The Lodge at Panther River is a family owned and operated wilderness resort which opened in 1979. The love, passion, and hard work that has been put into this serene destination over the years shines through on the grounds right through to the staff. The gorgeous and unique lodge is where family and friends come to gather. With a gorgeous wood burning fireplace it is the perfect place to put your feet up and take it all in. The business has been in the Safron family since 2002. Terry and Laureen's love for the mountains shone through to their three girls who grew up with river water running through their veins and mountains in their heart. Now that their family's have expanded with eight beautiful grandchildren, Terry and Laureen spend their time teaching these blessed children the mountain life. The Safron family takes pride in their resort, staff members and accomplishing their dream of living in the wild. Explore the Valley With towering mountain peaks and glowing river valleys the Panther River Valley has a inviting feel to its vast space. With numerous mountain lakes, flowing rivers and creeks The Lodge at Panther River has something that speaks to each person's soul. Take in the sights of roaming wildlife or flowing waterfalls. The beauty is endless. With a different adventures for each season we will take you out into the Alberta Rockies for a back-country experience to remember. Get spring fever as you watch new life grow in the fresh mountain air. Take in the beauty of Barrier Mountain, Wardens Rock, Bighorn Falls, and Ice lake. Spot the herds of wild horses and the new offspring of wild game. The sights will be forever remembered. Lay on a hillside amongst the wildflowers on a summer's afternoon. The brown eyed susan's, blue bells, Indian paintbrushes, and glowing rivers add breathtaking colors to your mountain photography. Stay a while and capture the impressive views as the leaves change in early fall. The peace will help you unwind from summer. Don't stay inside all winter! Follow us to where we like to go and chase the snow capped mountains. Because we are open year round you can enjoy a winter in the backcountry and get a glimpse of the sparkle the snow brings to the wild. We invite you to come stay with us and let the the Safron family share their love for the wild with you.
Went out to Panther for a horseback riding weekend with friends. It was fantastic. We were definitely there in the off season, so barely saw another soul. We slept in tent #2. It was cozy and spacious for 5 of us. We set up camp right outside the tent and were able to make all our meals easily. The bathrooms were the nicest campground bathrooms I’ve ever seen! The horse accommodations were equally great. Make sure you bring a pitch fork to clean out your stall. We found a lot of great rides, right from the lodge. We will definitely be back!
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Date of stay: September 2022Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This is our third year at The Lodge at Panther River. My partner and I host our retreat, Find Wild Horses Find Yourself, at this beautiful location at the end of the road. Our clients love it! We experience a connection to the wilderness photographing wild horses and are supported by the majestic, well-cared-for, and loved domestic horses at the lodge in equine-facilitated coaching exercises. The food is from scratch and made with love by their dedicated staff. The cabins are a comfortable place to rest for the next day's adventures. Image credits Sandy Sharkey and Eponicity.
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Date of stay: May 2024
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Trip type: Traveled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We went for a girlfriends get away and had an amazing time! The cabin was exactly as in their website, comfortable, cozy, and clean. The staff are fabulous and the food was fantastic. We so enjoyed the River running out front of the cabin, the fire pit and the lodge. Was a wonderful get away!
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Date of stay: June 2021Trip type: Traveled with friends
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Loved our weekend at this slice of Paradise! The campsite was clean and spacious, with plenty of wood on offer for purchase. How nice to have a real fire! The main lodge is a fabulous spot for a beer. Great hiking advice and warm and welcoming folks. My coffee maker was on the fritz- they kindly filled me up every morning. Looking forward already to going back!
