GUIDE 2020

48 Mountains 50 /Edmonton 52 North 54 Central 55 South

LOCAL TRAVEL

Though it’s best to remain at home during this pandemic, there remain many interesting things to see and experience around once it’s safe to do so. And even after international travel restrictions are lifted, why not get to know your own province better?

albertaviews.ca 47 GUIDE LOCAL TRAVEL 2020

MOUNTAINS CANMORE CANMORE CAVE TOURS The wild, undeveloped cave under Grotto Mountain is part of one of the longest cave systems in . Rat’s Nest Cave maintains a temperature of 5°C (41°F) every day of the year.

RALPH CONNOR CHURCH Built in 1890–91, the historic Ralph Connor Memorial United Church is named for its founder and first minister, Charles W. Gordon, who wrote popular stories and novels under the pen name Ralph Connor.

JASPER At the northern end of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, this park was established in Red Rock Canyon is 16 km from the town of Waterton; the drive abounds with views of 1907. Maligne Lake—originally known as wildflowers and jagged peaks. The canyon itself is comprised of layers of red and green minerals. “Chaba Imne”—is the largest natural lake in the Rockies. Jasper is also the world’s second-largest dark-sky preserve. BANFF CAVE AND BASIN NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE ABBOT PASS REFUGE CABIN Railway workers came upon a cave MALIGNE LAKE CHALET AND GUEST HOUSE Built in 1922 by Swiss guides and now containing hot springs in 1883. Indigenous These rustic log buildings in the park, a historic site, this is the second-highest people living in the region for centuries had constructed in the early 1930s, offer habitable structure in Canada. Operated used the hot springs for healing. scenic views of Maligne Lake and Spirit by the Alpine Club of Canada, it is still Island. They reopened in 2011 and were visited by strong hikers and climbers today. CHATEAU LAKE LOUISE designated a national historic site in 2015. The chateau sits on the eastern shore of BANFF CENTRE FOR ARTS AND CREATIVITY the lovely turquoise Lake Louise facing WATERTON The 42-acre campus a few blocks from the Victoria Glacier. It helped open up the WATERTON NATIONAL PARK downtown Banff on Tunnel Mountain offers Canadian Rockies to a wider audience This park borders Glacier National Park in over 400 events year round including with the development of 160 kilometres Montana to the south. Together they make concerts, films, readings, talks, dance, opera, of trails and two teahouses that remain up the Waterton–Glacier International theatre performances and art exhibitions. popular hiking destinations. Peace Park, the first of its kind in the world. Events are always open to the public. COLUMBIA ICEFIELDS SKYWALK PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL A cliff-edge one-kilometre walkway with Built in 1927 by the Great Northern Railway, Found in the heart of , giant glaciers above and the spectacular this hotel is named after Prince Edward and now a National Historic Site of Canada Sunwapta Valley below leads to a platform and has a traditional British atmosphere and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this where only glass separates viewers from a complete with afternoon tea. world-famous “Castle in the Rockies” has 918-foot (280-metre) drop. provided legendary hospitality for 130 years. RED ROCK CANYON GONDOLA RIDES The spectacular Red Rock Canyon is a BANFF PARK MUSEUM Sulphur Mountain Gondola’s eight-minute scenic 16-kilometre drive from the town This 1903 log structure made of Douglas ride ascends 2,281 metres with cabins of Waterton. A 700-metre pathway loops fir is the oldest facility in Canada’s national that seat up to four people. At the top, walk around the top of the canyon, but you can parks, and its extensive collection of along the ridge of Sulphur Mountain to see also walk right into the canyon and touch specimens reflects an early approach to the Cosmic Ray Station, a historic site built the glacier-fed water flowing through it. the interpretation of natural history. to study energy particles from outer space. WATERTON SHORELINE CRUISE BANFF UPPER HOT SPRINGS TRAIL RIDES See Waterton Lake on a two-hour cruise that All the amenities of a modern facility in a Brewster Lake Louise Stables, a century- takes you across the international border historic spa and bath house with soothing, old riding venue, offers horseback trips to into Glacier National Park in Montana for a natural hot springs where travellers have the Plain of Six Glaciers, Lake Agnes Tea stop at Goat Haunt. Cruises run from May

“taken the waters” for more than a century. House, Paradise Valley and the Giant Steps. through to Thanksgiving weekend. TRAVEL ALBERTA/MICHAEL @MICHAELMATTI MATTI

