Little Elbow Camping and Recreation Area

One of the best features of Alberta are the incredible skies. We get amazing sunsets as you can see from the background of my profile and we sometimes get the Northern Lights. For those of you who have no clue where Alberta is, you might be American, so it may come as a big surprise that Alberta is due north of Big Sky Country, Montana. Alberta is just as pretty and round about twice the size of Montana. We also have nice skies.

We have lots of rocks here in Alberta, they don't call them the rocky mountains for nothing. The Elbow river would flood every spring and the river changes course, leaving a field of rocks. While hiking through the area we kept an eye out for fossils but found nothing of interest.

There are many trails to explore in the Elbow River Recreation area. This is a provincial park, in Kananaskis, Alberta and one needs a park pass to enter. It's inexpensive and close to Calgary so most nature lovers would have it. An Albertan secret is to hang out in Kananaskis and let the crowds of tourists go to Banff, which is just next door, slightly further and far more on the beaten path.

The trail here isn't well marked but it's hard to get lost. We just followed the river down and back. There are logs to cross but also one bridge. People ford the river on horseback. These photos were taken in September and it would have wrecked our evening if we fell into the frigid mountain water.

The Elbow River eventually meets with the Bow river in Calgary. It then meets with the Saskatchewan River and goes into lake Winnipeg which then becomes the Nelson River and eventually makes its way to Hudson Bay on the other side of the continent. Here the water is still pristine, there is no industry upstream except for the occasional forestry.

We are looking downstream towards Calgary. I've climbed the hills or mountains in the photo but today we decided to keep it simple and walk along the river. During the day we went hiking somewhere else in the mountains and took the long way here on one of our favourite backcountry roads. The Powderface trail, which would be closed during the winter as it is unmaintained.

Did I say we went camping? There are some very portable hiking chairs and our backcountry tent. When we camp, we like to camp light but I had a few pallets to burn and the car is 50 meters away. We chose a site that was relatively isolated and perfect considering it was the September long weekend and we booked a month before. Great campsites fill up fast and this one was a hidden gem. There are probably a hundred campsites in the area and even some places where you can camp with your horses.

While hiking we found this leg, there are cows here, deer, elk, moose and horses. If I had to guess I would say it's a small horse leg because the toes are not split but I'm no expert. Do any of you know who this leg may have belonged to?

The Elbow falls are a short drive downstream from the Little Elbow Recreation area. They're a popular day trip and barbeque place for families. All in all this is a great place to explore.

Thanks for reading and have a nice weekend!

[//]:# ([//]:# (!worldmappin 50.79141 lat -114.86245 long Little Elbow Provincial Recreation Area d3scr))