Bear Day 2024!
Mark Saturday, April 20th on your calendars! To coincide with bears’ emergence from their winter dens, Alberta Parks and WildSmart are once again hosting Bear Day at Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park’s Day Lodge.
Note: A Kananaskis Conservation Pass is required to park at the Canmore Nordic Centre (more info below)
This event is a celebration and welcoming of bears back on the landscape for another year. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about the bears in our area and to refresh your bear safety knowledge and skills so you are prepared for the upcoming season and are bear aware.
Indoor and outdoor activities include bear spray demonstrations, bear safety talks, a bear trapping demonstration, bear awareness hikes (registration required), kids’ bear storytimes and bear-related booths and displays. In attendance to chat with you about all things bears will be Alberta Parks Ecologists, Park Rangers and Interpretation staff, Conservation Officers, Fish and Wildlife Officers, Parks Canada Public Outreach, Town of Canmore, Volunteer Wildlife Ambassadors, Bear Monitoring and Aversive Conditioning Volunteers and Stoney Tribal Administration and Stoney Nakoda Knowledge Keepers.
This is a FREE family-friendly event! Activities begin at 9:00 am and end at 3:00 pm. In the event of inclement weather, the majority of activities will take place indoors.
Schedule of Events
9:30 am - Bear Safety Talk 9:30 am - Bear Spray Demonstration 9:30 am - Kids’ Bear Storytime
9:30 am - Bear Awareness Hike (registration required. Max. 20 people) 10:30 am - Bear Spray Demonstration 10:45 am - Bear Awareness Hike (registration required. Max. 20 people)
11:00 am - Stoney Nakoda Knowledge Keeper Grizzly Bear Discussion 11:30 am - Bear Spray Demonstration 11:30 am - Kids’ Bear Storytime
12:15 pm - Official Welcome
12:30 pm - Bear Trapping Demonstration 1:30 pm - ‘There's a Bear on my Street!’ Urban Wildlife Presentation
1:30 pm - Bear Spray Demonstration 1:30 pm - Bear Awareness Hike (registration required. Max. 20 people) 1:30 pm - Bear Books 2:15 pm - Bear Safety Talk 2:30 pm - Bear Books 2:30 pm - Bear Spray Demonstration 2:30 pm - Bear Awareness Hike (registration required. Max. 20 people)
Program Details
Bear Safety Talks (9:30 am & 2:15 pm - Main Day Lodge Banquet Room upstairs)
Do you know how to behave when you’re in bear country? Join a Conservation Officer and a Park Ranger for a 50-minute talk on how to reduce your risk of encounters with bears and what to do should an encounter occur when recreating in bear country.
Bear Awareness Hike (9:30 am, 10:45 am, 1:30 pm & 2:30 pm - Register at the welcome table on April 20 to participate in this walk (Max. 20 people per hike))
Join WildSmart for this fun and educational walk through bear country (Distance 1km max.) You’ll learn how to use bear spray and how to prepare for a hike in bear habitat. On the trail you’ll practice how to avoid bears and how to handle a variety of different bear encounters with help from the WildSmart bear. This hike is family friendly and children must be accompanied by an adult (Register at the welcome table at the Day Lodge Main Entrance on Bear Day).
Bear Spray Demonstrations (9:30 am, 10:30 am, 11:30 am, 1:30 pm & 2:30 pm - Outside in the stadium area west of the Main Day Lodge)
Bear spray demonstrations with inert bear spray are being offered throughout the day. Come try it out for yourself!
Stoney Nakoda Knowledge Keeper Grizzly Bear Discussion (11:00 am to 12:00 pm - Main Day Lodge Banquet Room upstairs)
William Snow, Acting Director of Consultation with the Stoney Tribal Administration will facilitate a discussion with a panel of Knowledge Keepers about Stoney Nakoda Traditional Knowledge of Grizzly Bears (60 mins).
Kids’ Bear Storytime (9:30 am & 11:30 am - Meeting Room B upstairs)
Join Laurie Schwartz from Parks Canada Public Outreach to hear the story “A Beary, Berry Good Day”. You will learn about bears, and discover how to help animals stay healthy and wild (30 mins).
Bear Day Official Welcome (12:15 - 12:30 pm - Outside at the bear culvert trap west of the Main Day Lodge)
Join us as we welcome bears back from their long winter sleep.
Bear Trapping Demonstration (12:30 pm - Outside at the bear culvert trap west of the Main Day Lodge)
How does a bear culvert trap work? Why does Alberta Parks want to trap adult female grizzly bears in the Kananaskis Valley? Join Ecologist John Paczkowski and Conservation Officer Melanie Pachkowski at 12:30 pm as they trap a grizzly bear “volunteer” in this ½ hour demonstration.
Presentation: ‘There's a Bear on my Street!’ A conversation about urban wildlife (1:30 pm - Main Day Lodge Banquet Room upstairs)
Join Wildlife Ambassador Derek Ryder for this informative discussion about urban wildlife and what you should do if there’s wildlife (like a bear) in YOUR neighbourhood. Learn about the consequences of reporting (and not reporting) bears in town, as well as strategies that could help in preventing bear removal or relocation (45-60 mins).
Bear Books For Kids (1:30 pm & 2:30 pm - Meeting Room B upstairs)
Getting Here
Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park is located at 1988 Olympic Way immediately west outside of the Town of Canmore, Alberta.
Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park is located at 1988 Olympic Way immediately west outside of the Town of Canmore, Alberta. Click for Google Maps link.
A Kananaskis Conservation Pass (KCP) is required to park at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
KCP Passes can be purchased online here or at the Front Desk in the Canmore Nordic Centre Day Lodge.
Please use the following parking map as a reference if arriving by car:
Other info:
Hungry? The Cornerstone Café (located in the Day Lodge) serves hot and cold meals, beverages, and energy snacks! Come try their Bear Day food specials such as the Hibernation Hamburger or Grizzly Grilled Cheese (bear shaped grilled cheese with fries and veggies).
Pets are not allowed in the Day Lodge (working service dogs permitted)