48 JUNE 2020 albertaviews.ca 49 GUIDE LOCAL TRAVEL 2020

CHINESE CULTURAL CENTRE CALGARY The Dr. Henry Fok Cultural Hall is This complex structure was designed by modelled after the Hall of Prayers of the Santiago Calatrava. Following its opening FORT Temple of Heaven in Beijing. The ceiling in 2012, it was named one of the world’s WHOOP-UP is decorated with dragons and phoenixes top 10 public spaces by designboom. and supported by four columns with gold ornamentation. Blue tiles imported AND PALACE THEATRE from China and installed in the traditional Stephen Avenue reflects Calgary’s Chinese way cover the outside dome. sandstone era between the 1880s and 1930. Among the buildings lining the avenue, the 1921 Palace Theatre is one of The original fort built by the North West the last surviving “palace-style" cinemas Mounted Police in 1875 at the confluence and is a National Historic Site (1996). of and Elbow rivers laid the foundation for the city. The Santiago Calatrava-designed Peace Bridge. Construction started in 1967 and the 191-metre tower opened on June 30, Designed in an eclectic Victorian style, this 1968. A popular tourist attraction, the Home to nearly 1,000 animals of 119 1891 sandstone mansion in the inner city structure was outfitted with a rooftop torch species, the zoo also has six acres of was a gathering place for Calgary’s elite. for the 1988 Olympics and has LED lights Dorothy Harvie Gardens, a showcase of It’s now open to the public, and you can to mark special events. flowers. The steamy Conservatory has tour the building and gardens and dine on banana trees and pineapple plants. local gourmet cuisine in the restaurant. CENTENNIAL PLANETARIUM This former planetarium is Calgary’s best NATIONAL MUSIC CENTRE example of brutalist architecture. It housed A training and competition facility, WinSport The NMC houses a collection of musical a science centre from 1984 to 2011, and is at COP is used by high-performance instruments spanning 450 years, including now the home of , a athletes and by the public for recreation. the Trasuntino Harpsichord from 1591. museum for modern and contemporary art. www.galtmuseum.com 403.320.3954

centre has 13 acres of indoor and outdoor UKRAINIAN CULTURAL HERITAGE VILLAGE EDMONTON exhibits. Visitors can mix drilling mud, Some 50 kilometres east of Edmonton, walk the deck of an operational drilling rig the village provides a deeper and travel back 365 million years through understanding of early Ukrainian The ChaRmers + Palgary geological time to the Devonian period settlement in east-central Alberta. More inside the world’s largest virtual drill bit. than 40 buildings have been relocated from farms and towns in the area, and history is brought to life by costumed Almanacs has the 1846 fort and interpreters portraying actual pioneers. depicts life from the fur trade. Following renovations, it will reopen in May 2021. STRATHCONA FARMERS MARKET New music and The Old Strathcona Farmers Market was feature interviews on GOVERNMENT HOUSE Edmonton’s first such market indoors. It This Jacobean Revival-style mansion has over 130 vendors every Saturday and art, politics, and community opened in 1913 as the official residence features local produce, specialty foods, of Alberta’s Lieutenant Governor. The jewellery, decor, arts and crafts, clothing, brick exterior walls were covered with accessories, pottery and more. sandstone from a quarry near Calgary Thursdays 7-10 AM The Old Strathcona Farmers Market. and finished by stonemasons from UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA BOTANIC GARDEN Scotland. Free guided tours are available This 97-hectare (240-acre) botanic ALBERTA LEGISLATURE on Sundays and holiday Mondays from garden 15 minutes southwest of Observe democracy in action from the February to November. Edmonton has natural areas, cultivated in Calgary 90.9 FM gallery when government is in session. gardens, plant collections and indoor worldwide cjsw.com STANLEY A. MILNER LIBRARY showhouses. Some highlights are the AL RASHID MOSQUE The $84.5-million renovation of the library new Mughal-inspired Aga Khan Garden; Visit the first mosque in Canada, now an on Churchill Square should be finished by the Kurimoto Japanese Garden; a tropical historic building in Fort Edmonton Park. May 2020. The children’s library will triple showhouse with butterflies; temperate Subscribe to the podcast on itunes in size; there will also be a room for audio and arid showhouses; and alpine, CANADIAN PETROLEUM INTERPRETIVE CENTRE recording, cooking classes in a 2,000-ft2 herb, rose, peony, lilac, lily and primula LEDUC #1 1947 centre and a space for hosting Indigenous collections.

