Canada's National Parks and Extreme Activities
Many popular "extreme" activities are only available outside the national parks. This is because the mandate of Canada's national parks is to preserve and protect the parks for the enjoyment of all. This has been interpreted as limiting or banning certain activities which are considered to be damaging to the environment and/or the enjoyment of park visitors, such as hunting, heli-skiing, heli-hiking, and off-road vehicles (e.g. ATVs, snowmobiles). Even those who are licenced to operate within the park, such as climbing guides and dogsled operators, must operate within stringent park guidelines or risk losing their licences. As a result, most extreme tour operators in the Rockies operate outside of the mountain parks.
Some extreme tour operators try to give the impression that they are inside one of the mountain parks, even using the words "Banff" or "Jasper" prominently in their promotional materials or domain names, but in fact they operate outside the park boundaries. The shuttle ride that starts your trip is taking you outside the park.
A traditional activity permitted within the parks which people don't think of as "extreme" (but perhaps should!) is day-long or overnight horseback trail ride with a licensed park operator, such as Holiday on Horseback, Brewster, and Timberline Tours in Banff National Park, or Alpine Stables in Waterton. In the winter, you can go dogsledding in the Lake Louise area with Kingmik Dog Sled Tours.
An oar-powered float trip down the Bow River, starting near Tunnel Mountain in Banff, is offered by Rocky Mountain Raft Tours.
Canoe (and sometimes kayak) rentals are available at a number of spots in the national parks. In Banff, Blue Canoe rents canoes and kayaks at their dock on the Bow River in the Banff townsite. You can also rent a canoe on Lake Louise, Emerald Lake, and Moraine Lake in Banff National Park, while canoe and kayak rentals are available on Maligne Lake in Jasper.
Motorized boats (aside from tour boats) are only allowed on Lake Minnewanka, in Banff, where you can rent an aluminum fishing boat to fish or just explore.
Lake Minnewanka Boat Tours offers a cruise on Lake Minnewanka to Devil's Gap,and Maligne Tours cruises to Spirit Island in Jasper National Park. Waterton Inter-Nation Shoreline Cruise Co. offers boat cruises to the USA which also provides access to some great hiking trails in Glacier National Park.
Outside the National Parks
Bobsleigh
In winter, visit Calgary to plunge down Canada Olympic Park's Olympic bobsleigh track at speeds up to 120 km/h (75 mph). An experienced driver makes the exciting 60-second ride safe.
Caving
In the Canmore, Alberta area (just east of Banff National Park's boundary), you can experience guided caving in a "wild cave"--one without lights or handrails. Expect to do some crawling and squeezing.
Dog Sledding
With a pedigree that goes back well before European settlement, dog sledding is probably the oldest winter recreation in Canada! It's a unique way to experience the mountains in winter. You can enjoy the ride as a passenger, or learn how to "mush" a dog team. Some tour operators even offer moonlight runs and overnight trips.
Cold Fire Creek Dogsledding is based in Valemount, B.C., about 120 km west of Jasper, Alberta. Howling Dog Tours, Snowy Owl Sled Dog Tours, and Mad Dogs and Englishmen Expeditions do dog sled trips out of Canmore, Alberta, 25 km east of the town of Banff. Crazy Dog Sled Tours is based in the remote area of Beaver Mines, Alberta, roughly 60 km NW of Waterton Lakes National Park.
Downhill Mountain Biking
Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, which is a ski hill in winter, offers mountain biking in summer; the mountain biking season opens in mid-May.
Kicking Horse Mountain Resort, near Golden, British Columbia, also offers mountain biking using its ski lift.
Hang-gliding and Para-sailing
There is a well-known hang-gliding operation (Muller Wind Sports) in Cochrane, not far from Calgary. They also teach para-gliding and kiting.
Heli-hiking, Heli-skiing, Helicopter Tours
There is at least one heli-hiking operator (Alpine Helicopter) based in Canmore, Alberta (near Banff). Note that recreational and tourism flights are not permitted in the national parks, but helicopters do have access to mountain areas outside the park boundaries.
