Bike-Packing into the Cascade Valley in Banff National Park
In my short experience being the mother of a toddler, I’ve come to realize that bike-packing is the way to go! For us parents, it gives us the opportunity to head further into the backcountry - away from the crowds, the distractions and the responsibilities (well, a tiny fraction of them!). For our children, it entertains them with a speedy, yet leisurely ride up and down a trail, with lots to look at, point at, and “yahoo!” at. It’s a win-win!
With that in mind, we set out to bike up the Cascade Valley to the Cascade Bridge - Cr6 campground along with two other families with busy toddlers of their own!
At a Glance:
Trailhead: Cascade Valley trailhead
Distance: 6.4 kilometres one-way
Accessibility: Hiking and biking
Amenities: Outhouse, secure food storage and fire pit
Reservations at: Parks Canada
We met at the Upper Bankhead day use area, where we unloaded our mountain bikes, mounted our front-rider bike seats/chariots, buckled in our children and strapped on our packs before setting off on the trail. It started off a bit narrow and flat, but quickly widened and steepened once it joined the Cascade Fire Road. It was a little bit of a leg-burner, but short enough to keep it fun!
After about 45 minutes of biking, we crossed the bridge over the Cascade River and arrived at our home for the night. It’s a quaint campground with only 5 campsites, one pit toilet, and a cooking area that includes a picnic table, a fire pit with surrounding benches and food-storage lockers. Water can be easily accessed from the Cascade River just a stone-throw away!
One parent from each family set up camp, while the other watched over their child as they explored the paths, the flora and the raging river. Once the tents were set up and the sleeping bags were laid out, we all frolicked in a clearing below the bridge - both children and adults alike played with rocks and sticks, dipped into the frigid water and studied the bright pink fireweed.
At around 5:00 p.m., we decided to make dinner moves just as a thunderstorm was rolling in. The cooking area is located in a bit of an open area; Although we packed lightweight tarps, they would have been really tricky to put up! Thankfully, we all had rain gear (bless those MEC Newt Suits!), so we embraced the downpour as we rehydrated and enjoyed our meals at the large picnic table. The toddlers had a blast chasing each other around, jumping in puddles and banging on the food-storage lockers.
By 7:30 p.m., we could tell that our kids were hitting a wall. Their days had been full of action, and some (my own!) hadn’t taken their mid-day nap. We cleaned up our mess, stored our food, and filtered and filled our water bottles before heading back to our respective campsites.
This was our family’s very first time camping as a family of four since we had welcomed our daughter back in February. We had upgraded to a 4-person backcountry tent, purchased a MEC sleeping pad for Indy and packed our KidCo PeaPod and Morrison Outdoors sleeping bag (10% off with code: mamanurture10) for Eden. I was excited to see how bedtime would go!
We turned on the portable white noise machine, changed their diapers and dressed them in their respective layers for a night dropping down to single digits. My husband laid beside Indy, hushing, soothing and patting his back, while I nursed Eden to sleep and placed her inside the KidCo PeaPod. To our surprise (probably because we had lowered our expectations tremendously!), they slept through the night with only one wake-up on Eden’s behalf for a feed.
Indy was up at 6:00 a.m., so he and I quietly exited the tent to give the others peace and went for a chilly walk around the campground. He was very excited once his friends joined us, and they could play and run around the cooking area all over again. In the meantime, the grown-ups prepared breakfast, sipped on coffees, and began dismantling our campsites.
At 10:30 a.m., we were all packed up and ready to bike down to the trailhead. It was an incredibly fast, amusing bike ride, and by 11:30 a.m. all the gear was loaded in the car and everyone was buckled into their carseat. We made it back home in time for an afternoon nap… Had by all!
The bike-packing trip was an absolute success! It was short enough to be enjoyed by the toddlers, and very rewarding for us adults. Both the work-out and the work (a.k.a. camp duties!) were slightly strenuous with busy children, yet completely manageable for a couple to divide and conquer. Fun was had by all!
