PlanetSKI’s Autumn Adventures in Canada Take to the Road

4th September 2026

Last modified on October 14th, 2026

We’re leaving Calgary in Alberta and heading where PlanetSKI belongs. Into the mountains.
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DAY TWO

We started, once again, with breakfast at the Miner’s Café on Nordegg where we planned our day ahead.

Miner’s Cafe, Nordegg, Alberta. Image © PlanetSKI.

Crescent Falls, Lake Fish and then a visit to the Nordegg Discovery Centre emerged as the plan.

Crescent Falls is easy to access, the opposite of our 5.5 hour and 12.2km hike up the All Stones Trail of yesterday (see Day One below).

This was a gentle stroll of 1km or so to reach the Falls.

Crescent Falls near Nordegg, Alberta. Image © PlanetSKI.

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Nearby is the Bighorn Look Out Post with some spectacular views of the canyon.

Crescent Falls near Nordegg, Alberta. Image © PlanetSKI.

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On the way back to visit the Noredegg Discovery Centre and learn about the mining history of the town we paused at Lake Fish for a gentle stroll around its shores.

It was, quite simply, stunning.

Canada at its finest.

Lake Fish near Nordegg, Alberta. Image © PlanetSKI.

I was able to put my newly acquired Montane waterproof hiking gear through its paces as the rain began to fall.

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Then it was time for a history lesson at the Nordegg Discovery Centre.

Nordegg Discovery Centre, Alberta. Image © PlanetSKI.

Now, the one thing I miss in Canada is ‘History’.

Us Europeans take it for granted and don’t think twice as we go through an English village and pass by a 13th century church.

Or go to a great alpine town – Innsbruck Aosta, Briancon – and see the past still very much in the present.

We can feel the present shaped by a long distant past – not so in Canada.

The country as we know it today was only formed in 1867, just a few generations back.

Earlier this summer PlanetSKI was in Athens – the birthplace of Western Civilization:

PlanetSKI in the summer: 72-hours in Athens

History is everywhere in Europe, but rather hard to find in North America, so I jump at the chance to experience it when the opportunity presents itself.

The mine in Nordegg opened in 1909.

It grew into a well-established community with schools, churches, hotels banks barbers shops, general stores, laundry, a curling club for the winter and a golf course for the summer.

However in 1947 oil was discovered in Alberta and it soon took over from coal as a source of energy.

The mine at Nordegg closed in 1955 as diesel replaced coal to power the railway engines.

The coal briquettes that powered the steam trains were simply no longer needed.

Almost overnight Nordegg turned into a ghost town as the mine closed and everyone packed up and left.

Nordegg now has one of Canada’s largest industrial heritage sites, and the Discovery Centre commemorates that past.

PlanetSKI’s Autumn Alberta road trip. Image © PlanetSKI

The mine itself has stood abandoned since the mid-1950s.

It is possible to visit the mine, but only on a guided tour at two specified times of the day – 10am and 2pm.

We had missed both.

The tours cover the upper and lower mines.

As a National and Provincial Historic Site the colliery has been declared as “historically significant” to Albertans and Canadians.

PlanetSKI will be back.

PlanetSKI’s Autumn Alberta road trip. Image © PlanetSKI

Now, you may be wondering what Nordegg and its surrounding area is like in the long winter months.

Well, it is on a mission to develop winter tourism.

On offer is:

Snowmobiling
Cross-country skiing
Ice climbing
Winter biking
Ice fishing
The ice bubbles in Abraham Lake

From late-January to early March windy conditions create a polished ice surface which reveal gas bubbles frozen in the ice below.

The bubbles are created by methane gas that rises up from the lake bed as organic matter, such as aquatic plants and leaves, decompose.

The stunning mountain scenery adds to the beauty of the natural phenomenon and seeing them is apparently an adventure.

There’s another reason to make a return visit to Nordegg, if one were needed.

On PlanetSKI’s next move we are really going back in time.

