The Ghost River Wilderness Area, in southwest Alberta, holds a very special place in my heart. I spent eight years living and working in the area and its rugged beauty hooked me instantly. Even now I return on a regular basis to escape the city (and the crowds in nearby Banff or Kananaskis) and explore this often overlooked gem. The Ghost is steeped in history and, if you believe the stories, earned its name from the ghoulish legends associated with the region.
I wrote extensively about the Ghost River Wilderness in my story, Exploring in the Land of Ghosts, which details some of those aforementioned legends. I also wrote about the Black Rock Fire Lookout, which takes a closer look at one of the province’s early forest fire detection locations. It was the Ghost’s intriguing history that prompted me to put this photo story together in the first place. Unfortunately there aren’t a lot of historical photos of the area, but I found what I could and that’s what follows here.
Please enjoy the following post about one of my favourite places in Alberta.
Tyler is originally from Saskatchewan, and yes he cheers for the Roughriders, but don’t hold that against him as Calgary has been his home for the past eight years. He is a teacher working at a wilderness-
based treatment program for youth working to overcome addiction. Tyler is also a volunteer with the GOT Parks initiative, which aims at reconnecting Canada’s youth with our national, provincial, and territorial parks. During his time away from work, Tyler enjoys outdoor activities, such as hiking, biking, and snowboarding, team sports, travelling, photography, spending time with good friends, and being at home with his wife and German Shepherd, Rome.
Writing-On-Stone is a provincial park in the southeast corner of Alberta near the Montana border. Vast open prairies meet endless sky before giving way to an otherworldly landscape in the Milk River Valley. The area […]
Anyone who has driven west from Banff towards Lake Louise has gazed in awe at the towering cliffs of Castle Mountain. But most don’t realize that the same mountain was the backdrop to a scandalous […]
Between 1903 and 1922 Bankhead was a bustling coal-mining town located on the lower slopes of Cascade Mountain in modern-day Banff National Park. The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) established the coal mine and the town […]