Cycling the Legacy Trail Adventure Calgary to Banff Daytrip

Calgary is so wonderfully close to Banff that a daytrip out to the mountains via Legacy Trail is a easy as driving across town to go out for lunch. This Sunday we woke up and decided we wanted to go bike ride one of the most popular and famous paths in the region, The Legacy Trail. The legacy trail, which I have also heard people refer to as the Commonwealth path, is a paved bike path which starts in Canmore and travels along the Transcanada highway, beside the river and train tracks, right into downtown Banff. This 17km ride is mostly scenic and provides nice views of the mountains from a difference perspective than entering into Banff National Park by vehicle. You can get there by leaving Calgary on the transcanada highway, head west past the Canada Olympic Park Luge, and continue for about 120km.

Mountain Biking Banff

To ride the trail from Canmore the starting point which offers free parking is located at the Canmore tourist information center. Here’s an image of the parking area and the tourist information center.

The Canmore tourist information center has bathrooms available which is a nice bonus before you start the long bike ride.

The trail has a big sign at the start so you can’t miss it, and it keeps track of how many people travel in it each day.

Some of the views from the trail are amazing. I will post a few for you to see but you really have to see it in person to appreciate it fully. I also have some video clips of the trail that I have up on our YouTube channel, I will post them here as well even though I’m not sure if that works because I’m still new at blogging like this. Can any of you find peopes try clicking a video and leave a comment if it works for you and your enjoy it.

This is a great test point located about 5km into the bike ride. Check out that view.

Here’s a short little video….

(not sure if sharing that video worked, hopefully somebody can comment on it and let me know.)

Legacy Trail

Here is one more short video of the bike path traveling along this beautiful river. Unfortunately didn’t see any wildlife at the water on this ride and the air quality was bad due to forest fires creating smoke which has been around for days. Still the ride was fantastic.

Banff Visitors Center

One of the buildings on mainstreet when you first enter into Banff townsite on the eastern entrance is the Banff Tourist Information center. It’s a historic building and they give our great information for first time visitors to the mountains. It’s a must stop for getting educated on what you should and shouldn’t be doing in the park, where to stay, and where to eat in Banff.

Downtown Banff

Mainstreet in Banff has been converted to trafficless during the tourist season which makes it fantastic for walking, biking, and shopping. As you can see from these pics, there are people everywhere enjoying the restaurants, pubs, stores, and scenery. It’s a bit of a tourist trap but totally worth going to see.

Tourist ladies taking a photo on mainstreet in Banff

restaurant patios in Banff are busy with people

lots of tourists walking and shopping in Banff

I will write a more extensive post about Banff, best local restaurant in Banff, best pubs, things to see and do and my own experiences in the townsite as well as throughout the park. I even have some very rare photos of lake louise and other prime tourist attractions which I will be sharing soon. Please follow me and help me grow, it would be so appreciated.