Weekend Away in Alberta
Weekend getaways are some of the most anticipated and dare we say, magical times that help us get through the humdrum of every day life, but most folks may think of this time as too short to do anything more adventurous than make a quick visit to an accessible location. In all fairness planning, packing, and traveling to a destination as distant as Alberta for just a few short days is quite a task and may appear to be too much trouble for too little benefit. But trust us when we say that some trips, no matter how short, can refresh and rejuvenate in a way that makes you feel as though you weren’t just gone for a weekend, but an entire month! A weekend in Calgary with a visit to Banff National Park and its famed lakes, Moraine Lake and Lake Louise, can do just that!
Take a quick look at our Calgary itinerary if you need some help getting started with planning your weekend trip and bringing this weekend trip idea to life!
Arriving in Calgary, a city in the Alberta province of Canada, in early June was a special treat. The weather was a perfect 75 °F and sunny and, unbeknownst to us prior to arrival, the days were 17 hours long! We were warned by the locals that the weather could be quite changeable in the Alberta region swinging from hot and dry days to wet, stormy, freezing days even in the summer. Fortunately for us the glorious weather held up.
Our initial plan for the weekend was to explore Calgary, which we did and found the city to be delightfully clean, modern and elegant, then to proceed to Banff National Park to take in the iconic Lake Louise, however a quick search of the area revealed a myriad of interesting sites and things to do. So we took off to one such destination; the Drumheller Badlands, on our first full day in Alberta.
Drumheller Badlands
If you’ve never heard of Drumheller then you’re in good company, because neither had we until we came across a website enticing us to come see the largest dinosaur in the world. Being forever 10 years old at heart, we immediately set off without a clear itinerary and minimal expectations and happily we were not disappointed.
During the 1.5 hour drive from Calgary to Drumheller we passed rolling hill upon rolling hill of verdant green scenery stretched as far as the eye could see beneath the ever-shifting jewel blues of a perfect summer sky. This went on for a while until we started worrying that we may have inadvertently driven into that old-school Windows XP wallpaper!
Badlands is really such an unfortunate and uninviting way to name what actually turned out to be very unique and otherworldly landscape. “Badlands” simply means that an area has a particularly dry climate, softer rocks, and is prone to erosion. These factors tend to combine together to produce unreal landscapes featuring canyons, valleys, and outlandish rock formations.
You could easily spend an entire weekend exploring the city and the badlands. Drumheller itself is fairly small and would probably take no more than a half day to explore, but it could be an all day adventure if you’re a little out of shape and decide to take on on the 106-stair climb into the the humongous dinosaur’s mouth!
If you’re not up for that level of activity there’s still plenty to see and do that is accessible by car. You could easily fill your days by driving the Hoodoo Trail or the Dinosaur Trail, visiting Orkney View Point or Dinosaur Provincial Park, or even just lounging in the parking lot overlooking Horsethief Canyon.
Since we had allotted only time enough for Banff National Park on this weekend trip but wanted desperately to see the Badlands, we spent only one extremely long day climbing the hoodoos, seeing the Drumheller Dinosaur and exploring Horsethief Canyon.
It may seem like a short time to do all this, but all of these sites were within short driving distance of each other and were without heavy tourist traffic making it easy to get from one location to the next. We were left amazed by all the varied and beautiful hiking available so close to Calgary.
Our only regret was not having more time to delve further into Horsethief Canyon for a more lengthy hike into all the nooks and crannies, but we had to save some energy for the main focus of the trip!
Banff National Park
Located approximately 1.5 hours away from Calgary, Banff National Park is home to the iconic lakes Louise and Moraine and holds the honor of being Canada’s first National Park. We wouldn’t go as far as to say everyone knows about this place, but it may not be too far fetched to say that most people have probably had some type of exposure to it given that it’s reputed to be one of the most romantic and therefore most photographed places in the world. Even though we weren’t there for romance, we’re more the push-your-partner-in-the-lake crew than the dinner- by-the-lake-in-candlelight types, we definitely felt the magic of the place.
Our drive to the park from Calgary to the park was surprisingly flat and the route was fairly direct using the Trans-Canada highway. We didn’t begin to appreciate that we were heading into the mountains until we were almost at the park itself. After paying the entrance fee, we drove to the town of Banff passing by the quaint lodgings and eateries and at last we were captivated by our first real up-close glimpse of the Canadian Rockies!
We knew ahead of time that driving directly to Lake Louise was possible, but that parking would be almost impossible during the weekend so we opted to take the free shuttle which turned out to be the very best way to do this. It would’ve been hard to gape, point, and clap, and generally make a spectacle of ourselves if we were driving. We may have gotten a few less than favorable looks, but these were in the minority given that most of the people we encountered were generally welcoming and good-natured.
As the shuttle made its way to Lake Louise we were steadily climbing uphill and could see little streams running alongside the roadway. The streams themselves may not seem significant, but if you’re observant the color of these streams provide the first clue of what you will experience when you arrive at the lake.
Because Moraine Lake and Lake Louise are glacial lakes, sediment from snow melt and run off create a uniquely bright and mesmerizing hue that can only be seen for a brief time. These sediments eventually settle to the bottom of the lakes and the color fades leaving the lakes a darker, duskier, but still inviting color-although not the palette that draws the masses. We could see a steady, pale blue, flow of water in the streams along the road letting us know that we had arrived to Banff National Park at just about the perfect time!
Maybe it was conceived intentionally to be a tease but the walkway from the shuttle drop off to Lake Louise was winding and forested and did not allow any view of the lake until, turning one final corner we simply arrived and there, before us, was a view that left us stunned and speechless. Nestled among tall, jagged, snow spangled mountains, Lake Louise sat in all it’s SPARKLING turquoise glory!
Boardwalks along the lake shore provided plenty of close access to the water for picture taking, dipping our feet (because we weren’t daring enough to jump into freezing water being miles away from dry clothes), and watching all the canoes and kayaks lazily floating along this lake. We could’ve easily spent a week hiking around, kayaking, canoeing or paddle boarding around this lake especially now knowing that there were hotels right on the shore of the lake. Lacking time to engage in these activities did not diminish our experience though as we did have one more much anticipated stop. And so, after a satisfying hour at the Lake Louise, we took another shuttle to Moraine Lake.
Moraine Lake, very similar to but also very different in so many ways from its sister lake, was even more eye-popping featuring an even more captivating turquoise color.
Unlike Lake Louise which is closely nestled between the mountains and is often shadowed by the tall peaks surrounding it, Moraine Lake sits more at the foot of the peaks that border it allowing more sunlight which equates to endless glittering blue waters.
Unable to resist the unparalleled views of this less developed more rugged waterscape, we spent the rest of our time here taking too many pictures, hiking around, skipping rocks and being unabashedly jealous of the lucky visitors that had ample time to kayak and canoe this dreamscape.
We really didn’t know what to expect on arrival to Calgary or even if we’d be able to get much done with the limited time we had, but we were able to make an impromptu visit to landforms we didn’t even know existed in Canada (Drumheller) and to check off a bucket list item (Banff)! Not bad for a four day weekend in Alberta wouldn’t you say?
Check out some of our favorite pics from this trip here!
Check out our YouTube video !
