Bow Valley is a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

located along the upper Bow River in

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada. The name "Bow" refers to the reeds that grew along its banks and which were used by the local First Nations people to make bows; the

Blackfoot language The Blackfoot language, also called Siksiká (its denomination in ISO 639-3, ; Siksiká ik͡siká syllabics ), often anglicised as ', is an Algonquian language spoken by the Blackfoot or ''Niitsitapi'' people, who currently live in the nort ...

name for the river is , meaning "river where bow weeds grow".Bow Riverkeeper article
about the river.

Community

There are several communities in the Bow Valley, including Banff, Canmore, Kananaskis, and the hamlets of Dead Man's Flats,

Exshaw Exshaw is a hamlet in Alberta, Canada within Municipal District (MD) of Bighorn No. 8. Located approximately west of downtown Calgary and east of Canmore, Exshaw is situated within the Bow River valley north of the Bow River. The hamlet was ...

, Harvie Heights, Lac des Arcs, and Lake Louise. Local residents are culturally diverse, with growing immigration trends since the early 2000s.

Parks

Bow Valley Provincial Park Bow Valley Provincial Park is a provincial park in Alberta, Canada. Established in 1959 in the arch of the Bow River at its confluence with the Kananaskis River, the park is one park of many within the Kananaskis Country park system. This park i ...

(part of the Kananaskis Country park system) was established east of the

Canadian Rockies The Canadian Rockies (french: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part ...

in the arch of the valley, while the upper course of the Bow River flows through

Banff National Park Banff National Park is Canada's oldest National Parks of Canada, national park, established in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park. Located in Alberta's Rockies, Alberta's Rocky Mountains, west of Calgary, Banff encompasses of mountainous terrain, wi ...

. The

Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park is a provincial park in Alberta, Canada, located immediately west of Canmore, west of Calgary. This provincial park is situated at the foot of Mount Rundle within the Canadian Rocky Mountains along Bow V ...

is located between the Banff National Park and Canmore in the Bow River Valley. Numerous other recreation areas dot the valley. Provincial Recreation Areas are established at Three Sisters, Gap Lake, Grotto Mountain, Lac des Arcs, Heart Ridge, Heart Mountain,

Ghost Reservoir Ghost Lake is a reservoir in Western Alberta, Canada, formed along the Bow River. It is located approximately west of the city of Calgary and immediately west of Cochrane. It has a water surface of and a drainage basin of The average depth o ...

and other locations.

Lakes

Many lakes, glacial and artificial, are found in the Bow Valley: * Bow Lake * Hector Lake *

Vermilion Lakes The Vermilion Lakes are a series of lakes located immediately west of Banff, Alberta, in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. The three lakes are formed in the Bow River valley, in the Banff National Park, at the foot of Mount Norquay. They are locat ...

* Lake Louise *Gap Lake * Lac des Arcs * Ghost Lake

References

Valleys of Alberta {{AlbertaRockies-geo-stub