Top Alberta Extreme Sports

Jasper National Park is an amazing place to experience nature, and a gentle adventure on the Athabasca River is a great way to do it. This small group float trip takes you down several miles on the Class II rapids—that means you can expect a few splashes along the way, but nothing too scary. Your guide regales you with stories of the area and its inhabitants as you go.

No roads lead to the parts of the river you will travel on this expedition. Raft the white water on the Athabasca River through places you can only reach by boat. This guided tour takes you through two exciting sets of rapids (wear your bathing suit!) linked by a serene stretch through the canyon. Take in the Rocky Mountain scenery only paddlers and wildlife get to witness.

Get a little wet and have a lot of fun on the Athabasca River. Travel with your small group to the put in point and raft the Mile 5 section of the glacier-fed river. This section of river is a great introduction to river rafting as it begins with an approximately 10-minute float before the class II rapids start. Experience the gentle thrill of some bumps and splashes on your roughly two-hour excursion.

Tackle Rat’s Nest Cave, located near Canmore, Alberta, on this all-day adventure tour. After being outfitted with your gear, head out on a short hike up to the cave. Along the way, learn how caves are formed and the geologic history of the area, plus possibly spot bighorn sheep. Once at the cave, rappel down 59 feet (18 meters) and begin navigating the route, which includes some challenging sections that involve climbing, crawling, squeezing, and sliding through the cave. At the end, reach the grotto with its crystal-clear pool and stalactites and stalagmites.

Get ready for Jasper’s only class 3 rapids on the Sunwapta River. Be prepared: you’re going to get wet. Wear your bathing suit under your wetsuit and bring a towel and your sense of adventure. If you have your own wheels, you can save a bit by meeting the guides at the river instead of paying for the shuttle from the Jasper townsite.

Paddle through the dramatic Athabasca Canyon on a half-day whitewater rafting adventure from Jasper that takes on fun, family-friendly Class 2+ rapids. You’ll put in at the base of Athabasca Falls, then paddle a 7.5-mile (12-km) stretch of river with a certified river guide. This 3.5-hour rafting excursion includes all equipment and transport from downtown Jasper, and both morning and afternoon departures are available.

Take on the Class II and Class III white-water rapids of the Sunwapta River with a 4-hour rafting adventure from Jasper, following the dramatic Endless Chain Ridge through Jasper National Park. You’ll paddle alongside an experienced river guide, splashing over an 8-mile (13-km) stretch of fun rapids. This 4-hour whitewater rafting trip includes all necessary equipment and instruction, as well as round-trip transport from a central location in Jasper.

Experience the excitement of a whitewater rafting adventure on this guided, 2-hour excursion. Choose from a morning or afternoon departure time, then ride along Alberta, Canada's Athabasca River in Jasper National Park. This ‘Mile 5’ trip is the river’s most popular, challenging Grade 2 rapids. The driver/guide will be taking photos along the way which will be available for purchase at the end of the trip. All the necessary rafting equipment plus an Alberta hotel pickup and drop-off are included.

Enjoy an introduction to the fun of whitewater rafting on an idyllic stretch of the Kananaskis River during this afternoon excursion that’s perfect for families and groups. During your rafting trip along the pristine waterways of the Kananaskis River, scout for local wildlife and enjoy the unrivaled beauty of the Canadian wilderness. This tour includes optional pickup from select hotels in Banff and Canmore, an experienced river guide, all equipment, and a free digital photo of your rafting adventure.

Traverse the wilderness of western Alberta on this full-day Jasper to Banff one-way tour. Travel the famous Icefields Parkway with your guide and learn of the region’s colorful past. Discover top attractions including Athabasca Falls, Bow Lake, Crowfoot Glacier, and the Weeping Wall. Take part in the Glacier Adventure tour on the Athabasca Glacier or ride the Glacier SkyWalk over Sunwapta Valley. Gain insight into Alberta’s geology at the Columbia Icefield Centre. Take a short walk to a scenic viewpoint for panoramic views, then conclude your tour in Banff.

Bring the whole family along on this moderately challenging—yet totally fun—river rafting excursion down the Athabasca Valley in Jasper National Park. Join a guide in an 8-person raft for a multi-rapid run down the Athabasca River Canyon for a trip challenging enough to be counted as an adventure but relaxing enough for you to enjoy the beautiful canyon scenery along the way.

Jasper’s Sunwapta River is a stretch of grade III rapids, where challenging twists and turns and spectacular scenery come as standard. On this tour, spin along the Icefields Parkway road and admire sweeping views over the famous Rocky Mountains. Tackle the swirling white-water currents with your guide, and watch the riverbanks for sightings of native wildlife living within the Jasper National Park.