Around 240 million years ago when dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

We are visiting the Dinosaur Provincial Park that is a 2-hour drive to the east of Calgary.

The dinosaurs roamed Earth for about 165 million years until they went extinct 66 million years ago.

The Dinosaur Provincial Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and contains the highest concentration of discovered dinosaur bones of anywhere in the world.

150 complete skeletons have been extracted.

Most are in museums around the world.

Do check back for what should be a fascinating visit…

DAY ONE

We’ve been in Calgary and its surrounding area for the past few days.

Getting over jet-lag and sampling what the city, that most people by-pass, has to offer.

It is rather more than most think:

PlanetSKI is back in Canada!

A road trip in Canada is one of life’s great experiences if you like traveling and mountains.

We’re heading past Banff and driving part of the Icefields Parkway – one of the greatest mountain roads of them all.

We have driven it in the winter a few times.

Icefields Parkway, Lake Louise to Jasper. Image Image © PlanetSKI

Now it is time for a late summer/early autumn drive.

PlanetSKI’s Autumn Alberta road trip. Image © PlanetSKI

We are not doing the full length of the Icefields Parkway to Jasper.

We are taking a right turn about a third of the way along it onto Highway 11 and heading off the tourist route.

We staying a few days in Nordegg.

Where?

It is pretty much off-the-radar for international visitors, and that is exactly why we are here:

PlanetSKI’s Autumn Alberta road trip. Image © PlanetSKI

This what the Lonely Planet Guidebook has to say:

“The small town of Nordegg doesn’t offer much beyond fuel, food and an insight into the area’s coal mining history.

“But really what more do you want when the mountains are calling?”

Spot on.

This is Main Street.

PlanetSKI’s Autumn Alberta road trip. Image © PlanetSKI

Nordegg has one coffee shop, one restaurant/bar, one general store and two petrol pumps.

Rather surprisingly there is a golf course, but it was designed when the town was a mining town – more of that later.

It also has the Shunda Creek Hostel.

Our home for three days.

PlanetSKI’s Autumn Alberta road trip. Image © PlanetSKI

First up breakfast at the Miner’s Cafe.

PlanetSKI’s Autumn Alberta road trip. Image © PlanetSKI

Who says competition produces the best results?

We planned our day’s hike sipping coffee before setting off to the All Stones Trail.

This is the view from the start looking over Abraham Lake.

It begins steeply and carries on so.

But the views keep you going.

2kms of steep terrain to start with, but the tree roots acted like steps and it rather resembled walking up a rather steep and wobbly staircase.

When hiking in Canada there is a constant, and hopefully unseen, threat – bears.

The area is home to both black and grizzly bears.

Here is the official advice:

Should you encounter a bear the advice is to stop, stay calm and be quiet.

Do not make any sudden movements or noises and avoid eye contact.

In case of attack then stay calm as bears often make a bluff attack charging as a perceived threat and breaking off at the last moment.

If you are knocked to the ground then roll on to you stomach and lock your fingers behind the back of your neck.

If you are turned over then roll back on to your stomach.

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It is actually £80 for a pack of two bear-sprays.

The video operator, Mrs Cove, needed one too.

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Here’s a couple more views on the All Stones Trail with Lake Abraham left long behind:

The hike was 12.2kms and took us 5 and half hours.

Tomorrow we are doing a more gentle hike to the Crescent Falls then walking round the wonderfully named, Lake Fish.

Before visiting the Nordegg Discovery Centre to find out about the history of Nordegg.

Specifically its coal mining history.

The mine opened in 1909 and closed in 1955 as oil replaced coal.

It is one of Canada’s largest industrial heritage sites.

It has stood abandoned since the mid-1950s.

The coal mine and the town of Nordegg thrived in the first half of the 20th century until trains switched from coal briquettes to diesel.

Almost overnight Nordegg turned into a ghost town as the mine closed and everyone left.

Do check back…

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