Stargazing & Northern Lights Private Tour

Canmore Kananaskis Stargazing & Aurora Night

Your own private night under the darkest sky in the Bow Valley — a guided constellation tour, aurora watch, blankets and hot chocolate at Spray Lakes. Up to 11 guests, from $800 per group.

Canmore is a mountain town with streetlights. Drive thirty minutes up Spray Lakes Road, over Whiteman’s Gap and into the Kananaskis backcountry, and the streetlights are gone — along with every other light for kilometres. What’s left is the sky the way it looked before electricity: the Milky Way as a solid band overhead, satellites tracking between the stars, and on the nights the sun cooperates, the northern lights lifting over the peaks in curtains of green and pink.

This isn’t a seat on a bus. It’s your van, your guide, your night. We pick you up at your door in Canmore, drive you to the dark, and give you the sky — with blankets, headlamps and a thermos of hot chocolate — until it’s time to bring you home.

What to Expect:

  • Door-to-door pickup in Canmore and a private van for your group only — up to 11 guests
  • A 30-minute drive up Spray Lakes Road to a dark-sky viewing site chosen that night for the clearest available sky
  • A guided constellation tour — the winter sky is the best of the year, with Orion, the Pleiades and the brightest stars overhead
  • Aurora watch: your guide reads the forecast, faces you north, and tells you what you’re seeing when it happens
  • Blankets, headlamps and hot chocolate under the stars
  • Help with your phone camera — most modern phones will catch the aurora if you know the settings, and we do
  • Home by 10:30pm, or later if the show is still on and you’d like to stay (see overtime below)

Your Evening:

  • 8:00pm — Pickup at your Canmore accommodation
  • 8:15pm — Depart Canmore for Spray Lakes Road
  • 8:45pm — Arrive at the viewing site, set up and get oriented in the dark
  • 9:00pm — Constellation tour, aurora watch, hot chocolate
  • 10:15pm — Depart the viewing site
  • 10:30pm — Back at your accommodation

What’s Included:

  • Private guide and driver for your group
  • Private van, fuel, insurance and the Kananaskis Conservation Pass
  • Blankets, headlamps and hot beverages
  • Alternate-night guarantee: if cloud or weather prevents viewing, we’ll offer another night during your stay where we have availability — or a full refund

Trip Details:

  • Duration: ~3 hours door to door (billed as a 4-hour private charter, yard to yard)
  • Departure: 8:00pm pickup, any night on request
  • Location: Dark-sky viewing sites along Spray Lakes Road (Hwy 742), Kananaskis. Sites are reached by unpaved mountain road; your guide may adjust the route for conditions or for the best available sky.
  • Group Size: Private — up to 8 guests in one van (larger 14 and 24 passenger vehicles available upon request)
  • Price: $200 per hour, 4-hour minimum — from $800 per group. Overtime after 8 hours billed at 1.5× the hourly rate. A 15% gratuity is added to all private tours. Prices exclude GST.
  • Minimum Age: All ages welcome — this is a wonderful one for families with kids old enough to stay up
  • Season: October – March for the earliest dark and the longest nights; available year-round with a later pickup in summer
  • Booking: Private tours are booked by request — send us your dates below and we’ll confirm within one business day
  • Cancellation: Full refund with 7 days’ notice. Weather cancellations by us are rescheduled or refunded in full.

What to Bring:

  • Dress for standing still in the cold — your warmest coat, insulated boots, mitts, a toque (beanie), and a layer more than you think you need
  • A phone or camera; a small tripod if you have one
  • Your eyes. Give them 15 minutes in the dark and you’ll see three times as many stars

Good to Know:

  • The aurora is a natural phenomenon and can’t be guaranteed — but the stars can, and on a clear Kananaskis night they are reason enough.
  • Canmore Adventures is not responsible for delays due to weather, traffic or road conditions.
  • Meals and additional activities are not included but can be arranged.
  • Damage to the vehicle or excessive cleaning may result in additional charges.

Why We Love It:

Most people who visit the Rockies never see the real night sky — they see it from a hotel balcony, with the town glowing underneath. Half an hour from that balcony there is a place where the sky is black to the horizon and the mountains are only a darker shape against the stars. Standing there, wrapped in a blanket with a hot drink, watching for the first green flicker in the north — that’s the Rockies at their most quiet and most astonishing. We can’t promise the lights. We can promise the night.