Nordegg, Alberta’s 3rd mountain destination
When we were searching for ways to spend a getaway with my family in the Rockies. We were done with using Canmore as the base since it does not give any advantage when you want to go all the way to Icefields. Neither is it easy on money, so thats when we stumbled upon Nordegg. This place is less touristy but has so much to give.
We started our 3 day itinerary from Calgary to Canmore. We visited the Canmore engine bridge in downtown. This provides a nice view of the surrounding mountains and also of the beautiful Bow River that flows through here. There is paved path that you can walk along the bow river and also tour Canmore downtown for all it offers.
We clicked a bunch of pics, ate lunch at Lake Minnewanka and then headed straight to Banff Gondola. My husband and I had seen the Gondola in Christmas, now was the time to see in fresh summer. I personally liked it in Christmas more with snow ladden mountains and chilling cold air. The vibe is totally different. My family enjoyed the Gondola experience and the broadwalk 5000 feet above. It was a one of a kind experience for them.
After all this we decided to go to our Nordegg airbnb via Lake Louise. We got some yummy banana bread at the lake louise grocery store and were happy and merry to reach our airbnb. But at the Lake Louise checkpost we learned that there has been a mud slide on Highway 93 closer to Saskatchewan 11 and there is no way from Lake Louise to Nordegg. That was a bummer and lesson lerant always check the 511 webpage before planning any sort of rockies itinierary.
So we took a u turn and went back home at Calgary to spend the night. The next day we started early from via Highway 2 and reached Bowden Sun maze farm. Here the sunflowers were in full blook in August. Its a decent farm with ample photo ops and play area. We did u pick of vegetables as well like zucchini, carrots, beans, potatoes, etc. This was a super fun time.
Post that we drove to Helen Hunley Park and ate our lunch. The picnic spot and restrooms are pretty clean. We also took some groceries from Rocky Mountain House as thats the only place to get some before you head to Nordegg. Its an hour away from Nordegg so go prepared. Post that we relaxed for that evening at our Airbnb, up to date this was the best location for an Airbnb. The views of the mountains and the colors of sunrise and sunset were so mesmerizing.
The next day we started with an awesome sunrise view right from our balcony. We packed our lunches and headed over to Abraham lake viewpoints. The ice bubbles view point is epic. I have’nt been there in winter(Though I plan to!) but the view of the surrounding area and the water was way more worth it than banff itself.
View from our airbnb.
From there we drove to Icefields Parkway. Our reservation was for 12PM, so before that we ate our lunches at rooftop of the Parkway building. You will get a clear view of the Athabasca Glacier from here. My family loved the excursion. They take you in a bus to a point where they you travel in one of those special vehicles made to ride on top of a glacier. From there its a 20 minutes ride to the glacier. On reaching the glacier, they have merely 30 minutes to walk , take pictures and enjoy. My family had a fun time there. The pictures tell the complete story. Post that the same bus takes you to the skywalk which is 10 minutes from the Glacier. But in honest opinion , once you are done with Glacier , skywalk seems a moo point.
From there we started our way back to home. In between you have these stops where you can relax and enjoy by a nearby stream and my family did the same. We got down and immersed our feets in cold ice water flowing through these streams. These places are so good for photo op. Post that we went back to enjoy and play indoor in our airbnb. I plan to go again to Nordegg since I believe there is so much more to cover. Will definitely post more hiking stuff, the next time I go.