The site of the 1947 oil discovery, this ceremonies. BERNARD SPRAGG (PEACE BRIDGE); BILL BURRIS (FARMERS MARKET)

50 JUNE 2020 albertaviews.ca 51 GUIDE LOCAL TRAVEL 2020

NORTH When you can’t get there in person, LAC LA BICHE MUSEUM OF ABORIGINAL PEOPLES’ ART & ARTIFACTS This museum on the Portage College Meet Your Museum Online! campus houses the only permanent collection in the world of the Professional Digital collections, virtual exhibits, interactive educational programs – Alberta’s museums Native Indian Artists Inc. (Daphne Odjig, have created online spaces for you to explore and discover. Museums make you feel Alex Janvier, Joseph Sanchez, Norval good, expand your horizons, contribute to overall health and well-being, and make you Morrisseau, Eddy Cobiness, Carl Ray feel more connected. So get online, meet your local museum, and experience what and Jackson Beardy), plus an impressive museums can do for you! collection of 2,000 pieces of , Métis and art and artifacts. Visit www.museums.ab.ca to browse over 100 Recognized Museums across Alberta

LAC STE. ANNE COUNTY BUGNET PLANTATION HISTORICAL SITE This 17-acre plantation is part of Georges Bugnet’s original homestead. Born in #MeetYourMuseumOnline France and educated at the Sorbonne, he and his wife came to Alberta in 1905. His most famous novel is La Forêt. He experimented with plants that would thrive #MuseumsFromHome The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Catholic Church, built in 1909, is an example of the classically in the northern Alberta climate. Bugnet #Staycation influenced architecture of Oblate missions. It stands on an outcrop overlooking Fort Chipewyan. crossed a Russian Kamchatka rose with an #MuseumsDoMore Alberta wild rose to produce the famous AMBER VALLEY painting of the Crucifixion. Dene, Cree Thérèse Bugnet rose. Also, using seeds @AlbertaMuseums AlbertaMuseumsAssociation | www.museums.ab.ca OBADIAH PLACE and Métis make up the majority of Fort from the Ladoga Lake region of Russia, In 1911, some 300 black Americans Chipewyan’s population of 900. he developed the Ladoga pine. The emigrated from Oklahoma and filed for Established by fur traders 277 kilometres Alberta Government Forest Service uses homesteads in the Amber Valley area of north of Fort McMurray in 1788 and seed from the pines on Bugnet’s land for the County of Athabasca. Obadiah Place called “the emporium of the north,” Fort reforestation and farm shelterbelt trees. is one such homestead, settled by Willis Chipewyan is Alberta’s oldest settlement. Reese Bowen in 1913. His log cabin was replaced in 1938 by his son Obadiah FORT MCMURRAY NORTHERN ALBERTA RAILWAY STATION Bowen, who was pastor at a church on OIL SANDS DISCOVERY CENTRE The NAR Station, a Class C station built land he donated. The 1938 house is a one- The history, science and technology of the in 1916, is the last of its kind in northern and-a-half-storey, square, prairie-vernacular oil sands are shown here through exhibits Alberta. Restored and declared a historic wood-frame building that retains most of and films. You can buy a resource kit site in 1988, it is now Peace River’s tourist its original architectural features. containing six-ounce samples each of oil information centre. The ground floor has sand, bitumen, petroleum coke and tailings been furnished to the 1920s–1930s era, FAIRVIEW sand, which has instructions and enough and the upstairs features local art. Events HISTORIC oil sand for one extraction demonstration. are held at the station throughout the #DiscoverMinburn Apparently the ghost of a priest resides summer and autumn. in the historic rectory here. One visitor, after picking up a pen from a desk in the GRANDE PRAIRIE REGIONAL COLLEGE POWWOW AND ABORIGINAL GATHERING bishop’s bedroom, reportedly had a vision Perhaps one of the most beautiful colleges Every year in June, Indigenous peoples of a bearded priest sitting at the desk, in Alberta, GPRC has a stunning theatre from around the Peace region gather to writing a letter. This site has Alberta’s that’s worth a visit even if no performance celebrate their heritage. All are welcome to second-oldest fur trade building still on its is scheduled. The building was designed enjoy the food, games, music and vibrant original site, so no wonder it has collected by Douglas Cardinal and completed regalia of the entertainers. a few ghost stories. in 1976. His first major commission, it features his characteristic curvilinear walls. TWELVE FOOT DAVIS FORT CHIPEWYAN Henry Fuller Davis struck it rich in the Download our mobile app NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY CHURCH LA CRETE mid-1800s on a 12-foot gold claim in Built in 1909 in French Canadian Oblate MENNONITE HERITAGE VILLAGE northern BC, earning him $12,000. A Mission style, the church has a deep-blue This site presents the history of Mennonite wooden statue of “12 Foot Davis” stands vaulted ceiling with gold stars and angelic settlers in the area with historical buildings, in Riverfront Park on the bank of the Peace medallions. Cranberry and blueberry juice furnishings and artifacts. Pioneer Day is River. A paved walking trail connects the mixed with fish oil was used as “paint.” held annually on the first Saturday in park to the Peace River Museum, Archives www.minburncounty.ab.ca Cree and Chipewyan syllabics frame the September, with a pancake breakfast. and Mackenzie Centre. TRAVEL ALBERTA

