difficulty Rating: Beginner

Distance: 42.7 km

Estimated time: About 2 hours based on cycling speed of 20 km/hr

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Springbank

Cycling up Range Road 32 from the river valley. Feb 25, 2016!! Yes, you read that correctly, February road cycling is a rare treat.

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Ride Statistics

Ride Difficulty Rating: Beginner

Distance: 38.1 Km

Estimated time: 1 hour and 45 minutes based on cycling speed of 20 km/hr

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Century Ride from Turner Valley

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Update: until ~June 6, 2021 there is construction (repaving) of the road from Black Diamond to Longview so we would recommend avoiding this route for the next few days. But…after that, it will be a treat to cycle this section of new pavement. It does look like they are widening the shoulder so hopefully that will result in a safer cycling experience.

Ride Statistics

Ride Difficulty Rating: Intermediate

Distance: 101.7 km (or round it to 100 km! and call it a century ride)

Expected time: 5 hours based on 20 km / hour average cycling time

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Madden-Water Valley-Cremona (Short Version)

Cycling quiet country Twp Road 292 towards the Water Valley Golf Course on a beautiful summer day. This cyclist is practising safe cycling by wearing a brightly coloured jersey and cycling close to the shoulder.

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Ride Statistics

Ride Difficulty Rating – Intermediate

Distance – 58.7 km

Elevation Gain – 470 km

Maximum Grade – Uphill grade 3.3% at km 19.3 , downhill grade 3.2% at km 52.6 just before you turn south off Twp Rd 292 onto RR 35

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Madden to Dog Pound

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Ride Statistics

Ride Difficulty Rating – Beginner

Distance – 26.4 km

Elevation Gain –190 m

Maximum Grade – Uphill grade of 2.2% early in the ride and downhill of 2.5% late in the ride (Perfect for Beginners!)

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Madden – Water Valley – Cremona

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Ride Statistics

Ride Difficulty Rating – Intermediate

Distance – 72.3 km

Estimated cycling time: Just over 3.5 hours based on an average 20 km/hr speed

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Sundre to Bearberry

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Heading South on the 584. A nice long smooth downhill stretch.

The BearBerry Community Hall. This is real ranch country and the General Store, which is right next door to the Community Hall, is popular with the motorcycle crowd.

Ride Statistics

Ride Difficulty Rating: Intermediate due to the distance

Distance: 84.3 km

Estimated time: 4 hours and 15 minutes based on cycling speed of 20 km/hr

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Legacy Trail – Canmore to Banff with Vermillion Lakes extension Out and Back

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The Legacy Trail is part of The Great Trail (previously called the Trans Canada Trail). It is well marked and a dedicated pathway for non-motorized modes of travel between Banff and Canmore. The trail is used by Olympic calibre roller skiers, distance runners/walkers/wheel chair athletes and cyclists of all abilities. You will note the ‘Be Kind to Slower Cyclist’ signs along the route. This past year we have noticed the addition of Max 20 km/hr speed signs.

Ride Statistics

Ride Difficulty Rating – Beginner

Distance – 55.5 km (a shorter option at only 44 km is to exclude the Vermillion Lake extension and turnaround at Banff)

Estimated cycling time – 2.75 hours if you go all the way to Vermillion Lakes, 2 hours if not. Based on 20 km/hr cycling speed.

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Road to Nepal

Have a serious bee allergy? There are many bee hive boxes at spots along this route.

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Ride Statistics

Ride Difficulty Rating – Intermediate

Distance – 52.7 Km pan handle loop

Estimated Cycling time – 3.5 hours

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Allen Bill to Forget me not Pond

This out and back ride starts at Allen Bill.

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Ride Statistics

Ride Difficulty Rating – Intermediate due to the steep grades…not due to distance

Distance – 38.3 Km out and back

Estimated cycling time – 2 hours

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Banff to Lake Louise

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Summer/Fall 2021: Part of this route is closed to motor vehicle traffic this year which provides a unique opportunity to cycle the Bow Valley Parkway without any motor vehicle traffic. Check the Parks Canada website before heading out. As of June 25, 2021 there is some construction just where the road splits for the second time at ~km 36 past Castle Junction towards Lake Louise.

Ride Statistics

Ride Difficulty Rating – Beginner or Intermediate. The majority of this ride has grades less than 2%, and as an out and back you can always turn back at any point. It is a nice gradual uphill ride but just 5 km out from Lake Louise there is a steep uphill grade to the turn off to Lake Louise, then a steep downhill grade into town.

Distance – 111 km out and back

Estimated cycling time – 5.5 hours assuming 20 km/hr

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Mountain View – Bearspaw to Cochrane Out and Back

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Route with Cochrane Hill extension

Ride Statistics

Ride Difficulty Rating – Beginner for shorter route, Intermediate with add on.

Distance – 44.1 Km out and back (with short loop near the end), 52.3 km with Cochrane hill alternative extension for Intermediate and Expert riders

Estimated cycling duration – Just over 2 hours…

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Big Hill Springs Out and Back

Look at that Alberta sky!!! June, 2020 Bearspaw Rd

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Note: as of July 23, 2021 the Big Hill Springs park is still closed. I believe this may be temporary due to Covid…fingers crossed. Another development is that there is an active wellsite on Lochend Road as of July 23 which means that there is significantly more truck traffic on Lochend Road. I cycled part of Lochend Road ~7pm on a Tuesday evening recently and there was very heavy traffic. For this reason, use caution on this route for the next few weeks or choose another route for now.