Kananaskis
Kananaskis Country is Alberta provincial land pressed up against the eastern edge of Banff National Park, and it is where the flights go when they want room to work. A Kananaskis helicopter tour reaches alpine lakes with no highway in them, the glaciers below Mount Assiniboine, and the one place on this page where a helicopter is allowed to set down with two people and walk them into the wilderness.
Quick answer
Kananaskis helicopter tours run from $381 for forty-five minutes to $734 for a private flight and a wilderness hike. The base sits on provincial land east of Banff National Park, which is why it may fly freely and why the private flight may land. Routes cover the alpine lakes of Kananaskis Country, the edge of Banff National Park and Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park.
What the routes cover
Alpine lakes with no roads, Mount Assiniboine, and the one flight here that lands and walks.
Forty-five minutes over Kananaskis Country. Alpine lakes strung through valleys with no road in them, the eastern edge of Banff National Park seen from outside the boundary, and Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park with its glaciers. The longest Kananaskis helicopter tour sold here, with 32 ratings at 4.7.
Twenty minutes in the air, then an hour on foot. The private listing for two: a cabin to yourselves, a flight over the Rockies, and a landing on provincial land followed by an hour walking in the wilderness with the pilot. Eleven ratings at 5.0. It is the only Kananaskis helicopter tour that stops.
Why here and not Banff. Kananaskis Country is provincial land. Banff National Park is federal parkland where Parks Canada permits neither scenic overflight nor commercial landing. A Kananaskis helicopter tour can therefore do things nothing based inside the park could ever offer — which is exactly why the base is where it is.
Worth knowing
Short answers to what people ask before they drive out.
And about an hour from Calgary, which makes a Kananaskis helicopter tour easier to reach from the city than most people expect.
That is the whole difference from the Canmore routes, which spend part of the flight over the Bow Valley highway.
The forty-five-minute flight is an overflight. If you want to stand in the mountains, book the private one or drive north to Cline River.
Bases here sit around 1,400 m and the weather turns faster than in the valley. Morning slots are worth more here than anywhere.
Required for vehicles parking in Kananaskis Country. It is a provincial pass, separate from any national park fee, and separate from your Kananaskis helicopter tour.
They turn gold for about two weeks, and from the air a Kananaskis helicopter tour at that moment is unlike anything else in the year.
If you only want to look, the Canmore flights are closer to Banff and cheaper. A Kananaskis helicopter tour is what you book when you want the empty country, or when you want a private cabin and an hour on the ground.
Flights from Canmore→Book direct
Two listings from Kananaskis, plus the Canmore flight to Assiniboine and the Cline River flight that lands.
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Common questions
Alberta provincial land immediately east of Banff National Park, about an hour from Banff and about an hour from Calgary.
From $381 for forty-five minutes over the alpine lakes, up to $734 for a private flight for two with an hour of hiking.
The private listing can, on provincial land. The forty-five-minute flight is an overflight.
Because Kananaskis Country is provincial land. Parks Canada does not permit commercial helicopter landings inside Banff National Park.
It is emptier. A Kananaskis helicopter tour spends more of itself over country with no roads in it; the Canmore routes are shorter to reach and cheaper.
For parking a vehicle in Kananaskis Country, yes. It is a provincial pass and it is not included in any Kananaskis helicopter tour.
Go deeper
From $199 to $1,035, and what a minute in the air is worth.
The verdictOne recommendation for each kind of traveller, and why.
The ruleParks Canada, and where the flights actually go.
CanmoreTwenty-five minutes from Banff, and four of the flights here.
LandingsWhere a helicopter may set down in the Rockies, and where it may not.
The rideThe weigh-in, the doors, and the first ridge.
Canadian Rockies: Helicopter Flight with Exploration Hike
★ 4.9 · 646 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h