52 JUNE 2020 WM_Alberta_Views_ad_02.20.indd 1 2020-04-07 4:01 PM albertaviews.ca 53 GUIDE LOCAL TRAVEL 2020 GUIDE LOCAL TRAVEL 2020

CENTRAL SOUTH

MARKERVILLE CREAMERY MUSEUM MILK RIVER During its 70 years of operation beginning ÁÍSÍNAI'PI (WRITING-ON-STONE) in 1902, this creamery won many butter- The largest concentration of First Nation making awards and was recognized as a petroglyphs and pictographs on the major production contender around the Great Plains of North America are here, world. Now it is a museum depicting the with more than 80 archaeological sites, commercial butter-making industry as it was including tipi rings, small buffalo jumps and in 1932, with a café that serves ice cream. buried campsites.

STEPHANSSON HOUSE PINCHER CREEK This provincial historic site was once KOOTENAI BROWN PIONEER VILLAGE the homestead of the poet Stephan G. This Western Canadian frontier village has Stephansson. Restored to its 1927 glory, 27 heritage cabins and more than 30,000 the house features costumed storytellers artifacts. It was established in 1966 to and tours where you can experience wool- preserve the area’s pioneer heritage. spinning, baking, household chores or Authentic buildings are restored and poetry readings as in the 1920s. furnished with period furniture and tools used by the inhabitants of that time. RED DEER NORWEGIAN LAFT HUS LEBEL MANSION The Hoodoo Provincial Recreation Day-Use Area has some of Alberta’s best examples of hoodoos. The Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park Interpretive Centre and Siksika Blackfoot dancers. The This centre preserves, studies and This magnificent house was built in 1910 These sand and clay rock formations have been created through millions of years of erosion. centre is an hour’s drive west of Calgary at the historic site of the 1877 signing of Treaty No. 7. interprets material relating to the life and by Timothy Lebel, one of the town’s culture of Norwegian . The log prominent businessmen. It was originally CAMROSE AND DISTRICT MUSEUM the nearly complete skeleton of a “duck- house with its sod roof is a handcrafted LETHBRIDGE a home, then a hospital, and now is the The museum consists of the main gallery billed” dinosaur, still partially encased in replica of a 17th-century farmhouse from built this FORT WHOOP–UP centre of the Allied Arts Council of Pincher and several historic buildings, including the sediment that buried it 75 million years the Numedal district in . Courses structure more than 90 years ago to serve Fort Whoop-Up, established in 1869 Creek and an art gallery. St. Dunstan’s Church, Likeness School ago; the second contains a recreation of are offered to the public in Norwegian arts, as a vital link in its irrigation network and southwest of Lethbridge, was the first and and a fire hall. The office of the Camrose a palaeontological quarry or dig site. Also crafts and cooking. open the area for settlement. The largest largest whisky-trading post in southern SIKSIKA Canadian newspaper has a working in the park is the John Ware Cabin, which concrete structure of its kind in the world, Alberta—and the most notorious. The Galt BLACKFOOT CROSSING MUSEUM printing press and Linotype machine, but provides information into the legacy of PIPER CREEK RESTORATION AGRICULTURE PROJECT the aqueduct transported water to area Museum runs the facility and tells its stories Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park the museum staff no longer have the skills Alberta’s most famous black cowboy. The perennial garden features 150 farms from 1914 to 1979. of trade and politics between the new Interpretive Centre promotes and to run the technology. varieties of edible, medicinal and pollinator arrivals and the First Nations and Métis. preserves Blackfoot language and culture. HOODOO TRAIL plants, including many wildflowers. Open COCHRANE RANCHE HISTORIC SITE Located where the historic Treaty Seven DRUMHELLER A 15-minute drive on Highway 10 Farm Days are August 15 and 16 in 2020. The Historic Cochrane Ranche Site NIKKA YUKO GARDENS was signed in 1877, this site includes a southeast from Drumheller is the Hoodoo is a 136-acre public park, the location This authentic Japanese Garden 62,000-ft2 eco-friendly museum, Chief This historic site preserves the last of the Provincial Recreation Day-Use Area, which ST. MARY’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH of Alberta’s first large-scale livestock established during Canada’s Centennial Crowfoot’s