Things to do in Canmore

Canmore sits 26 km and about 20 minutes from Banff along the Trans-Canada Highway, but it lies outside Banff National Park, so no Parks Canada pass is needed to stay here or drive around town. With roughly 15,900 residents at 1,309 m elevation, it has a working-town feel rather than a resort one, and accommodation generally runs cheaper than Banff, especially outside July and August.

The Three Sisters peaks dominate the skyline south of downtown; the full profile of the mountain is covered on our Three Sisters page. The Canmore Nordic Centre, built for the 1988 Winter Olympics, still runs as a public trail network for hiking, mountain biking and cross-country skiing.

Grotto Canyon, a short drive out of town, makes an easy add-on outing detailed separately on our Grotto Canyon page.