Ride Alberta

Popular Cowboy Trail winds along scenic Rockies

Alberta's magnificent Rocky Mountain backdrop, where Westerns frequently are filmed, is the perfect getaway for city slickers and cowboy wannabes craving wide-open spaces.

Alberta's Cowboy Trail follows 430 miles down Highway 22 in southern Alberta, meandering through reservations, farmland and working and guest ranches in the green rolling hills between the Rockies and the prairie.

"Brokeback Mountain" (2005 big-screen movie), "Broken Trail" (2006 TV movie) and "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (due out in September) are the most recent Westerns to be filmed along the trail.

Looking west to the Rockies -- thrusting up into a craggy towering wall with snow-capped peaks -- envelops you in the awesome power of the land and makes you feel as if you, too, are part of a movie. There's also the quietude of simple pleasures like a light rain and mist along a trail ride with the clump, clump of your horse walking.

Riding a horse through the foothill forests with their gurgling streams is an adventure like none other. Sure-footed trail horses carry riders safely along the sometimes steeply inclined trails. Newbies are advised to keep their trail rides to no longer than about two hours as riding in a saddle for long hours takes getting used to.

Boundary Ranch in the Kananaskis Valley northwest of Calgary offers one-, two-, three- and four-hour trail rides as well as overnight pack trips. For a more immersive ranch experience, visitors can stay at a guest ranch like the Homeplace in Priddis, southwest of Calgary.

Homeplace Ranch is considered a standout because of the tender concern owner Mac MaKenny gives to his horses and guests.

"Your horse is your partner and it's important to treat your partner with respect. At the same time you have to establish you're the leader early on," MaKenny tells his guests.

Homeplace guests are spoiled by home-cooked meals served family style in the living room. Fresh bread and baked desserts are served at every meal. Breakfasts are huge, including eggs, bacon and sausage, as well as fresh fruit, tomatoes, bell peppers and other fixings.

Guests have a choice of half-day or full-day trail rides during their stay, and are welcome to feed and groom ranch horses. They also can try any other ranch chores that strike their fancy. Walking the ranch's aspen trails and fishing in the creek are pleasant diversions.

Beyond the charms of Homeplace, the trail offers a window into the past where visitors may catch a glimpse of the pioneer lifestyle that began in Alberta in the late 1800s, when individuals and families rode their covered wagons west, claimed land and settled the Rocky Mountain foothills and prairie.

Numerous historic sites in small towns and remote areas along the trail provide a better understanding of the challenges faced by pioneers, cowboys and indigenous tribes.

The Bar U Ranch near Longview features numerous demonstrations of life on the ranch. Visitors get the chance to try their hand at roping, have the opportunity to drink strong "cowboy coffee" and learn about ranch trades from the blacksmith shop to the saddle shop. They also learn that Asian-immigrant cooks were highly valued by early ranches.

One of the best access points for the Cowboy Trail is Calgary, a cosmopolitan city of 1 million. Most trail destinations are within an hour or two northwest or southwest of the city, which is famous for the province's biggest rodeo, the Calgary Stampede.

Wanna have fun on Alberta's Cowboy Trail?

Visit thecowboytrail.com or contact The Cowboy Trail Tourism Association at (866) 627-3051.