Retreat Locations Near Calgary

Information for (Potential) Conference and Workshop Local Chairs
Calgary is located within shouting distance of some wonderful facilities and venues for hosting professional and academic conferences, workshops, retreats, and conventions.

Links
CIC immigration: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/publications/meeting.asp

Locations

 * http://banffgatemountainresort.com/conventions.html
 * Crows Nest Mountain Resort: http://www.albertaresort.com/cmr/index.php (3 hours south of town)
 * http://www.nakodalodge.com/
 * The Kananaskis field station http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/research/KFS/ (near Canmore)
 * The Nordic Centre in Canmore (1.25 hours west of town)
 * Emerald Lake Lodge
 * http://www.crmr.com/emerald/
 * http://www.crmr.com/pdf/ELL-ConferencePackage.pdf
 * Rimrock Resort in Banff: http://www.rimrockresort.com/meetings.html
 * Sawridge Hotel and Conference Centre in Jasper (cheaper, but 5..7 hour drive from Calgary)


 * Banff is the most obvious. Great attractor for natural beauty. Remote in the sense of being 60-90 minutes away from city and airport. Wide range of prices and comfort available, from luxury hotels to the barebones of Banff Centre. BIRS specializes in workshop events for 30-40 people, but usually needs 2 years of lead time for doing so. Lots of activities to do in and around the area.


 * Lake Louise. Similar beauty and landscape to Banff, but almost another hour's drive to get there. The top end hotel is Chateau Lake Louise if you can afford it, but there are other options in the area as well (even rustic cottages).


 * Jasper. Another version of Banff, but closer to Edmonton than to Calgary. Lots of choices here.


 * Kananaskis. In the same direction as Banff, but not quite as far away, and not nearly as overrun with the tourist folks and commercialization. There is luxury to be had if wanted, such as Delta Lodge:
 * http://www.deltahotels.com/en/hotels/alberta/delta-lodge-at-kananaskis/


 * Canmore. A cute little town in the shadow of the mountains, just under an hour from Calgary, and no need to buy a national park pass. Lots of hotels to choose from at different price ranges.


 * Drumheller. The other direction out of Calgary. Gets you into the badlands of dinosaur country, and the world famous Tyrell museum. Different landscape.


 * U of C. The university actually owns field stations in the Kananaskis area that are quite remote (i.e., hard to find without an authoritative map). These are used for geoscience, biology, ecology research. Official name is Biogeosciences Research Institute. There are some accommodations on site for field trip groups: http://www.bgs.ucalgary.ca/facilities/conferences This will be dormitory style, perhaps with outdoor potties.

Motivation
I've tried to capture institutional knowledge about good venues nearby.

This page will expand as time permits.