It’s always fun to visit someplace new, to discover a new favorite trail, or to perhaps even try a new sport together as a family. And while summer may seem like the best time to go exploring, we personally love visiting new places in the winter. Summer’s such a short season and tends to get filled up with re-visiting our favorite parks and campgrounds. Winter, on the other hand, is long and tends to drag on for five or more months. This is the perfect time to take a trip, try something new, and come up with creative destinations for exploring.
Below are three provincial parks that you’ll love visiting this winter. Pick at least one of these great parks to discover, and maybe even try a new activity while there. Luge or fat biking anyone?
This park is located roughly four hours south of Calgary, but save your trip for a long weekend and the drive is manageable. Accommodations can either be found in nearby Medicine Hat or in the Town of Elkwater at the Elkwater Lake Lodge and Resort. For the adventurous, there are several backcountry cabins that offer cozy and affordable lodging with easy access on either skis or snowshoes. We hiked to the Tom Trott Hut with friends one February and it was a very easy 5km distance on snow-covered roads closed to vehicles in winter.
The park has 30km of trails groomed for cross-country skiing, many that are shared for winter hiking, snowshoeing, and fat biking. Downhill skiers will also find their happy place at the Hidden Valley Ski Resort.
For my family, the highlight of our last visit was ice skating in the Old Baldy Campground on a loop that the park converts into a 1.5km skating track. We also loved the luge track that the park builds for the kids. Sleds and helmets are provided in a warming hut beside the track so you can just show up and play.
This park is much closer to Calgary, making it an ideal destination for a day trip to go cross-country skiing or snowshoeing. The drive will take you approximately an hour and a half and is very scenic as you travel down Highway 40 past Kananaskis Village, a great spot to stop on your drive home for coffee in the resort as you warm up beside the big fireplace. We also love ice skating on the Village pond, which usually opens by December.
Main winter activities in Peter Lougheed Provincial Park include cross-country skiing, hiking, and snowshoeing on the park trails. There are 85km of groomed trails for skiing, and several official signed winter trails for snowshoeing.
Stop in at the Visitor Centre when you arrive to pick up a map, as well as to get trail conditions and recommendations for your family’s outing. Note that all groomed ski trails are ski-specific. Hiking and snowshoeing are not allowed on any of the groomed trails. Dogs are also not allowed on any of the ski trails, and the trails are groomed for classic skiing only. Skate skiers should visit Mt. Shark in Spray Lakes Provincial Park or the Canmore Nordic Centre.
Our favorite winter hike in this provincial park is the Chester Lake Trail off of Highway 742 (the Smith Dorrien Trail). The hike is a 6.8km round-trip and is very beautiful as you cross meadows before the lake on the snowshoe trail. Note that in winter, you must follow the designated snowshoe trail, which is different from the summer trail you may be familiar with. Please use snowshoes (you’ll need them) and don’t hike on the signed ski trails.
If you don’t want to use snowshoes, the Rawson Lake Trail is usually packed down for easy hiking with a pair of spikes. It starts from the Upper Kananaskis Lake Day-Use Area and is an 8km round-trip. For shorter hikes ask at Visitor Centre – they’ll guide you to one of the easy winter trails nearby.
Crimson Lake Provincial Park is located near Rocky Mountain House two and a half hours north of Calgary. It’s a great destination for a weekend with many fun activities for the whole family to try this winter.
Winter camping is offered in the main campground with several powered sites plowed out for campers to enjoy. Access to vault washrooms is available year-round, but families will need to bring their own firewood and water. Camping is first-come, first-served.
Popular winter activities in the park include ice fishing, skating on a maintained skating rink, and hiking or fat biking on the packed Amerada Trail, which circles the lake in a 10km loop.
The park also grooms three short trails for cross-country skiing and has an open area designated for snowshoeing around closed campground loops.
Happy exploring, and make sure you have any gear you might want for your adventures before you leave the city. Most parks will not have skis, fat bikes, ice skates, or snowshoes to rent on-site.
I also recommend packing the sleds and helmets wherever you go. Most kids are able to get pretty creative when it comes to finding a sledding hill.
Tanya is a freelance writer and mom to a spunky boy. She loves hiking, camping, skiing, and all things mountain-related. She is the author of the blog Family Adventures in the Canadian Rockies, rockiesfamilyadventures.com. You can find her on Instagram @MountainMomYYC.
See our related articles:
Calgary’s Child Magazine © 2026 Calgary’s Child