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Date of stay: June 2020Trip type: Traveled with family
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I am Dani and I had the time of my life at Panther River Lodge. The staff members were joyfully present, friendly and very knowledgeable. The food was divine! The service impeccable. The cabins were clean and smelt nice and fresh. The environment . . . simply spectacular! The helicopter ride was out of this world and Terry (the pilot and host), is the best heli-pilot I have ever flown with. I would have stayed up there for days, LOL! Last but not least, the horseback riding in the Rockies was both, challenging (which I absolutely appreciated), and magnificent. It was good for me to realize that I still got it, even at 68 years of age, Ha! Ha! I also realized that I am much more in shape than I thought I was. After a 2 hour horseback ride (almost 2 hours), up and down mountain trails, I thought I would feel it the next day. To my surprise, I felt like a teenager the next morning, and not a bone in my body hurt. Blew me away, to say the least! I recommend this place any time. I am even considering spending Christmas and New Year there with my family. Had a ball! Thank you all for being who you are! It was great to leave behind the New Normal, and to get back to what I consider to be the "REAL NORMAL". Love you all! Love you all! Dani xoxoxoxox
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Date of stay: August 2020
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We received such a warm welcome I felt immediately at home. :) The staff is awesome! It was a pleasure to have met you and thank you to all. The service and knowledge of the area top notch! Delicious meals, exceptionally clean cabin and a perfect location. Wish I had discovered this sooner while on my one day travels out that way. (I guess I was too busy looking for wildies.) Particularly during this time in 2020, it was a much needed respite. My first time in a helicopter so wasn't sure what to expect but I had complete trust in Terry given all his experience. I could have stayed up there all day! I was so enthused that I can't remember if I even thanked him....so Terry, thank you so very much. It was great to meet you and have such an awesome experience! My next life maybe I'll take the courses. Haha. Love this place and the people!
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Date of stay: August 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
the website sold this place to me. I was happy to sign up for a weekend, but disappointed. Kind of like how you feel after seeing the movie for a book you loved. the cabin we were put in was not a log cabin but faux logs. It was attached to the community bathrooms and mere feet away from the tents and teepee...hardly romantic. while the prime rib dinner ($30) was delicious, the breakfast included left much to be desired.........stale banana bread, yogurt and watermelon. The hot option was an additional $17 and we believed the cold option would suffice. Our mistake. We aren't horse people but felt this would be a nice alternative to the Banff area that we try to avoid thru the summer months for the onslaught of tourists. Although we anticipated great hikes from the website, we were told we would be given details when we checked in. All they shared was a 15 min. walk to a lake. That's it. It seems they want you to hire their guides for any true hikes. I have never had a guide for hiking in the Rockies and wasn't about to start now. This was a theme we felt thruout our brief stay at the Lodge at Panther..............nickel and dime you for EVERYTHING. First and last trip there. They could have done sooooo much better.
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Date of stay: July 2017
Value
Rooms
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:ask that is not be attached to the community bathrooms.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Amanda I, Manager at The Lodge at Panther River
Responded Jul 25, 2017
I am sorry to hear you were not satisfied with you stay with us. We do have a number of cabins too choose from. You can check them all out on our website to see what you are booking. Our signature breakfast is complimentary to all cabin guests and is baked fresh in house each morning. I will speak to our staff to see why stale banana bread was served the morning you where there. There are a number of glorious hiking trails in our area we are willing to let you know about. You will need to let us know how long you want to hike for. You can hike for 15 mins up to a full 8 - 10 hours. All of these trails are open to the public and used many and all visitors to the Panther area. To resolve this please email myself, Amanda directly at info@pantherriver.com We hope to see you out there explore the Rocky's
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This is a beautiful secluded spot ran by a very nice family. It is well maintained and has a cozy feel to it. There are a few options for your stay, rent a cabin ( I peaked in a couple of the cabins and they are very nice) rent a canvas wall tent that is set up with a wood stove inside, or camp in your own tent or trailer. A group of us booked four nights at the riverfront sites (campground A) to stay both in trailers and tents.
The river that runs beside was very clear and cold. Some spots were quite fast but we found a few areas’ that were good to let the kids play and throw rocks. A few of our group braved the cold and went in for a dip.
There were a bunch of kids in our group and they spent most of the time at the playground. Sandbox for the littler ones was also a big hit.
There are no bike trails around but the gravel was packed enough for the kids to ride back and forth to the park.
Wifi works near the playground and in the lodge; it was a decent speed but no cell/text signal.
We enjoyed some drinks on the deck and then some inside. They have hard alcohol, beer, wine and coolers. They got the wood fire inside going especially for us as we all had a chill from the gloomy day outside. We then decided to try the breakfast the next morning, it was quite good. It’s not off a menu but for $15 we got pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit, yogurt, cereal and coffee. You need to let them know the night before as this is not an actual restaurant type setting. It was a really nice option to be able to come and have a drink or meal other than what you brought yourself for your campsite.
