Page 49 - 2023-2024 Travel Guide to Canada

The annual Calgary Stampede celebrates
all things cowboy and rodeo early each July.
Edmonton K-Days follows up with a tribute
to northern Alberta’s Klondike heritage,
while dozens of other festivals across the
province celebrate Alberta’s unique pockets
of regional pride—think perogies in
Vegreville, or beef jerky in Longview.
Alberta’s dining scene is innovative and
local, emphasizing Rocky Mountain Cuisine
such as game, fish and world-famous grain-
fed beef. From upscale hotel dining rooms in
the big city to eclectic alpine bistros in Banff,
Jasper and Lake Louise, the restaurants
consistently win international awards.
NATURE’S WONDERLAND
Provincial recreational areas help keep
Albertans and their visitors outdoors.
Spread across 661,848 sq. km (255,541 sq.
mi.) of pristine terrain, the five major snow
resorts and sprawling backcountry lure
powder-hounds from November to May.
Try dogsledding through the untouched
Spray Lakes valley, or take a guided ice walk
in frozen Maligne Canyon near Jasper. The
lakes of Kananaskis Country are a delight
for ice fishing in winter and boating,
hiking and cycling in the summer. The
4,645-sq. m (50,000-sq. ft.) Kananaskis
Nordic Spa includes outdoor hot, warm
and cold pools.
Alberta’s glacier-fed waterways,
particularly the Bow and Red Deer rivers,
attract anglers with the promise of top-notch
trout fishing. In the same day, visitors can
play the back nine of a world-class golf
course, hopscotch past cactus patches in
search of ancient rock carvings in the desert,
and then retire to the hotel hot tub to watch
the sunset.
VENTURING OUT
Float your boat down a river or head for
calmer waters along Lake Minnewanka or
Moraine Lake in Banff National Park. Bonus:
hear the crack of avalanches overhead, well
out of your path but still powerful. Chase
champagne powder from the top of first-rate
resorts such as Sunshine Village, Lake Louise
or Marmot Basin, or explore them in
summer to unveil abundant wildlife and
colourful carpets of wildflowers. Canada
Olympic Park in northwest Calgary offers a
variety of winter and summer activities
including: mountain biking, skiing, hockey,
outdoor camps, skating and sports training,
while Peter Lougheed Provincial Park boasts
unparalleled opportunities for adventure
all year round.
Bar U Ranch National Historic Site, south
of Calgary, chronicles pioneer life from 1882
to 1950; this pristine setting in the shadow of
the southern Rockies is featured on many
postcards. Travellers with time on their
hands head north to Wood Buffalo National
Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site with
44,807 sq. km (17,300 sq. mi.) of protected
wilderness where the endangered whooping
crane and the world’s largest herd of free-
roaming wood bison can be found.
WHAT’S NEW?
For the next three years, from May 1 through
June 25 and September 1 through 30, as part
of a pilot program, the eastern 17 km of the
Bow Valley Parkway connecting Banff and
Lake Louise will be closed to public vehicle
traffic. Adventure seekers can enjoy cycling
this stretch offering spectacular mountain
vistas and abundant wildlife sightings.
After a 41.5 million dollar expansion and
reimagining, the TELUS World of Science in
Edmonton is ready to be explored. The
newest exhibitions are Arctic Journey and
Heath Zone (www.telusworldofscience
edmonton.ca).
Explore Banff on a guided bike tour with
Bikescape. The area features some of
Canada’s most scenic trails. The tours cater
to all abilities and ages (www.bikescape.ca).
TRAIL RIDES, BANFF NATIONAL PARK • TRAVEL AB
AB
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Anne Selmer, Internationally famous award-
winning chocolatier, opened a shop in
Calgary’s East Village next to the Central
Library. Products are honed from local
producers including honey from Drizzle
Honey, gin and vodka from au Claire
Distillery and coffee from Phil & Sebastien
(www.cochu.ca).
View the 70 murals completed across
Calgary during the 2022 BUMP Festival
(Beltline Urban Murals Project), including
the world’s tallest mural at 95 m (310 ft.)
high, which used 500 cans of spray paint
(yycbump.ca).
CITY LIGHTS
Alberta’s two major cities offer quite
different insights into the province, though
they share a love of green space, sprawling
river pathways and tidy, bustling
downtowns.
The provincial capital of Edmonton is a
government city with a grand legislature
building, a thriving arts community and
numerous galleries, craft stores and art
shops. Most can be found along trendy
Whyte Avenue or in the downtown arts
district, the location of the modern Art
Gallery of Alberta, the Winspear Centre and
the Citadel Theatre. Also in this locale is the
stunning Royal Alberta Museum, the largest
museum in western Canada (www.royal
albertamuseum.ca). The meandering North
Saskatchewan River cuts a steep swath through