grave, Earthlodge Village and 139 mines that operated in the Drumheller has some of Alberta’s best examples of Designed by Douglas Cardinal in the operation in 1881. The Westerson in 1967 recognizes the contributions to the campsite locations of the five First Valley from 1911 to 1979, when “Coal was hoodoos. These unique rock formations, 1960s, the church is such an innovative Cabin hosts free cultural and heritage Lethbridge made by citizens of Japanese Nations that signed the treaty. King.” The site comprises 31 hectares some over 20 feet tall, are pillars of sand structure that it is internationally renowned. demonstrations from May to August. ancestry. with buildings, trackways, machines, tools and clay created through millions of years TABER IRRIGATION MUSEUM and documents from the working mine. of erosion. A harder capstone over the ROCKY MOUNTAIN HOUSE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE CROWSNEST PASS LONGVIEW Irrigation has shaped Taber’s development. Tours include a train ride, a walk on the last softer base beneath remains, while the This site demonstrates how the fur trade SPELUNKING BAR U RANCH From early efforts of pioneer settlers and wooden tipple in Canada and exploration surrounding earth is eroded by wind, water helped shape the nation and features Canada’s two longest caves, Yorkshire Established in 1882, the Bar U became interned Japanese workers, and through of an underground tunnel. and thawing and freezing cycles. exhibits and the archaeological remains Pot and Castleguard, lie beneath the very successful and was linked with the constant modernization of irrigation of four forts. It provides hands-on tutorials Crowsnest Pass. characters including Patrick Burns and systems, this formerly desert-like region MARKERVILLE in Métis skills of the fur trade and gives Harry Longabaugh (a.k.a. the Sundance now produces crops such as sugar beets, This park, a UNESCO World Heritage HISTORIC MARKERVILLE visitors the opportunity to camp in Kid). Today it is a historic living ranch and pulses, beans and the famous Taber corn. Site, contains one of the world’s richest Icelandic pioneers settled here in 1888, Indigenous trapper’s tents and tipis. HEAD-SMASHED-IN BUFFALO JUMP interpretive centre. dinosaur fossil fields and Canada’s largest among them one who would become This designated UNESCO World Heritage TURNER VALLEY GAS PLANT badlands area. The natural preserve is ’s most revered poet, Stephan G. STETTLER ALBERTA PRAIRIE RAILWAY TRAIN TRIP Site is one of the world’s oldest, largest On May 14, 1914, wet natural gas sprayed off limits to all but park staff, scientists Stephansson. Since 1974 the Stephan A five-hour round trip on a steam or diesel- and best-preserved buffalo jumps. First MEDALTA POTTERIES out of the well bore at Dingman No. 1 and interpretive guided tours, but there G. Stephansson Icelandic Society has powered train includes a buffet meal at Nations hunted buffalo here for more than Medalta is a ceramics arts facility and and changed the nature of this province are five trails with spectacular views you restored his house, the creamery, the Big Valley, which was the divisional point 6,000 years, chasing them over the cliff an innovative industrial museum in a forever. Alberta’s first natural gas plant can follow on your own, including the Lutheran Church, Fensala Hall and the for the Canadian Northern Railway in the and then carving up the carcasses in the converted century-old factory. In 2010 started the modern oil and gas era. The Badlands Trail, where signage explains Tindastoll Cemetery. The Buttermaker’s early 1900s. Attractions include a restored camp below. An interpretive centre on an archaeologist named Talva Jacobson buildings and equipment here reflect the why dinosaur bones are found here. Along House restoration will begin May 2020. A railway station, roundhouse interpretive site features exhibits and guided tours discovered three round kilns under evolution of natural gas processing and the public scenic loop road are two future project is a newly acquired original centre, St. Edmund Church and Jimmy Jock explaining the hunt and the First Nations the concrete floor, which had been the technological changes in the oil and outdoor fossil displays: the first contains Icelandic library. Boardwalk. Also, the train may be robbed. @NATESVSCROCODILE TRAVEL ALBERTA/NATE GOLDIETRAVEL ALBERTA/KATIE way of life. constructed in the 1960s. gas industry. #

54 JUNE 2020 albertaviews.ca 55