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Travel Directions:
Campsite #2 is at the northern end of Spray Valley Provincial Park, off Hwy 742, 7.3 km south of the Three Sisters Drive intersection in Canmore, and 2.1 km north of the Riding Ridge. The easiest way to access the site is to follow Hwy 742 and park at the Goat Creek Picnic Area. Walk south along Hwy 742 for approximately 200 meters. At the point where the utility lines cross Hwy 742 you will see a gravel road to your right (west). Turn right and follow the gravel road approximately 0.7 km downhill until you reach a clearing. Turn right and continue across the clearing, passing the “Get Goin’, Cowboy” Hillside (Fight Hill), and the Dozy Embrace site. If you encounter temporary fencing in this area, go around it to the right. As you approach Goat Creek, you will see the familiar pole bridge and campsite. For pictures taken during a hike to this location, see “Hike to Campsite #2” in Albums.

To reach Hwy 742 (also known as Spray Lakes Rd. / Smith-Dorrien Rd.): From Hwy 1 (Trans-Canada Hwy), use Exit 91 “Hwy 1A - Canmore.” Follow Bow Valley Trail 2.2 km, turn left (northwest) onto Railway Ave. Proceed 0.5 km and turn left (west) at Main St. (also known as 8th St.), go 0.6 km and turn left (south) onto Bridge Rd. (also known as 8th Ave. / Rundle Drive). At the “T” intersection, turn left (south) on Three Sisters Drive, proceed 0.6 km and turn right (west) at Spray Lakes Rd. (also known as Hwy 742). (Or simply follow the helpful “Kananaskis Country” signs throughout Canmore.) See map of Canmore.

Remarks:
You are looking westward at the Goat Range. Its namesake, Goat Creek, flows by Campsite #2, forming the western boundary of the park. The Goat Range is one of many smaller mountain groups which abut Canada’s majestic Rocky Mountains.

How did these mountains all come to be here? Some 175 million years ago, geologists believe that the Pacific and the North American continental plates collided. Over the next 55 million years mounting pressures and consequent forces resulted in the massive uplift of the Canadian Rocky Mountains. A second tectonic collision roughly 85 million years ago formed the foothills and ancillary ranges, of which the Goat Range is one. See:

http://www.mountainnature.com/geology/platetectonics.htm