ALBERTA/MONTANA
CYCLING THE CANADIAN ROCKIES
Four national parks, two countries, endless high-alpine relief, and a menagerie of outsize wildlife. That's what you'll encounter on Backroads' new 480-mile cycling trip, from West Glacier, Montana, to Jasper, Alberta. Twenty or so guests will spend nights in digs like Glacier National Park's Many Glacier Hotel—rustic western luxury at its finest. But it's the riding that shines. The trip starts on Going-to-the-Sun Road, a 50-mile asphalt snake charting an improbable course through the heart of Glacier National Park. With its expansive vistas, Going-to-the-Sun is a worthy bucket-list item for most cyclists, but on this trip the road is just the beginning. After crossing Glacier, guests pedal between 40 and 60 miles per day through Waterton Lakes, Jasper, and Banff national parks, while a support van totes gear. On the way, riders trace the Continental Divide and coast along the 143-mile Icefields Parkway, where three major river systems—and lots of elk and grizzlies—meet. Four trips between July and September; 9 DAYS, FROM $3,700 backroads.com. CASH TIP: Go with a partner and you'll save the $890 additional fee Backroads charges single riders.
ROYAL CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY FLOAT AND FISH ODYSSEY
Board the Royal Canadian Pacific Railway luxury train for a six-day, 650-mile loop from Calgary to some of the Canadian Rockies' most pristine rivers. Accompanied by local guides, you'll float in driftboats down the Elk River and chug through the most scenic rail corridors in Banff and Yoho national parks. Spend nights exaggerating your catch over Scotch and bunking in vintage 1920s Pullman cars. Price: $5,450 Outfitter: Off the Beaten Path, 800-445-2995, www.offthebeatenpath.com
When to Go: August
BRITISH COLUMBIA
SKIING AT THE NELSEN LODGE
In ten years, Revelstoke Mountain Resort will be the world's best ski destination. The place opened in December 2007 with one gondola and a quad accessing 1,500 acres. The master plan calls for 20 lifts, 10,000 acres, and 6,000 vertical feet—the most in North America. But there's no need to wait. The month-old, modern Nelsen Lodge is just 60 feet from the gondola and offers post-slope relief in the form of a massive outdoor hot tub. Bonus: Glass walls offer views of the Selkirk and Monashee ranges. Thanks to an opening special that lasts through May, doubles start at $200; thenelsenlodge.com.
SURFING AND HIKING AT THE BLACK ROCK RESORT
This three-month-old, 133-suite lodge rests on a rock promontory jutting over Barkley Sound, on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The location makes it prime real estate for three things: surfing Long Beach in summer (board rentals, Ucluelet's Inner Rhythm Surf Co., 877-393-7873); curling up by the fire to watch the jaw-dropping storms that roll through in winter; and hiking into temperate rainforest on the eight-mile Wild Pacific Trail in any season. Doubles from $175; blackrockresort.com.
