The main access road into the Elbow River Valley is Highway 66 west from Bragg Creek. It climbs steadily along the Elbow River, passing McLean Pond and Allen Bill Pond (both are stocked with rainbow trout) and six-meter-high (20-foot-high) Elbow Falls, before climbing through an area devastated by wildfire in 1981, then descending to a campground 42 kilometers (26 miles) from Bragg Creek.

Five campgrounds with a combined total of 551 sites lie along the Elbow River Valley. The most developed of the five is McLean Creek Campground, 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) west of Bragg Creek. At the campground entrance is the Camper Centre with groceries, coin showers, and firewood ($6 per bundle). Unpowered sites are $25 per night, powered sites $32. For reservations contact Elbow Valley Campgrounds (403/949-3132, www.evcamp.com).

The other campgrounds and their distances from Bragg Creek are Gooseberry (10 km/6.2 mi), Paddy’s Flat (20 km/12.4 mi), Beaver Flat (30 km/18.6 mi), and, at the very end of the road, Little Elbow (50 km/31 mi). Each of these campgrounds has only basic facilities—pit toilets and hand-pumped drinking water—but, still, sites are $24 per night.