The majestic landscapes around Banff are perfect settings for rock climbing adventures. But, if you're a beginner, it can be difficult to know where to start. This small-group rock climbing experience is suitable for all levels of experience, from novice to advanced. Whatever your ability, you'll benefit from expert instruction, experience the thrill of climbing and be prepared for getting out into nature.

Paddle a fun, 5-mile (8-km.) section of the Athabasca River on a 2-hour whitewater adventure from Jasper that’s perfect for first-time rafters. You’ll ride frothing Class II rapids through ‘The Expressway,’ a wide stretch of river that combines rapids with calm, flowing water. This 2-hour Jasper whitewater trip includes all equipment, as well as round-trip transport from downtown Jasper.

Never tried canyoning before? Then this is the trip for you! A relatively easy approach, an ideal location to introduce rappelling, and amazing scenery all make this canyon trip the perfect choice for your first canyoning experience. Heart Creek Canyon is also our closest trip to the townsites of Banff & Canmore. A popular summer day hike destination, few visitors of Heart Creek ever explore the top of lower Heart Canyon or venture to the upper Heart Canyon. Upper Heart Canyon provides a perfect location to learn and develop your comfort with rope rappelling. The introductory short rappels allow you to ease into the rappelling. Rappels progressively increase in length, finally culminating with an exciting 60ft waterfall rappel and slide.

Banff is a place where animals large and small roam freely and can be seen in their natural habitat. This sightseeing tour brings you and your family as close as we can safely go, leaving memories and lasting lessons from our expert guides.

Perhaps the most unique attribute about our tour is that you'll be travelling by snow cat! Our experience starts with a chairlift ride but the real fun is involved when you hop in Castle's Powder Stagecoach snow cat and tour up Haig Ridge, to Haig Lake lookout, and then finally back to the base area.

Going on the Cowboy Trail is really an opportunity to immerse yourself in that western culture and explore some cool little towns along the way. Within the charming hamlets and towns that dot the trail, you’ll find all kinds of unique shops featuring artisan goods, antiques, and western-themed mercantile. The trail winds its way through rolling foothills with stunning views of the Rocky Mountains. Driving alongside grazing pastures with herds of cattle and horses flanking the highway, you get a taste of Alberta’s storied western heritage. You’re reminded of how ranching has shaped the province.

This is big-sky, big-land country. It passes easily for the American West. Nestled between the Rocky Mountains and the Canadian Prairie, in the high ranching country of Alberta, is the historic Cowboy Trail. Hollywood have been making movies here for years here and you will discover the filming location in Kananaskis, Alberta Provincial Park and create memories you cannot forget. The Alberta foothills is an amazing place to visit. The landforms are very interesting to look at because they come in many different shapes and sizes. The foothills location is wonderful because they are close to the beautiful rocky mountains. The forested slopes of Alberta’s Rocky Mountain along with the Foothills Natural Region are known collectively as the Eastern Slopes, which play a very important role in storing, cleaning, and slowly releasing water in upper watersheds.

Seventy per cent of Western Canada’s glaciers will likely be gone by the end of this century. These glaciers are an important part of our landscape, and we take it for granted . . . the landscape isn’t going to look the same. The Icefield Parkway, between Lake Louise and Jasper, is a beautiful, gorgeous tourist destination where you can get on glaciers there . . . it’s hard to see how that will be anything like the present. The Athabasca Glacier, believed to be the most-visited glacier in North America, which is losing more than five meters of ice every year and is in danger of disappearing within a generation. The glacier is the largest of six ice sheets that form part of the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park. Meanwhile, most of the ice loss is predicted to happen between 2020 and 2040. The desire to offer this tour is to show my guests to see the scale of the glaciers melt and opportunity to learn more about the impacts of climate change.

There is just something about the Rocky Mountains and its Foothills that’s pure breath-snatching, awe invoking majesty. Many Hollywood’s movies directors love to come here and shoot their movie against treasured range of peaks, valleys and rolling foothills. Let us take you for a trip to a little-known corner of the Canadian wilderness where scenery met celluloid for movies Brokeback Mountain, Land, Unforgiven and more. You will enjoy sitting on the verandah, scanning the pristine landscape and sipping excellent Fratello coffee at Ian Tyson’s Navajo Mug in Longview owned by the cowpoke music star, whose own ranch is nearby. Movie- makers adore town Longview. And rightly so, it’s one of the most gorgeous places on Earth. Clint Eastwood fell in love with this part of Alberta. Unforgiven, his Academy award-winning blockbuster which revived the Western genre of motion pictures, was shot in this area. As was days of Heaven, too (starring Richard Gere, in a career-defining role).