Location, Activities & Attractions, Old Entrance Cabins & Teepees
Location



Entrance Station ~1915

Station Building 1999


Click on Campfire for historic Canadian Northern Railway's ENTRANCE Station Restoration Project




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Old Entrance Bed 'n Breakfast Cabins are located within Yellowhead County along the north bank of the Athabasca River at the historic site of Old Entrance, Alberta 14 km north-west of Hinton, Alberta, Canada and 30 km from the east gate of Jasper National Park.

During construction of the transcontinental railroads in the early 1900's the name of "Entrance" was given to the last station on the Canadian Northern Railway line prior to entering Jasper Park and the Canadian Rockies through the Yellowhead Pass. During the years that the railway operated through this tiny frontier community it was the gateway to the vast, largely uninhabited country to the north; the Grande Cache, Smoky River and Willmore Wilderness areas. Local big game guides and outfitters were renowned and the general store and Entrance post office were the trade centre for fur trappers throughout this vast wilderness region. Willmore Wilderness Preservation & Historical Foundation is a registered charitable organization dedicated to the preservation of history and the restoration of historical pack-trails within this wilderness park.


The People & Peaks of Willmore Wilderness Park
Trails and tales of outfitters Carl Luger, Art Allen, Tom Vinson, Felix Plante, Joachims, Finlays, Groats, Moberlys, Leonard Jeck, Tom McCready, Curly Phillips, Hargreaves & others


Author: Susan Feddema-Leonard
Books for Sale $60 - e-mail inquiry to:
oldentrance@yahoo.com




Old Entrance Trailrides

Guided trail rides departing from Old Entrance along the Athabasca River. Generally small groups of up to five riders. Ride historic trails while viewing the beautiful Rockies.


For more horse photos and rates

Phone (780) 865 - 4760
oldentrance@yahoo.com

Wildlife Viewing & Big Game Hunting

West central Alberta is renowned for the quality of mule and white-tailed deer, elk, moose, black bear and wolf. Small, personalized eight and ten day one on one hunts guided by Chris Franke.

Mountain Spirit Outfitters offer half day and full day summer sightseeing and wildlife viewing hiking tours along the beautiful slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Winter trapline tours in Alberta foothills forests.

www.mountainspiritoutfitters.com

Old Entrance Historic Site Interpretive Tours

Click on School House for historic photos and information on Old Entrance

Phone (780) 865 - 4760


Hinton Nordic Ski Centre

Hinton Nordic Centre (Athabasca Lookout) offers approximately 50 km of world class cross-country ski trails, biathlon gun range, luge run and telemark hill.

Located within William A. Switzer Provincial Park, 20 km north of Hinton. From Yellowhead Highway #16, drive 14 km north on Highway #40 North and turn at the Athabasca Lookout Tower Road, (9 km north of Old Entrance).


Day lodge to accommodate large groups.

Off-season, mountain bikers and hikers have use of these trails. Athabasca Lookout Fire Tower is a popular view point for seasonal tourists, offering spectacular views of Solomon Valley. There are hang glider facilities at this tower location.

www.www.hintonnordic.ca


Guided Hiking & Canoeing

Trek our endless trails. Local favorites include Ogre Canyon, Solomon Mountain, Folding Mountain and the historic Big Horn Trail. Enjoy spectacular mountain scenery, wildflowers, birds and wildlife locally and in nearby Jasper National Park.

Local hiking, canoeing and heli-hiking adventure tours.

www.wolflandtours.com

Horseback Trail Rides & Willmore Wilderness Pack Trips

Hourly trail rides from stables near Jasper Park east gate. 10 am to 6 pm. Evening, half day, full day & overnight pack trips. Hayrides - wagon rides & sleigh rides. Open year round.

Explore Willmore Wilderness Park, Alberta's largest protected wilderness area outside of the national parks with 700 km of trails for hiking and horseback riding. Spectacular glacier covered peaks, meadows, rolling foothills and wild rivers. Enjoy the comforts of horse travel and wood heated outfitter's tents for eating and sleeping.

Larry Delorme, Alberta Class "A" hunting guide, Species: White Tail, Mule Deer, Elk, Moose, Black Bear, Big Horn Sheep. Non-resident Hunters permits APOS lease. Fully-outfitted horse camps & hunter drop camps.


Athabasca Trail Ride

Larry's Riding Stables, Guiding & Outfitting
Cell Phone:(780) 865-9223

www.trailrides.ca

Mountain Bike Rentals

Old logging roads and siesmic cutlines provide endless routes for biking
along our eastern slopes of the Rockies.

Adult $20/day or $5/hr Child $5/day

Phone (780) 865 - 4760

Hideaway Bistro, Brule, Alberta

Charming counrty bistro serving full evening meals in the scenic mountain
village of Brule at the base of the Rockies, a 10 minute drive from Old Entrance.
Open Fridays and Saturdays with live entertainment. Lounge menu.



Hideaway Bistro

Hours of operation vary. Reservations recommended.

Phone: (780) 865 - 5108

Canoe Rentals

Blue Lake Centre in near-by William A Switzer Provincial Park offers
canoe rentals . 12 canoes available. Advance booking recommended.

