If you stopped checking trail conditions at the Canmore Nordic Centre sometime last fall because officials said the closures would mostly clear up within a couple of months, you're overdue for an update. One trail from that original closure list still hasn't reopened, a full year later, and the park's own current trail report is still listing the same construction project as an active problem. The bigger story here isn't just one stubborn trail. It's that this same multi-year program is already funded to move south next, into a different part of town, which means the version of "normal" you're waiting for at the Nordic Centre is really just this year's disruption zone. Next year it moves.
The Closures Took Longer Than You Were Told
Phase two of the Bow Valley Fireguard began August 18, 2025, with an expected finish by March 2026. It covers three zones inside the Nordic Centre: Nordic Centre East Upper, Nordic Centre East Lower, and Nordic Centre West, the last of which butts up against the Banff National Park boundary. Combined, the plan called for clearing roughly 82 hectares of forest and thinning another 35, work involving mechanical tree removal and log hauling on active haul roads.
When those closures went in, Laura Quelch, executive director of the Canmore and Area Mountain Bike Association, told the Rocky Mountain Outlook that most affected trails were expected to reopen within a couple of months, by mid-September to October 2025, with winter biking and skiing largely untouched. That was the plan a year ago. The park's own trail report, updated August 22, 2026, still lists the same fireguard construction as a current closure, with active haul roads and mechanical tree removal still called out by name. One specific casualty, the Get Down trail, has been marked closed since November 17, 2025, with no reopening date attached even now, ten months past that closure date and well beyond the original March 2026 finish line. What the same report does confirm as open: Spray Hill along Highway 742 and both Grassi Lakes trails. If your loop runs through those, you're clear. If it runs through Get Down, plan a permanent detour rather than a workaround, because there's still no timeline for when that one comes back.
Why the Original Timeline Didn't Hold
The August 2025 start wasn't arbitrary. Crews held off until mid-August specifically to clear the migratory bird nesting window before bringing in equipment, a constraint that pushed the project later into the season than residents might have expected given how early the closure signage went up around town. The plan also called for wrapping before ski season, since Quelch noted winter biking and skiing should be largely unaffected, and the Rocky Mountain Outlook's editorial board wrote at the time that the work wasn't expected to interfere with the Para biathlon and cross-country skiing World Cups scheduled at the Nordic Centre that December. Those winter events appear to have gone ahead as planned. What didn't wrap on schedule is the summer trail network itself, where at least one trail is still shut down well past the point anyone told residents to expect.
Here's where things stand as of the most recent report:
| Trail or Zone | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Grassi Lakes Interpretive Trail | Open | Improvement work ongoing, expect crews and equipment on site |
| Grassi Lakes Upper Trail | Open | Same active work zone as above |
| Spray Hill (Hwy 742) | Open | Confirmed in the August 22, 2026 update |
| Get Down | Closed | Closed since November 17, 2025, still no reopening date as of this report |
| Nordic Centre East Upper/Lower, West | Ongoing work | Fireguard construction and haul roads still flagged as a current closure |
This Was the Small Phase
Set against the rest of the Bow Valley fireguard program, the disruption at the Nordic Centre is actually the modest chapter. Phase one, which covered Stoneworks Creek east and west, Harvie Heights, and the Banff East Park gates, cleared 1,188 hectares of forest and thinned 31 more, more than fourteen times the footprint of what's happening at the Nordic Centre right now. The reason it feels bigger to residents has nothing to do with scale and everything to do with proximity. Stoneworks Creek isn't where most people run their evening loop. The Nordic Centre is.
Where It's Headed Next
The fireguard isn't finished after March. Canmore Fire Chief Shawn Polley told council in June that the next segment runs along the south boundary of town, tracing a line roughly 15 kilometers long and 150 meters wide behind Peaks of Grassi and Stewart Creek, continuing down toward Dead Man's Flats. That section covers about 291 hectares total, split between 176 hectares of logging and 113 hectares of hand thinning and cleanup in spots too sensitive for machinery. Council approved $3.66 million for the work in June, pending provincial grant funding, with logging originally penciled in for as early as August and major work expected through this fall and into the winter of 2026 and 2027. Hand crews would continue thinning and cleanup into 2028.
Councillor Jeff Mah asked what residents near Peaks of Grassi and Stewart Creek should expect to see. Polley's answer was that it would look similar to the thinning already visible near the Grassi Lakes parking lot and around the Nordic Centre, selective cutting rather than a clear cut across the whole corridor. If you live anywhere along that south edge of town, this is the version of the story that matters to you next, not the one currently wrapping up at the Nordic Centre.
The Backyard Rule at Quarry Lake Hasn't Changed
A few kilometers from the Nordic Centre, off Spray Lakes Road, Quarry Lake operates under its own set of rules that have nothing to do with the fireguard and everything to do with keeping a heavily used park functional. The dog park there has two official off-leash zones, a meadow area and a separate pond, and Canmore's animal control bylaw caps off-leash dogs at three per person specifically at Quarry Lake, a limit introduced after the town found it accounted for the majority of off-leash tickets issued anywhere in Canmore. Fines for an off-leash dog outside the designated zones start at $250. If you're a resident with a valid Resident Parking Permit, you get up to three hours free in the Quarry Lake lot before metered rates kick in, which matters more than it sounds given how quickly that lot fills on a warm weekend.
The Short Version If You're Headed Out This Weekend
- Grassi Lakes Interpretive and Upper trails are open, though expect equipment and crews doing improvement work
- Spray Hill along Highway 742 is open as of the August 22, 2026 report
- Get Down remains closed, and has been since November 17, 2025, with no announced reopening date
- Bear activity is active across the park, carry spray and make noise regardless of which trail you take
- The wildlife corridor above the stadium restricts travel to designated trails only from June 16 through November 30
- At Quarry Lake, off-leash dogs are capped at three per person, and resident permit holders get three free parking hours
None of this is a finish line. The Nordic Centre's fireguard work is one stop in a program that started at Stoneworks Creek, moved through Harvie Heights and the Banff gates, has spent more than a year working through the Nordic Centre's east and west blocks with at least one trail still closed, and is already funded to head south behind Peaks of Grassi next. Treat the current trail report as a snapshot, not an announcement that the work is over. The next set of orange fencing is already scheduled, just somewhere else in town.
Whether you're weighing how proximity to trail access like this affects day to day life in a specific pocket of Canmore, or you're trying to understand what a property near an active mitigation corridor might mean long term, it helps to talk to someone who tracks these projects as they move through town. Vincent & Wright Group works these neighborhoods year round and can walk you through what's actually happening on the ground, not just what a listing says.
