Dog-friendly ski trails
At all times, dogs are supposed to be leashed. The exceptions are West Bragg Creek, Nipika, and Bearberry. If I’ve missed any, leave a comment or send me an email.
Kananaskis
- West Bragg Creek – dogs are allowed to run off-leash on the trails, but must be leashed in the parking lot.
- Mount Shark
- Ribbon Creek
- Wedge pond and Bill Milne
Banff
- Healy Creek
- Castle Junction to Castle Lookout
Other
- Lake Louise – Pipestone trails, Bow River and Campground loop, Lake Louise Shoreline
- Yoho – Yoho Valley road, Lake O’Hara fire road(this trail is trackset only in Feb and March)
- Nipika Mountain resort is totally dog-friendly
- Ungroomed trails in Kootenay National Park: East Kootenay, West Kootenay, Simpson River
- Sundre – Bearberry Nordic Centre http://www.bearberrycabins.com/
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Off topic but does anyone have an opinion on a pet kennel they like? Little over a week stay, prefer North West Calgary but I’ll listen to any ideas.
Thanks,
Gord
Another Dog – Friendly Trail is Chester Lake Snowshoe Trail in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park.
Another place you can ski with your dogs is in Bearberry nordic center just west of Sundre.
http://www.bearberrycabins.com
I go their often with my border collie. The owners have a golden retriever that joins us. Its a beautiful location, groomed runs (most times) and no crowds.
Also with in the town of Sundre there is a hill called Snake hill that is groomed regularly where dogs are more than welcome. This year it has also been groomed through the town onto the paths running along the Red Deer river following onto the Bearberry creek. Well worth a drive!
I’ve always wondered about that place, but have never skied there, so thanks. I’ve added it to the “Dog-friendly” page. Can the dogs run off-leash? -Bob
Yes you can let your dogs run free. We stop by the house to pay and that’s when the owners retriever usually joins us, running along side our vehicle to the parking lot. The dogs must run twice the distance that I ski!
Hi all you dog lovers!
Smithers is a great place to live. The Smithers Nordic Center grooms the ‘ski with your dog trails’ first thing in the morning. The trails are beautiful and the dog owners keep it pristine…at least it was when I skied there. Yes, there should be trails designated for people to enjoy Nordic skiing with there dogs!!!! We are so slow to embrace this concept?? Skiing on the Lake Louise trails this week there have been people skiing with their dogs off leash. It is very annoying to get tangled up with dogs on a trail where everyone knows dogs are not allowed. Parks needs to make it clear where people can and cannot ski with their dogs. If people with dogs don’t like the areas where they can ski with their dogs then they should have a discussion with Parks….but not just go against the rules. It can be a hazard when dogs run all over the trail and sprint up to greet others who are not expecting this. A hazard for the dog and for the people. I think people that bring their dogs on trails where dogs are not allowed are being disrespectful. There seems to be enough of this in the world at this time. I am ALL FOR wonderful places where people can ski with their dogs…maybe we should have more!!!
In response to skiing with dogs in BNP, check this out http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/tcond/cond_E.asp?oPark=100092
It appear one can ski with your dog on the Campground, Bow and Pipestone loops. Moraine Lake Road has been no dogs for as long I can remember.
I appreciate the reply Hugh. It appears that Parks has some contradictory info out there. Here is the parks page I was looking at.
http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/banff/activ/activ21.aspx
But indeed, it appears from your link Moraine is not dog friendly.
According to the map I picked up from the visitor centre Moraine has a big red line through a dog.
We were on Great Divide last weekend, There was a dog there, unleashed, about a one chicken mcnuggins bite to any mammal.
Around the lake and by the river is where we take ours when he comes along. I prefer NOT around the lake, the horse drivers seem to be overly snarly to dogs, and to people not on their sleigh ride.
I was on the Parks Canada Website and it has the following posted regarding dogs on xc trails in the parks;
DOGS
If you are planning to take your dog out on a trail, please respect the following:
“Dogs are not allowed on the following groomed cross country ski trails: Cascade Valley, Spray River Trail, Goat Creek and Spray River, and Redearth Creek.”
To me this is pretty straight forward. With this information in hand I took my family and dog to Lake Louise to ski the Moraine Lake road, (which is in great condition I may add).
I received numerous dirty looks and one person confronted me saying that dogs have never been permitted on the road for the last 30yrs, regardless of what parks has posted.
Can anyone shed some light on this for me?
Can someone provide a link to documentation that West Bragg Creek allows dogs off leash? I’d like to be prepared in case I run into an issue, as I recently heard of someone getting a ticket in Kananaskis (albeit on a different trail, but it shows that they are sufficiently dog hating enough to hand out tickets in the area). I’m also curious to know whether the rule changes with the season; is hiking with a dog off leash permitted in the summer?
Thanks so much for the web site. Amazing resource.
Scott;
I see the link which I posted doesn’t go to the “permitted uses” anymore. It just takes you to a page which doesn’t say anything specific. Unless something has changed in the past year, West Bragg Creek ski trails are classified as Provincial Forest Lands(where dogs are not required to be on leash) and there’s a map which you can buy for about $15 at the Visitor Centres which show it. My understanding is that it’s a map which is popular with hunters. As I’ve mentioned before, the West Bragg Creek parking lot is classified as a Provincial Recreation area and dogs are required to be on leash. The rules don’t change with the seasons. -Bob
At West Bragg the signs posted indicate that dogs need to be on leash. I spoke to a woman who got a ticket recently in the parking lot while preparing to go skiing. I have a dog and I don’t think dogs should be off leash in track-set areas, it is too dangerous for other skiers, and wildlife encounters. I figure that if my dog is going to make someone fall, it should be me, not someone else. Personally, I find it really unpleasant when someone else’s off-leash dog rushes up to me and my dog while my dog is leashed to my body. And let’s face it, we dog owners need to remember that we share the trails with people big and small who might be afraid or uncomfortable around off leash dogs. On-leash is a win-win solution. The dogs get to come out and the people we share the trails with are willing to have them while they are under control.
Another fantastic place to cross-country ski where dogs can be off-leash is Kelowna Nordic – there is significant mileage available & the grooming is done often and is awesome
Wish I lived closer to it! Good place to go holiday 
See:
http://www.kelownanordic.com/index.php/trail-info/ski-info/
I checked the Kelowna Nordic web site. It looks like 15km of the total of 75km is available for dogs.
They say on the canine trails page that they have 16km, but that is one-way, so if you skied all & returned to start you’d have 32km.