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Alberta Parks installs new hiker-biker only campgrounds in Kananaskis

“They were just areas where folks arriving under their own steam, cycling or walking, could pitch a tent for a night or two for a reasonable fee.”
Spray Lakes
A storm blows across the Spray Lake Reservoir in Kananaskis Country on June 5. (Tyler Klinkhammer/The Cochrane Eagle)

KANANASKIS – Self-propelled explorers heading into Kananaskis Country will find new accommodations this summer as several new campsites have been installed exclusively for hikers and cyclists.

Alberta Parks installed the new sites in the Smith-Dorrien corridor along the Spray Lakes Reservoir due to the long-distance use of the area as a part of the high Rockies and Great Divide trails.

The new camping areas can be found at the Spray West Campground, Buller Pond Day Use Area, Sawmill Trail Day Use Area and the Pocaterra Overflow Campground.

Jeff Gruttz, one of the major advocates for the installations, said the idea was born more than 20 years ago in 1998.

Gruttz is the former chair and board member of the Friends of Kananaskis, and a current member of the Alberta Bicycle Association Recreation and Transportation Committee and has been involved with bicycle advocacy for many years.

Gruttz was cycling the Oregon coast when he first came across the unique campgrounds and thought they would make a great addition to Kananaskis’ popular trail systems.

“There were places and campgrounds labelled as hiker-biker sites, where they’re right up front, you don’t have to travel all the way to the back of the campsite,” he said. “They were just areas where folks arriving under their own steam, cycling or walking, could pitch a tent for a night or two for a reasonable fee.”

Gruttz said he brought the idea for similar sites in K-Country to the Kananaskis Trails Advisory Group shortly after his trip in 1998.

“It’s taken until now to finally get them established, so I’ve been lobbying for this for a very long time,” Gruttz said.

He noted there are similar sites elsewhere in the Rocky Mountains, in Jasper National Park, Whistler and along the Great Divide Trail.

The newly installed sites are additions to existing campgrounds and day-use areas.

Parks had to clear ground for camping areas, install pay and registration kiosks, informational signage and bear-proof food storage units.

The trail system connecting the sites is long, and can be overwhelming for many who try to tackle it, Gruttz explained.

“Some people can cycle that all in one day, but the intent was to get more people out using the High Rockies Trail, particularly family groups with small kids, to cite campsites along the way where they can break the trip up and have a great outdoor experience,” he said.

Gruttz said without the intermittent camping areas along the route, the alternative for many of the explorers along this trail system would “likely be illegal bush camping.”

The installation of the campsites furthers the “legitimacy” of self-propelled, low-impact exploration and helps cut down on instances of illegal random camping activities.

“You don’t have to feel you’re camping illegally – You get to see the countryside at your own pace and not through the windows of a motor vehicle,” he said. “You can take it at your own pace and be assured that you will have a place to pitch your tent at the end of the day.”

The new sites have a no-turn-away policy for hikers and cyclists, which means you will be guaranteed a spot if you arrive by means outside of a motor vehicle.

With traffic in Kananaskis Country increasing every year, the need to promote low-impact forms of exploration is only growing more urgent.

In 2020, the popular visitor area had an estimated 5.394 million people after having roughly 4.1 million people visit in 2019. From 2015 to 2018, Kananaskis Country averaged between 3.59 million and 3.79 million visitors a year.

As parking lots overflow with cars, situations can become dangerous along the remote roadways of the area.

“As we knew from last summer, it’s going to be more of the same, if not greater volumes this summer. More people are getting out and discovering the outdoors. Particularly in COVID times, of course, travelling in family groups instead of carpooling and seniors' former bus trips. They’re all having to travel in private automobiles, too. There’s more traffic, there’s far more congestion at trailheads with cars filling up parking lots and parking on the road. That’s pretty dangerous,” he said.

Gruttz said he expects the situation to continue in that direction.

“There will be more people appreciating the great outdoor resources the province and the country has, and a great way to do that is to leave the car in a municipality somewhere or even start the experience from the doorstep and bicycle.”


Estimated number of visits to Kananaskis Country

  • 2015: 3,597,678
  • 2016: 3,706,633
  • 2017: 3,733,772
  • 2018: 3,793,782
  • 2019: 4,103,965
  • 2020: 5,394,168
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