These Canmore cellphone towers are disguised to blend in

There's a new pine tree in Canmore that's getting a lot of people chatting, sort of.

"You would have to pretty much be under it to notice that's it not a tree," Lauren Miller told the Calgary Eyeopener this week.

"As a tourist many times before I moved here, I never noticed it was there."

Miller is the mountain town's planning and development manager and she's talking about a cellphone tower that looks a lot like a pine tree.

"The base of the monopole is painted the colour of tree trunk, a brown tone. There are green attachments that look like pine needles," she explained.

It's about keeping a certain vibe in Banff's slightly less touristy neighbour to the east.

"It's important to maintain the esthetic quality of the nearby gateway. We didn't want to detract from the things that make Canmore great. We wanted to make sure it blended with the community."

Miller says the only downside is that additional antennas can't be added to this type of cellphone towercompared with the more traditional models, so down the road they may need more of them.

But most people, Miller says, might not even see the difference.

"You'd have to get pretty close and be looking. If you are not looking, you are not going to notice it."