At the end of June, my husband and I decided to look for a place nearby to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. A friend of ours was able to watch our teens & lab puppy for the night (thank you!), so we booked a mid-week stay at the Mount Engadine Lodge and spent a few days in Kananaskis Country.
Built in 1987, Mount Engadine Lodge is located just south of Buller Creek and was part of the bid for the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympic games, with nearby peaks designated as alpine and nordic ski areas. The original lodge consisted of the main building, housing the common areas and lodge rooms.
from the Mount Engadine Lodge website
The meadow-view chalets were added in the late 90’s, while the luxury canvas yurts that we stayed in were added in 2018, each complete with an ensuite bathroom and a private deck.
We arrived a little after 2pm, due to our paddle being rained out early. Even though check-in wasn’t until 3pm, we were greeted with afternoon tea in the main lodge by the fire.
After checking into the Writers Studio where we were welcomed with chocolate covered strawberries and Prosecco as part of our ‘romance package’, we returned for part two of the tea-time to dine on a snack of charcuterie offerings and an in-house cocktail.
The day was dreary & definitely very wet outside, but the misty mountain view and the hospitality made up for the weather.
Each room (or in our case, tent) at Mount Engadine Lodge has their own table to eat at in the lodge for the duration of their stay for the tea/cocktail hour, dinner hour and breakfast the following morning.
The menu was delightful and we did not go hungry, that is for sure! It was nice to have all the food included in the price of our stay and the service was excellent to boot.
After dinner we enjoyed a walk around the lodge and down the road. It was so quiet, except for some rumbling thunder in the distance (which did not stay distant for long). Once back at our glamping tent full and ready for sleep, we crawled into our bed to find it was very comfortable. The ensuite bathroom meant no running out to the outhouse in the middle of the night and we even had our own shower.
> WATCH OUR REEL ABOUT OUR MOUNT ENGADINE STAY ON INSTAGRAM: HERE
When we first checked in to our room earlier in the day, we noticed little tiny boxes next to each side of the bed that contained a pair of earplugs. We wondered why someone may want earplugs, but thought the gesture to be considerate of those not used to sleeping in a tent.
Later we discovered why we may want earplugs… as we were rained on for the duration of the night, complete with thunder & lightening. We managed to sleep through this part without the earplugs, but when the hail started in the early morning (5am) it became loud! We had a good laugh about it though, because how often does an epic thunderstorm and hail happen in the mountains?
After showering, we made our way over to the lodge to our ‘Writers Studio’ table for breakfast. I may still be regretting not ordering the waffles topped with amazingness, but that just means I’ll have to go back and put in a breakfast request. 😉
If you’re looking to getaway to the mountains with your significant other or best friend etc., this was perfect. Would I have liked the weather to have been nicer? Of course, but this backcountry lodge stay was a great way to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary and we will definitely be back again in the future.
Thank you to the staff an the Mount Engadine Lodge for our stay. We enjoyed it incredibly… keep that fire stoked for us!
Location: 1 Mount Shark Road, 36 km south of Canmore on the Smith Dorrien Highway
Elevation: 6,050 feet or 1844 metres
Required: All visitors to Kananaskis Country require a daily or a yearly pass, to support conservation efforts in the area.
Wi-fi Available in the main lodge.
*Disclaimer: We were not compensated in any manor for the creation of this article and the opinions are our own.