$35 for 3 hours or $45 for 8 hours

Phone: 780-865-4789 or 780-470-4070 (cell)

www.bluelakealberta.ca

Miette Hot Springs

Hottest mineral springs in the Rockies. Flowing from the mountain
at 54°C, the water is cooled to a comfortable temperature of 40°C
as it enters the pools. A 35 minute drive from
Old Entrance with a nice restaurant for evening meals.

Open May to mid-October

Phone: 780-866-3939

Miette Hot Springs


Dog Sledding & Skijoring

Drive your own team of six Alaskan Huskies in the foothills of the Rockies.
It's an adventure you'll never forget.
$45/ea for 1 hr based on 4 participants
$65/ea for 3 hrs based on 3 participants

Experience skijoring with the assistance of a CANSI Level 1 cross-country ski instructor turned dog musher.
$35/ea - 1.5 hrs with 2 participants only.

Nordic West Ventures Inc. Phone: (780) 865-7864

Rocky Mountain Fishing Adventures

Guided trips including transportation from Hinton
area accommodations for a full day of fishing.
Guide prepares your catch at lunch over open fire, tantalizing your taste buds.

All fishing gear, foul weather clothing and
coastgard approved PFD provided.

Guaranteed fish. "No Splash = No Cash"

www.catchfish.ca Rocky Mountain Fishing Aventures


Downhill skiing & snowboarding

Marmot Basin ski area, located in Jasper National Park provides some of the best skiing and snowboarding in the Canadian Rockies.

Marmot Basin is a fifty minute drive from Old Entrance.

www.skimarmot.com

Guided Adventure Tours

Guided hiking, canoeing, trekking tours in western Canada. Combination of sightseeing and activities in and around the Rocky Mountain national parks of Banff, Jasper, Waterton, Kootenay, Yoho and Glacier, northwestern BC, the Yukon and the Pacific shores.


Mountain Rivers Canoe Adventure: Five days of fun, thrills and action on this downriver trip in open Canadian canoes. Learn to "read" the water and practise minimum impact wilderness camping. A day of training on quiet water prepares you for the run down the mighty Athabasca River. There are no towns, no houses along the route, just you, the river and the forests. A truly Canadian adventure for beginners and experienced canoeists.

www.timberwolftours.com



Brule Lake

Cathedral Mountain - Willmore Wilderness
Our Location

Today with the railway gone historic Old Entrance is a beautiful riverfront site for Old Entrance Bed 'n Breakfast. The historic 1914 CNoR train station building is now used as our B & B main house, 1923 log schoolhouse and Shand-Harvey's 1921 trapper's cabin remain. Our 60 acre property and surrounding crown lands provide excellent bird watching, hiking, mountain biking and horse riding trails. Often deer can be spotted grazing the hillside and coyotes can be heard yelping across the river. Usually clear night skies provide spectacular star gazing.

Local fishing: Athabasca River hosts numerous types of fish, including northern pike, mountain white fish, bull trout, native rainbow trout, arctic grayling, brown trout, and more! Athabasca River is a fast, broad-shouldered glacial river that for most of the summer is at high water and is either milky or muddy. This river beginning at Columbia Ice Fields flows northeast and eventually empties into Lake Athabasca. When it flows clear in early spring and late summer or fall it does hold a few huge bull trout (catch and release) and northern pike. During summer for rainbows, brookies or whitefish you're better off trying smaller streams or lakes. Oil and logging roads provide easy access to tributaries of Berland and McLeod rivers such as Wildhay, Little Berland, Gregg, Embarras, Erith, Sundance and many others. Popular fishing lakes within easy driving distance of Old Entrance are Kinky, Wildhorse, Mary Gregg, Jarvis, Blue, Graveyard, Cache, Gregg, No Name, Petite and Dunn.




Fishing at Old Entrance July 2003

Bull Trout October 2004, catch & release


Athabasca River Valley

Hike or take a guided horseback trail ride along the Athabasca River and enjoy the flowers, wildlife and spectacular views of Alberta Rockies, Roche Miette and other peaks. Take a day hike or ride over the historic Mountain Trail to Jarvis Lake or to the top of Solomon Mountain.

Enjoy bird watching, wildlife viewing, star gazing and an evening barbeque or singsong around an outside firepit. Other local attractions include wilderness pack trips, jet boat, ATV and helicopter tours, river rafting, canoeing, golfing, swimming, hang-gliding, caving, downhill skiing, cross-country skiing and more.

Trail riding horses are available for hire at Old Entrance and we also have overnight holding corrals for guests' horses. Dogs are welcome, but are not permitted free-run inside of the cabins and must be kept under strict control at all times when outside. To maintain the tranquillity of our river valley, ATVs (all terrain vehicles) are not allowed to be off-loaded or operated on our property. However, surrounding crown (public) lands provide endless trails and old roads for ATV operation with few restictions. One very popular area is Brule Lake sand dunes.

The beauty and peacefulness of this site are not our only assets, it is a prime location that is still the "Entrance" to many famous local sites and to a wide variety of year round activities. Your stay at Old Entrance Bed 'n Breakfast can be as slow or fast paced as you wish.

William A. Switzer Provincial Park is just ten minutes north where lakes await you for fishing, boating and swimming. The Athabasca Nordic Centre provides world class cross-country skiing. Miette Hot Springs in Jasper National Park is little more than a half hour drive.





Cow Elk above Old Entrance July 2008

Surprised Elk Calf along trail ride July 2007


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