Kananaskis, Alberta

Encyclopedia : K : KA : KAN : Kananaskis, Alberta

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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. The area was established by the 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.

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

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).

Demograpgics

No incorporated communities are located in Kananasks[Kananaskis Improvement District] - Alberta Municipal Affairs. 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 [Kananaskis Community Profile] - Statistics Canada. 2002. 2001 Community Profiles. Released June 27, 2002. Last modified: 2005-11-30. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 93F0053XIE

Photo gallery

Image:View from Kananaskis Village.jpg|View from Kananaskis Village Image:Skiing kananaskis 023.jpg|Kananaskis Country Image:Skiing kananaskis 049.jpg|Kananaskis Country Image:Skiing kananaskis 018.jpg|Cross-country skiing in Kananaskis

Trivia

In June 2002, the area hosted the 28th G8 summit. Kananaskis Country has also been used as a filming location for beaver documentaries.

See also

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

References

External links

• [Kananaskis Country]

 

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