Canmore, Alberta, is located on the Trans-Canada Highway, bordering Kananaskis Country and Banff National Park, 106 KMS (66 miles) west of Calgary (1.5 hours from Calgary’s International Airport) 5 minutes East of Banff National Park and just 22 KMS (12 miles - 20 minutes) East of the Banff townsite.
Canmore is linked to the construction of the CPR and to the discovery of coal that was used to fire the locomotives. After 1979, when the last coal mine shut down, Canmore changed and became a residential community and a tourist town. The town setting is very pretty. Over looking the town are the Three Sisters, that were originally called the Three Nuns. These three peaks are locally known as Faith, Hope and Charity.
In 1988, Canmore was chosen as the site where the Winter Olympic cross-country ski events were held. Since this time, thanks to the Canmore Nordic Centre that was built for the games, a number of international Nordic skiing, dog sledding and mountain biking competitions have been held. The 56-km (25-mi.) of trails are in use year round, with 2.5-km (2-mi.) of lit tracks.
This thriving town is home to a number of galleries and shops featuring work by local artisans. Mining artifacts, a historical doll collection and an Olympic Collection are all housed in the newly built Canmore Centennial Museum. Canmore is very well equipped to deal with the thousands of tourists who flock to the town every year. There are hotels, motels, resorts, service stations, grocery stores, sporting goods sports, rental shops, restaurants and unique boutique shops.
