Gold Wing Road Riders Association
Chapter AB-A Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Bragg Creek

Highways 1A,22,22X,66,762,549,7,552 & 2  - See the map

Here is a great ride that takes you from the city to the edge of the Rocky Mountains. You can cut it short and have a great 2 hour ride or you can stretch it out and make it last for 1/2 a day. What I like about this ride is the diversity of country you will see and some great stops for homemade pie and famous ice cream! It does not get much better than this! You can do this ride from the north end of Calgary and ride it south or from the south end and ride the opposite direction. I will describe it from the north to the south as that is the way I usually take it.

Leave Calgary heading west on the Crowchild Trail. As the trail leaves the city it becomes Highway #1a (that is the old Trans Canada Highway - not the 4-lane divided Highway #1) and heads for Cochrane. You will be riding towards the Rocky Mountains and will see spectacular views of the east face of the Rockies especially as you ride down the Big Hill into the Town of Cochrane. When you get to the bottom of the hill make a left off the highway just before the Turbo Gas station and ride south towards main street (a couple of blocks).

Cochrane has a real western look to it. Some of the buildings along Main Street look like a page from the old west. Make a right hand turn on Main Street and as you travel west on Main Street keep an eye out for MacKay’s Ice Cream on the north side of the street. They have been making homemade ice cream here for years and are famous for their product. This is a great place to stop and grab an ice cream cone. I like to sit on the benches out in front of MacKays and talk to other riders, watch the bikes, the cars, and the people while I try another one of their delicious flavors.

When you leave McKay's you go back to Highway #1A and continue on west towards the edge of town. You will come to the junction of Highway #22 (one of my favorite north-south highways in the Province). There is a four way stop sign here and now you want to turn left and head south on Highway #22. You will soon cross the Bow River (one of the world’s absolute best trout streams) and you may see some fly fisherman trying to land some big ones as you drift by.

Highway #22 takes a southeasterly tack as it climbs out of the valley of the Bow but once on you reach the valley’s crest you will be heading south again across rolling prairie pastures. Because you are close to the foothills and there is not a lot of shelter here I often find this stretch of road has some strong side winds coming from the west. A few miles past the valley crest you will see a farmhouse on a rise on the west side of the road. Hiding behind a hedge of trees to keep out the wind rises a tall flag pole. I have never seen the flag on this pole hanging limply and in fact it is usually snapping and cracking in a brisk wind. This is usually the windiest part of the ride.

You will soon cross the 4-lane divided highway known as Highway #1 (the Trans-Canada) on an overpass as you continue south. A few miles south of the Trans Canada you will notice that you are leaving the prairies and entering an evergreen forested area. This area always feels a little cooler and damper than the wide open prairies. You will travel past the community of Redwood Meadows and their golf course and will come upon Bragg Creek.

Bragg Creek is a great place to stop and have some pie! There is a small western-style mall with wooden boardwalks and a great homemade pie shop and some interesting arts & crafts shops to have a look at. There is a gas station here too and it is not a bad idea to top up your tank as it may be a while before you see another one.

Leave Bragg Creek and continue south on Highway #22. During the fall of 1995 there was a lot of road improvement taking place on the stretch immediately south of Bragg Creek but by the time you read this I expect it will be all over with. About 2 miles (3 Km) south of Bragg Creek you will come to Highway #22X. Here is where you can make a choice to lengthen or shorten your ride.

If you head west Highway #22X becomes Highway #66 and leads into a part of Kananaskis country. This is a beautiful recreation area with many campsites, picnic grounds, fishing ponds and waterfalls all linked together by a very bikable road (yes I mean bikable - I’m sure you know what I mean). The only fly in the ointment is that it is a dead end road. Eventually you have to come all the way back on this bikable road and look at the mountains, waterfalls, fishing ponds and all that over again. If you have the time (45 minutes to an hour to go in and back without stopping) I would heartily recommend the road. You won’t be disappointed.

So traveling to the end of Highway #66 and back out again brings us back to where we started - sitting at the junction of Highway #22X and Highway #22 south of Bragg Creek. If we decide to head east we also experience a nice trip so let’s try it.

Head east on Highway #22 for 1 kilometer (1/2 Mile) until you get to the junction of Secondary Highway #762. Turn south on #762.

Secondary Highway #762 is one of the favorites with bikers all around Calgary. There are some nice sweeping curves on this road and we prairie-dwelling bikers know how to appreciate curves when we come upon them.

A caution is in order here: I have seen cows being herded down the middle of the road by a farmer for the evening milking. Not only do you need to watch for the livestock you have to watch for what they leave behind. I hear you can slip really well on a fresh cow patty.

At the south end of Secondary #762 turn left at the stop sign and head east on Secondary Highway #549 towards Millarville and Turner Valley. There is a nice general store in Millarville if you want to stop. Just past Millarville you come to the junction of Highway #22. Turn south on Highway #22 and head towards Turner Valley. This country is very near where the first big oil field in Alberta’s past was brought in. You may see the evidence that many of the oil wells are still producing.

West of Turner Valley is an interesting road into scenic foothill country. Go west on Secondary Highway #546 into the Bluerock recreation area. This road is like Highway #66 as it dead-ends when you get into the heart of the mountains but it is a good ride in and out. You have a good chance of seeing bighorn sheep along this road.

Turning east at Turner Valley onto Highway #7 takes you to Black Diamond. Carry on through to the east towards Okotoks. Keep an eye out for the Big Rock on the north side of the highway about 1/2 a kilometer off the road. This massive boulder was left behind by the glaciers retreat at the end of the last ice age and is the largest boulder of it’s kind in North America.

Okotoks is a thriving bedroom community about 20 kilometers south of Calgary. You can get to Highway #2 which leads into Calgary by taking Secondary Highway #552 north. This will lead you to Highway #2 which is the major highway between Calgary and Lethbridge. Turn north on Highway #2 and head back towards Calgary, the "Foothills City".

Calgary lies below you at a lower elevation as you approach the city from the south. You can get some sense of how spread out Calgary is. In fact it is the second largest city in Canada (in area, not population of course, the population is approximately 740,000 but the area of the city is 671.8 sq km (259.4 sq mi) lying at an elevation of 1,048 meters (3,440 ft.).

The city is known for it's wide open spaces, western lifestyle, the Calgary Stampede and it's people who are hardworking friendly folk. If you are in our neck of the woods on a weekend be sure to drop by and visit with us for Sunday breakfast. If you have the time we'll be glad to take you along with us on our Sunday ride. For directions check out the Meetings page.

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