Whenever I’m about to travel to a new place, I always like to research what unique and peculiar places we can explore in the area. Ghost towns are my prime go-to, always.
I LOVE the eerie feeling of exploring places that have so much personality and history, but which are also rarely visited anymore. The ghost town of Bankhead was exceptionally unique in that we truly had the old town ALL TO OURSELVES, aside from a few curious deer.
HOW TO GET TO BANKHEAD:
Bankhead is surprisingly easy to get to! Bankhead Ghost Town sits right between Canmore and the town of Banff, near Lake Minnewaka. Follow signs as if you’re heading to Minnewaka, but be sure to take a right-hand turn onto Lower Bankhead Road. Exact coordinates are below to make your life easier, simply input these directly into your GPS/map app!
Parking lot entrance: 51.2325, -115.5235
Locomotive: 51.2308, -115.5232
Trailhead to the church: 51.2332, -115.5213
Church foundation/steps: 51.2336, -115.5194
From the parking lot, continue west and you’ll find a self-guided interpretive tour that overlooks lower Bankhead, where all the mining operations took place. Continue down the steps to your right, this will lead you to the lower town loop.
GIVE ME THE QUICK AND DIRTY HISTORY:
Unlike most of the wild-west mining towns, Bankhead would have been a pretty cushy place to live in the early 1900’s. They had running water, electricity, and even tennis courts! Bankhead was established as a company-mining town on behalf of the Canadian Pacific Railroad and the coal that was mined from Bankhead helped to further the railroad’s progress West.
As it always goes though, good things come to an end. The mining operations at Bankhead started to slow due to declining production, increasing costs, and decreasing market demand. In 1922, the government ordered the entire town to be removed.
Most of the buildings were moved to Banff or Canmore following the town’s closing and can still be viewed in these towns today. However, all that remains at Bankhead’s original site are an old steam locomotive, train tracks, and numerous foundations of the original buildings. The lamp house still stands today, as do the original steps of the church.
FINDING BANKHEAD’S CHUCH:
To find the remains of Bankhead’s church, you’ll need to have finished the loop of Lower Bankhead and returned to the parking lot. You’ll find a well-worn trail near the back of the parking lot where it makes a circular loop. Here are the exact coordinates for the trail head: 51.2332, -115.5213. Continue up the trail and you’ll find the church atop a hill in an open clearing: 51.2336, -115.5194.
DO YOU ALWAYS TRAVEL WITH AN EVENING GOWN?
By now you’re likely asking yourself what’s the deal with the evening gown. I wish I could say I always keep an evening gown on hand in a Mary Poppins purse, but that’s just not realistic. No, I don’t usually travel with an evening gown – but this dress was a special exception.
After a long series of missed special occasions in which I planned to wear the dress, I finally created my own occasion. When packing for this trip, I eyed the dress in the back of my closet as I was grabbing my heavy coat. I thought of how pretty the color would look in contrast to the snow and fall leaves and thought.. WHY NOT?
Into my luggage the dress went.. and out into the Canadian Rockies it came for it’s destined ‘special occasion’. A special s/o here to recognize Noah for not thinking me crazy and for being as excited to explore a ghost town in a new and exciting way as I was.
And also for taking these photos! They bring the happiest memories of laughs in-between when I could put my jacket back on to warm up and Noah would pull me in close to keep the mountain chill away.
Traveling to new places fills my heart with joy, and exploring and creating at the same time? Well, that just makes my heart SOAR.
