Big Bow Trout - Bring Your Camera |
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Bring Your CameraIf you’re traveling with the family, Calaway Park is highly recommended. Canada’s largest outdoor amusement park with 32 rides, 24 games and shows rates as big fun and a full day’s amusement (www.calawaypark.com). History buffs will want to visit Fort Calgary (www.fortcalgary.com), which offers stories and interactive displays of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Calgary’s settlement through interactive displays. Also consider Canada’s largest Living Historical Village, Heritage Park (www.heritagepark.ca) on 66 acres near the Glenmore Reservoir, where folks bring western Canada to life as it used to be. I highly recommend the annual Calgary Stampede (www.calgarystampede.com) in early July each year. Ten days of rodeo-style events from chuck wagon races to a dazzling midway with live entertainment and casino action – it’s a citywide celebration. The Stampede probably won’t affect your fishing but airline reservations, restaurants and hotel rooms will be scarce and higher priced than usual. A must-see is the incredible mountain scenery and lakes of Banff National Park (www.pc.gc.ca/banff), the origin of the Bow River. As in just about all national parks, you can fish here. Majestic mountain scenery and sapphire-blue glacial lakes, wild game restaurants, ice fields, abundant wildlife and luxury resorts populate the landscape from Canmore to Jasper National Park. Every conceivable mountain sports activity is available, from horseback riding, hiking, rock climbing and rafting to wildlife tours, boating and heli-trips over the glaciers. 
Where To Toss The BagsWhether you drive or fly to Calgary, you can of course find many choices of accommodations. I’d recommend Kensington Riverside Inn right on the river on the lower Bow. We couldn’t stay there, as we booked during the Calgary Stampede, a mid-July timeframe you might want to avoid. However, it’s a great rodeo party, and a sportsman could take in some events and fish too without being crowded much on the river. The Bow River Lodge sits on a very fishable stretch of the lower river about 30 miles south of Calgary, offering comfortable accommodations with all meals included. For historic grandeur, the 100-year-old Fairmount in the downtown area is a great place. Just outside Canmore and also on the Bow River, the Kananaskis River Guest Ranch is a great experience. Consider the Canmore Hotel in the center of town, particularly if you’re with a spouse who loves to shop because you’ll find souvenir stores galore nearby. For modern luxury, you won’t be disappointed with the condos at Fire Mountain Lodge. Calgary boasts every cuisine and level of sophistication in dining you would expect in a large international city, from fast food to fine French restaurants. We enjoyed the bison and seafood at Bistro Twenty Two Ten close to our hotel downtown, and likewise at the more innovative, organic cuisine of River Café at Prince Island Park. Steak lovers should drop into Caesar’s Steak House, a Calgary tradition with two locations for great Canadian beef and all the usual accompaniments. A sampling of night life can be experienced at the Stephen Avenue Mall area on 17th Avenue, known by locals as The Red Mile. Canmore doesn’t lack for character and good dining either. Canmore’s village atmosphere is a great place to walk and review menus as you shop, browse art galleries and absorb the majestic mountain scenery. There’s a restaurant and price point for all travelers, with most cuisines represented and plenty of fast food options. We particularly enjoyed two outstanding and unusual finds in the village itself: Zona’s, a most unusual and tasty international bistro, and The Trough which might be, depending on your tastes, an even better eatery – don’t pass up their Balsamic Lamb Shank. For more details, visit www.tourismcalgary.com or www.tourismcanmore.com.Other Notes Of InterestAbout CanadaVisit the U.S. State Department’s web site for more details about Canada: www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2089.htm
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