Bragg Creek, Alberta

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There are many great picnic areas in the park for everyone to enjoy!  

The picnic areas include:

• Washrooms (which are pit/vault style) 
• Fire pits for cooking 
• Picnic Tables 

Plus, there is easy access to the creek for swimming, floating, fishing, cooling off the puppies or whatever else may spark interest. 

We always recommend bringing your own garbage bags & using washable plates/cutlery for cleaning  up after the picnic to ensure the cleanliness of the park.    

There are some great trails located in Bragg Creek Provincial Park and West Bragg Creek Provincial Rec. Area to enjoy and we thought we would share a few for people's adventure lists!   

Bragg Creek Provincial Park:

• Banded Peak Connector Bench - 6.1km loop with 222m of elevation gain and considered "moderate/blue" difficulty

• Alder Trail - 1.6km loop with 68m of elevation gain and considered "easy/green" difficulty

• Bragg Creek Loop - 8.0km loop with 176m of elevation gain and considered to be an "easy/green" route. 

West Bragg Creek Provincial Rec. Area:

The following trails are great for hiking, mountain biking or snowshoeing & XC skiing in the winter months.  Be prepared with a camera for some incredible views at the midway point of the Merlin loop. The trail options below are only a few of the great trails in the area for any hiking or biking bucket list! 

• Bragging Rights to the Merlin Loop - 13.4km with 519m of elevation gain and considered to be "moderate/blue" difficulty.  

• Strange Brew - 9.4km loop with 374m of elevation gain and considered to be a "moderate/blue" difficulty. 

• Rangers Summit/Snakes & Ladders - 15.9km with 641m of elevation gain and considered to be "moderate/blue" difficulty. 

For those who don’t know, “geocaching” is what we consider to be a modern-day treasure hunt! By using GPS (Global Positioning System) people can use a smartphone or a GPS unit to locate the caches in the area.

The caches are generally in a small waterproof container providing a log book with pen or pencil to make notes of the names and dates of people who located the cache. Some caches have been known to be a bit larger which can include items for trading like small toys, trinkets, or something with more of a sentimental value people consider to be their “treasure.”  These larger caches will generally be a waterproof Tupperware container or an old military ammunition box.

Did anyone know “Bragg Creek” was actually named after Albert Warren Bragg? Yep, that’s right, the story goes that Albert & his brother headed west to start a “cowboy & ranching” lifestyle in the great plains around Calgary, Alberta.  The Bragg brothers travelled all the way across Canada from Collingwood, Nova Scotia in order to pursue a dream they had together since they were youngsters. Thinking about it, that’s a pretty long journey back in the late 1800’s and boy what an adventure that must have been! 

In the year 1894, Albert and his brother finally arrived in Calgary! The Bragg brothers quickly got caught up the in the big city booming lifestyle and it wasn’t until the fall of 1897 when the boys decided to start prepping for their new home. They ended up purchasing a tiny pot of land roughly 50km southwest of Calgary nestled along a beautiful little creek. The brothers ended up building a small cabin beside the creek and this location was where the quaint hamlet of Bragg Creek came to life. The Bragg brothers were finally living their lifelong dream of the cowboy lifestyle in the west. 

In the early 1900's, some of the new locals were finding the western winters mighty harsh and caused many of settlers to move on from Bragg Creek. For those who did stay, the local community set up a great trading relationship with the Nakoda First Nations people which has lasted for a lifetime. This new community traded many different goods between one another to get through the rough winter months. For anyone who doesn't know, the Nakoda is also know as the Stoney and highly recommend looking up on their culture because it is something of pure beauty. 

From the 1920’s moving forward, Bragg Creek became known as a popular weekend getaway in addition to all the people who chose this beautiful community as a retirement location. To this day,  people are making their way out to Bragg Creek from all over Canada to enjoy the hiking, mountain biking, horse back riding, shopping, options to view incredible art, grab a bite at one of the local restaurants plus so much more!

The hamlet of Bragg Creek still has a very old western feel to it and we feel the locals have done just an incredible job taking care of this quaint community over the years.

We strongly recommend visiting Bragg Creek because of all the amazing countryside to explore.