HELI - MOUNTAIN BIKING THE SELKIRK MOUNTAINS
Sure, heli–mountain biking is a little absurd: You fly over roads to bike down trails. But we'd still love to try it out. Rilor Wilderness, a new outfitter dedicated to the pursuit, recently opened a 2,600-square-foot chalet on the shores of British Columbia's gin-clear Slocan Lake. On their four-day, intermediate-friendly tour of the 8,000-foot Selkirk Mountains, riders take four rides per day through alpine meadows into old-growth cedars. The last day is the biggest: a ten-minute helicopter flight for a four-hour, 5,700-foot descent from Toad Mountain to downtown Nelson. Cooldown is steak at the lodge. Eight departures between August and October; US$1,500; rilorwilderness.com
Mega-Yacht Heli-Skiing
When the B2 A-star helicopter drops you at the apex of a powdery slope amid millions of glacier-rimmed acres in B.C.'s Coast Range, you may think you've achieved the pinnacle of exclusivity. But that's only half the fun. After carving so many fresh tracks that your quads scream for mercy, you'll chopper back to a 201-foot luxury yacht to sip Dom and soak in an eight-person, 80-jet Jacuzzi. Moving anchor between two inlets in the Georgia Strait, the Absinthe serves as home base for the most extravagant, over-the-top heli-skiing in the world. Should the mountain weather turn foul, take out the kayaks, fire up the 40-foot fishing boat, or simply bask in the opulence of it all. Price: $36,000 per day (for 12)
Outfitter: Sea to Sky Helisports and Megayacht Adventures, 866-935-3228, www.motoryachtabsinthe.com When to Go: March-April
RAFTING THE NASS RIVER
Some of British Columbia's finest whitewater is merely 90 minutes from the city of Terrace, but it's been run commercially only once. Why? It wasn't until 2008 that Skeena Valley Expeditions, a local rafting outfit, received permission from the Nisga'a First Nation to run 30 miles of the Nass River, a Class IV beauty running through the wild Coast Mountains. The fortunate 12 who get on this year's trip will be among the first to paddle through the Nass's glacial water, alongside running salmon and underneath soaring eagles. Nights are spent at riverside campsites, sampling smoked salmon prepared by Nisga'a people. August 13–18; US$2,732; skeenavalleyexpeditions.com
SURF TOFINO
Take a province with more than 16,700 miles of coastline and a few hundred thousand snowboarders itching to embrace the coming summer and you get the British Columbia surf scene. Tofino, a sleepy town of 1,711 on Vancouver Island's Pacific side, explodes into a mini-metropolis every season as a horde of surfers descends in pursuit of consistent beginner and intermediate breaks. For the student who wants to mix surfing with celebrity, there's Bruhwiler Surf School, owned by one of Canada's renowned big-wave riders, Raf Bruhwiler (two-and-a-half-hour group lessons, $75; 250-726-5481, bruhwilersurf.com). At the Wickaninnish Inn, every room has an ocean view (doubles, $208–$398; 800-333-4604, wickinn.com).
LABRADOR
HIKING THE TORNGAT MOUNTAINS
Northern Labrador can be as hard to reach as parts of the Arctic, but after 12 years studying caribou herds there, these outfitters have the place dialed. Following a two-day boat ride from Maine to the Torngat Mountains, you'll carry your own pack off-trail for eight of the trip's 18 days, camping under the northern lights, crossing river valleys, and absorbing the solitude of this remote coast. Price: $3,200 Outfitter: Nature Trek Canada, 250-653-4265, www.naturetrek.ca
When to Go: July to August
MANITOBA
PADDLE HUDSON BAY
The locals in Hudson Bay aren't used to human visitors. "In 2007, a client was minding her business in her kayak when a 30-pound baby beluga whale jumped in her lap," says Wally Daudrich, owner of Manitoba's Lazy Bear Lodge, which will host paddlers on this Explorers' Corner expedition. The trip starts with a floatplane ride from Churchill to the South Knife River. From there, paddle a sea kayak alongside Explorers' Corner founder Olaf Malver for three days, sifting through mild whitewater chutes to the mouth of Hudson Bay. You'll know you've arrived when belugas start nuzzling the boat. The next five days are spent here, paddling with the whales and eating caribou steak at the Lazy Bear. Departures in July and August; 8 DAYS, $3,500 explorerscorner.com. CASH TIP: Ask about the August trip, when the price falls $500 thanks to lower local airfares.
SASKATCHEWAN
PADDLING THE WILLIAM RIVER
Here in northern Saskatchewan, all life depends on the rivers that flow toward the Arctic. The Class I-II William River, congested with foraging moose, black bears, and ospreys, is no exception. This 13-day trip begins and ends with great fishing (grayling and walleye at the outset, trout once you reach Lake Athabasca). Take a pit stop in the middle at the 100-foot-high Athabasca sand dunes to explore the ever-shifting topography. Price: $2,700 Outfitter: Piragis Northwoods Company, 800-223-6565, www.piragis.com When to Go: June
