Travelling and Visiting in Canada: The Province of Alberta

Alberta, Canada is one of the three Prairie Provinces. It is landlocked and is bordered by British Columbia on the west, Northwest Territories on the north, Saskatchewan on the east and the United States on the south. The provincial capital is the city of Edmonton with its rival city to the south being Calgary.

Alberta is world renowned for oil, gas, dinosaurs, cowboys, technology, scientific advances, and national parks. There is plenty to do in Alberta, and the attractions range in a variety of tastes.

If you like outdoor adventures, there are dog sledding adventures that take place in northern Alberta. These adventures can be combined to include ice fishing and watching of the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). The Northern Lights can only be seen from a few places in the world, and Canada has one of the best spots. In addition, it was announced several months ago that this famous light show may be coming to an end as the global warming continues.

The Rockie Mountains are a spectacular mountain range that was created in the Cretaceous Period, which was approximately 100-65 million years ago, and is a complex geological formation involving igneous and metamorphic rock. The Rockie Mountains not only provide spectacular views of lakes in valleys, but also a variety of wildlife, beautiful hiking trails and camping areas, climbing, cycling, ATVing, hunting, fishing, canoeing, white water rafting, air and heli adventures, caving, horseback trail riding and a variety of water sports. During the winter and fall seasons, there is downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, ice cave climbing, ice fishing, ice skating, ice canyon climbing, sleigh rides, and tobogganing. Located in the Rockie Mountains are several national parks, including Banff National Park, and many beautiful lakes, including Lake Louise and Morraine Lake. Jasper National Park is adjacent to Banff, and has many beautiful and unique hiking trails.

The City of Edmonton has the largest shopping and entertainment mall in all of North America and it is the West Edmonton Mall. It consists of over 800 stores, over 100 eating establishments and nine world class parks and attractions. The parks and attractions consist of an amusement park, water park, marine park, ice palace, mini golf courses, bowling, billiards, arcade games and many other attractions. It also has a hotel in the mall, so accommodations are very convenient.

The City of Drumheller is the home to the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Canada’s only museum exclusively dedicated to the science of palaeontology. This museum has the largest display of dinosaur artefacts in the world. It is an interactive museum and teaches the visitors many aspects of palaeontology. Children love this museum and cannot get enough of the dinosaurs! Near the Tyrrell Museum is Horseshoe Canyon. This is an awesome canyon – you can see the sediment formation over millions of years. You can ride a helicopter to get the aerial view – it is breath taking. Or, take a hike and walk down to the bottom of the canyon and back up. Also close to the Tyrrell Museum is the Badlands, where you can see the unique formation of hoodoos.

Another hidden gem is the the town of Rosebud which located southwest of Drumheller and northeast of Calgary. Rosebud is a unique town which attracts over 40,000 tourists per year. Why is everyone visiting Rosebud? Rosebud has become the performing arts center and boasts a fine arts program that begins in high school and provides further development in post secondary education through the Rosebud School of the Arts. When you are visiting, take a break from the driving and sightseeing to watch one of the live performances at the Roesbud Theatre or visit one of the many shops in town. There is much to see, watch and listen to in the town of Rosebud. (Thank you Mythbuster for recommending this gem!)

The City of Calgary is world famous for the “Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth” -- the Calgary Stampede. It is an annual event that takes place every July for 10 days. The big event is the rodeo which attracts riders from around the world to compete in many different styles, including bareback, bull riding, junior steer riding, ladies barrel racing, novice saddle bronc, saddle bronc, steer wrestling, tie down roping, wild pony racing and chuck wagon races. In addition to the rodeo, there are competitions in agriculture (animal, food, crafts, arts, and plants), a nightly Grandstand Show, which includes an excellent display of fireworks and entertainers, a large midway and box office entertainers from around the world come to perform. This is a must see which will take more than one day to take it all in.

Alberta is a terrific destination to travel to and visit as the western hospitality greets you with smiles and warmth. So, get away and visit Alberta, Canada!

Copyright Beth100

© July 12, 2009

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