Two bathrooms each had a single toilet and shower which are free with your camping cost. They are very clean and plenty of hot water. You need to bring your own towels and toiletries.
There is a gazebo near the park where you can use their bbq to cook and they also have a fireplace inside to enjoy.
Our friends fished but caught nothing; I believe it is just catch and release there.
You can book horse rides but kids have to be at least 10. This was a disappointment as our 8/9 years olds were really hoping to do this. One of the owners is also a helicopter pilot and has tours you can book. I believe they also do guided tours on small hikes nearby.
Now the negative…..
The horse coral was right across from us so we often had bad wafting smells coming our way. The flies were also really bad because of the close proximity to the coral, it was hard to sit outside and eat they were so bad and our trailers were filled with them as well.
There are a lot of rules here so keep in mind if these are things you want when you camp. These are just a few of the page long list but the ones that stood out to me as being a bit much in my opinion. -no tying anything to trees -no music -no generators at any time -nowhere to dump garbage, must bring it out with you -no touching of horses -no dumping of grey water anywhere
We would have loved to have tied our hammock in a tree and listened to some music with our friends and it was pretty hard to tell our kids they couldn’t even pet the horses that continued to be within our sight/smell for four days!
The online map is a bit misleading as to the sites we booked showing them as having trees on each side and pull in length ways. This is not the case for sites 14/15/16 which part of our group was in. It is basically an open gravel area with no trees or privacy on either side of you. There are trees in front and then the river but it is not as the map indicates. We had to pull in width ways or we would have been hanging out right in to the road. Also, the water is shared between those three sites so even though you are charged for full hook up, it really is not full hook up. The water was located on our site and the hose only was long enough to fit to our trailer, not the others on each side of us so they couldn’t hook up even if they wanted to. The power worked good for us but in 14 it went out on the first night and didn’t work the rest of their stay. At $45 a night I found that to be a bit steep considering its shared water and no sewer. Campground B is full hook up and they do have a sani dump there if you need to use it. Firewood is plentiful and free so that kind of made up for the cost.
We all enjoyed our stay but felt that the fact it is shared water at full hook up cost and a map that shows some sites much different than what they are could be improved so as not to be such a shock upon arrival of what you are expecting. That being said, I would recommend this place if the above mentioned is something you are aware of before booking. This friendly family run place really is a gem!
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Date of stay: August 2016
Service
Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are two campgrounds (A & B) and we stayed in CG B. This is “wilderness” camping with 30 & 50 amp power that has good, steady voltage, excellent tasting fresh well water and sewer drops for the sites. The river gravel rock pads are level and come in a variety of lengths and widths so indicate you rig size when booking. Our 40’ 5er with opposing slides easily fitted in to our allocated site and we were fortunate to have empty spaces on either side of us, even on a long weekend. Each site also has a picnic bench and fire ring. Wi-Fi is available only at The Lodge and included in the fees. No cell phone services or OTA for tv. Some RV’s appeared to have satellite which presumably does work, as the sites are mainly open with occasional trees that wouldn’t interfere. Two bathrooms are about a 5-minute walk from CG B to The Lodge where there is hot showers (no charge) with great water pressure, toilet and a hand wash sink. They are professionally tiled, spotlessly clean and warm. There is a small play frame for young kids, free wood for site fire rings, BBQ & gazebo. This place is so very quiet and dark which makes it perfect for rest & relaxation. The staff was very pleasant and helpful. From CG B there is access to the river but this involves clambering over large boulders.
There is a limited services CG A where some site appear to have 30 amp power only. I didn’t see any indication of laundry facilities at the location. We don’t have any but pets are welcome but need to be leashed. We stayed four nights and will definitely return.
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Date of stay: May 2016
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:For FHU (water, power & sewer) campground B has it all
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Amanda I, Manager at The Lodge at Panther River
Responded Aug 3, 2016
Thank you for your review! Our guests do have access to our laundry facilities for a charge of $5 Hope to see you back!
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I booked this resort to camp at after finding it via a Google search. Being avid campers and Mountain lovers I wasn't sure what to expect, as this was an area of the Province we hadn't ventured to before. Booking a camping spot without hearing of someone's past experiences can be disappointing, but I'll admit that the website was a good start to selling me on this place, so I chanced it. Boy am I glad I did!
