2 Best Sights in Canmore and Kananaskis Country, Alberta

At 2,227 meters (7,310 ft), this high mountain pass along Highway 40 is the highest paved road pass in Canada. It's a beautiful driving route with stunning mountain scenery and superlative hiking trails and other sites just off the top of the pass. Since the pass is located right at the tree line, this is one of the most accessible high alpine areas in the Rockies. Near the summit, you'll find the Highwood Meadows Trail, a 0.6-km (0.4-mile) accessible interpretive trail that will take you through a fragile alpine meadow. This road over Highwood Pass is closed to motor vehicles from December through mid-June. Early June is a great time for cyclists to enjoy the route without the worry of encountering motor vehicles. Watch for elk, deer, moose, bighorn sheep, grizzly and black bears as you traverse this pass.  

The Smith-Dorrien/Spray Trail (Hwy. 742) connects the Town of Canmore with Peter Lougheed Provincial Park and is the only road through Spray Valley Provincial Park. On the Canmore end, it is also known as Spray Lakes Road. Though this 60-kilometer (37-mile) unpaved road is featured on a dangerous roads website, you don't need a special kind of vehicle to traverse it. The road is dusty in summer and there are potholes, but the views are lovely, especially those of Mount Assiniboine, which is the highest peak in the Southern Continental Ranges of the Canadian Rockies. The pyramidal-shaped mountain has sometimes been called the "Matterhorn of the Rockies." The road's highest point is the Smith-Dorrien Pass, at 1,905 meters (6,250 feet) above sea level.