Icefield Helicopter Tours is based in the Nordegg, Alberta area (Cline River Heliport), roughly 60 km southeast of the Columbia Icefields. They offer helicopter tours, heli-hiking, and heli-skiing.
Canadian Mountain Holidays offers heli-hiking based at a number of lodges in British Columbia, in addition to their better-known heli-skiing operations. They also offer mountaineering and rock climbing.
Horseback Riding
Several horseback guiding & outfitting operations are based in Kananaskis Country, east and south of Banff National Park. Many offer both day rides and overnight trips. See Anchor D Guiding and Outfitting, Boundary Ranch, Brewster Adventures (overnight trips only in Kananaskis), Rafter 6 Ranch Resort for details.
Off-Road Vehicles (ATVs, Snowmobiles)
Awesome All-Season Adventures has ATV tours which are based in Beaverfoot Lodge, B.C., just west of the Yoho National Park boundary. They also have snowmobile tours in winter. They will pick up guests from the Banff area. Toby Creek Adventures also offers ATV and snowmobile tours from their Panorama, B.C.-area base, and Powder Hound's Snowmobile Tours is based in Kimberley, B.C. Great Canadian Snowmbobile Tours is based in Revelstoke, B.C. In Golden, B.C., snowmobile tours are offered by Kinbasket Adventures, Rocky Mountain Riders, and White'n'Wild Adventures (the winter operations of Wet'n'Wild).
Jasper Snowmobile Tours operates in the Hinton area (just east of Jasper National Park's eastern boundary) and also in the Valemount, B.C. area. Wild Kakwa Safari offers ATV and snowmobile tours in the Rocky Mountain House/Nordegg area. A-Bob Snowmobiling is based in Calgary and offers snowmobile tours into the Rockies and foothills southwest of Calgary.
Rock Climbing, Mountaineering, Ice Climbing, and Caving
Instruction is available through Yamnuska Mountain Adventures and On Top Mountaineering (Canmore area)
You can go caving in the Canmore, Alberta area with Canmore Caverns, or heli-caving in the Nordegg area with Icefield Helicopter Tours.
A guided icewalk on the Athabasca Glacier, halfway between Jasper and Lake Louise on the Icefields Parkway (Hwy 93) is a very unique opportunity.
Ski-Jöring
You can try the Scandinavian sport of ski-joring (cross-country skiing with a towing assist from dogs) through Mad Dogs and Englishmen Expeditions, based near Canmore, Alberta.
Water Sports (Rafting, Kayaking, Jet Boats)
Blast Adventures offers inflatable kayak trips based out of Canmore.
Canadian Rockies Rafting offers float trips down the Bow River, and whitewater trips down the Kananaskis River (east of Canmore) and Kicking Horse River (near Golden, B.C.). Riverboarding is also available on the Kananasksi River.
Hydra Whitewater Rafting operates on the Kicking Horse River, near Golden, B.C.
Kootenay River Runners is based near Golden, B.C., and has whitewater trips on the Kootenay River, Kicking Horse River, and Toby Creek, as well as a gentle voyageur canoe paddle on the Columbia River.
Wet'n'Wild Adventures offers whitewater rafting and jet boat tours on the Kicking Horse River near Golden, B.C.
Wildwater Adventures offers whitewater rafting on the Kicking Horse River near Golden, B.C.
Zipline
Canada Olympic Park in Calgary has a zipline, billed as "North America's Fastest", which takes people flying off the 90 meter ski jump tower.
Awesome All Season Adventures, located 55 km west of Lake Louise (between Field and Golden, BC) has a zipline along the Kicking Horse valley.
This Inside Page is a wiki, which means anyone can edit it. If you know of an activity which ought to be added to this list, or which is listed under the wrong name, please change it by clicking on the Edit button. If you wish to make comments about any of the adventure activity operators listed above, please write a review and submit it instead of putting your comments here.