Not only is the scenery on the road up absolutely breathtaking, but so is the resort itself! It is extremely well manicured and you can tell the family that owns this place does so with pride and joy. The campsites are generous in size, such a rarity! All of the spots are pretty much a river view, so you cannot go wrong. There is ample room for all size of units, and each site is well gravelled and complete with fire ring. The wood was included in the price, which at $45/night is actually a good rate considering the price per bundle. The power worked really well, and we appreciated having access to water, which is perfectly fine to drink and tastes good. Just a note, water is shared amongst every few sites so be mindful of that and don't leave your hose hooked up.
My sister and her family stayed in one of the cabins and it was so cute! It was also really clean. They do have satellite TV in those. They have ample fire pits to accommodate everyone staying in the cabins, and even a big pit under a gazebo in case it rains. They also have a small play structure and a sandbox for the kids, equipped with toys!
The two showers available are awesome. Each is in a locked room that basically looks like your bathroom at home, complete with toilet and sink. There was always enough hot water. Bring your own towels!
The main lodge is so quaint and tastefully decorated. They have a coffee bar, several wines by the glass or bottle, and many beer and spirit options. They also have specialty pop. Stop in for a beverage and sit by the big stone fireplace inside, or enjoy on their deck on the patio furniture. While we never had their meals they looked amazing! The staff make everything from scratch it seemed, and the fresh baking looked incredible!
On that note let's talk about the staff....I cannot say enough good things! When we first arrived we were greeted by Kelsey, she is so good and dedicated to her job I thought she was part of the family that owns it! We had the pleasure of dealing with her several times. Then there is Amanda, owners daughter and manager. This woman is a beautiful soul and we all instantly loved her! She is full of grace and amazing energy. These two alone are enough of a reason to go back. Amanda lead us on our horse back ride, and it was great getting to know her a bit more. I also had the pleasure of meeting the owner while she was tending the flowers. She's so humble that it's refreshing! People do make a place, and there couldn't be better people to be guests of.
There is quite a bit to do in the area. I recommend booking a horse ride if you can. There is good hiking in which the staff was more than willing to tell us where to go. We checked out a couple of lakes and waterfalls. You can fish in the river BUT in Panther River it is ALL catch and release. If that's not your thing and you just want to relax, you're in the perfect place to do so. Be sure to keep your eye on the salt lick right across the river, we were lucky enough to watch a family of Mountain Sheep enjoying it!
The Town of Sundre is a good 50 some km away, so make sure you have enough fuel and that you stock up on groceries. That being said, there is a small General Store just a couple of km's down the road, also run by some great folks. They have ice, treats, and even bring up hotdog buns, cheese, etc! They have some toys for the kids and unique gifts. Debit and credit was accepted. I wish I could remember the name of this place, but you'll have passed it on your way up.
A few other things to note. It's true, no cell service! You'll need to drive all the way to Sundre for that. There is a pay phone about 6km back down the road at the now closed Mountaineer Lodge, and it does work. Do not count on the wifi at the resort. It was down the 4 days we were there. The provider is Xplorenet and it is not uncommon for their coverage to be out. You will need to take your garbage out with you, and please do this while also enjoying the backcountry trails. This is truly some of the most amazing back country, so please respect it or it won't be for public use. Also, there didn't appear to be a sani dump. You can dump at Sundre, or if you are heading the other way out to Cochrane, you can dump there (98 km's). While travelling do note you are on roads used for forestry and gas. The roads can be rough with pot holes in spots, but if you are used to back country you'll have been on much worse. Drive the posted speed limit. Protect the game which includes the wild horses. Obey all signs and you are good!
Thank you again to The Lodge at Panther River! Here I was sad to end our trip in Radium to move on to your spot, but boy was that emotion long gone upon my arrival! We will be back!! ❤️❤️❤️
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Date of stay: July 2016Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Amanda I, Manager at The Lodge at Panther River
Responded Aug 3, 2016
Thank you for your review Knsparling! It was so great to meet you and family this past weekend. We do have a Sani Dump in each campground, so I apologize you where not made aware of that! Thank you for choosing Panther River! We look forward to welcoming you back!
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There are more places to choose from in the Sundre area.
LOCATION
CanadaAlbertaSundre
NUMBER OF ROOMS
9
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