Day trips from Calgary
8 places worth the drive, nearest first — with today's weather at each one. Everything here is under two hours.
Cochrane
4° ☁ Cloudy
30 min · 30 km from Calgary
The closest escape — a main street of coffee shops and the ice cream everyone drives out for, with the Bow River running past.
36 places listed in Cochrane →
Okotoks
6° ☁ Cloudy
35 min · 45 km from Calgary
Foothills town with a walkable old centre, the Sheep River, and the Big Rock erratic just outside it.
644 places listed in Okotoks →
Bragg Creek
5° ⛅ Partly cloudy
40 min · 40 km from Calgary
Where the prairie stops and the forest starts. Trails, a small shopping village, and the gateway to Kananaskis.
53 places listed in Bragg Creek →
High River
7° ☁ Cloudy
50 min · 65 km from Calgary
Murals, a restored downtown and the Heartland filming sites, an easy hour south.
392 places listed in High River →
Kananaskis
4° ⛅ Partly cloudy
1 hr 5 min · 90 km from Calgary
The mountains without the Banff crowds. Hiking, lakes and larch season, all inside an hour.
44 places listed in Kananaskis →
Canmore
4° ⛅ Partly cloudy
1 hr 15 min · 106 km from Calgary
A mountain town rather than a resort — breweries, trailheads and the Three Sisters overhead.
585 places listed in Canmore →
Banff
4° ☁ Cloudy
1 hr 30 min · 128 km from Calgary
The one everyone comes for. Bow Falls, the gondola, the hot springs and a town that runs on visitors.
123 places listed in Banff →
Lake Louise
4° ☂ Light rain
2 hr · 185 km from Calgary
The lake worth the extra half hour, and the Plain of Six Glaciers behind it. Go early; the car park fills.
48 places listed in Lake Louise →
Before you go
Anything past Cochrane is mountain driving and the weather changes with the altitude — the temperatures above are for each town, not the pass you drive over to reach it. Check road conditions before a winter run, and note that Banff and Lake Louise sit inside a national park, so a park pass is required.