Whooping It Up In Cowboy Country

Trail riders make their way across the Canadian Rockies on horseback.
“I like the endless riding over the endless prairie, the winds sweeping the grass, the great silent sunshine, the vast skies and the splendid line of the Rockies, guarding the west."
- Agnes Higginson Skrine, Irish-Canadian poet and writer (1864-1955)

The most famous celebration of Canada’s cowboys is held each July in Calgary when the whole town turns into a cowpoke for the Calgary Stampede. It is certainly a great event for locals and visitors alike – and you should book early – yet cowboy culture is also celebrated in many smaller Stampedes, and is still lived daily by many people in western Canada...
For those who feel the lure of the real Rockies we recommend a pack-trip on horseback into the mountains. You will be accompanied by guides who truly love horses and the mountains, and they will teach you all about the lore and legends of the Canadian cowboy by the campfire.

You can also stay on a real ranch and enjoy riding horses and often lots of other activities, as well as great down-home food and the cowboy lifestyle.

Otherwise, we suggest a short half-day or full-day trip from Banff or Jasper which you can fit into many of our itineraries passing through the Rockies.