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Alberta's
Elk Island National Park
on the Trans Canada Yellowhead
 by
Jerry W. Bird
Where
buffalo roam. If you ask, one of the park guides
can relate the fascinating story of how Elk Island
National Park got its name, and became a popular
attraction. In this wooded sanctuary which
straddles both sides of the Trans Canada Yellowhead
Highway, over 400 buffalo roam. They share the
park's rolling hills, wetlands and grassy meadows
with moose, mule deer and elk. Did you know that
Canada has two distinctive breeds of buffalo - the
woods and plains variety? Both are represented here
- but kept at a safe distance and protected by an
iron fence. Poplar, spruce, aspen and birch line a
network of hiking trails, connecting with lakes and
sloughs that teem with waterfowl. Elk Island
National Park's Sandy Beach recreation area has a
9-hole golf course. A thatched-roof dacha houses
the Ukrainian Folk Museum, saluting the major
ethnic group that settled this
area.
Nearby Communities on the Trans Canada
Yellowhead HIghway include:
Fort Saskatchewan
Mounties and Mutton? The red coated Mountie on
Fort Saskatchewan's city logo, reflects its history
as a North West Mounted Police fort; other elements
being a grain head for agriculture and a drill bit,
saluting Sherritt Gordon, the city's first
industry. The "mutton mowers" program using sheep
for vegetation control within a city - a first for
Canada - is now in its 11th year. The city sits on
a layer of salt beds that stretch across Alberta to
its eastern border. Its economy is fueled by key
industries including Dow Chemical and Sherritt Inc.
Fort Saskatchewan is on the pipeline corridor from
Fort MacMurray oil sands to Sarnia,
Ontario.
Strathcona
County
Strathcona County's Beaver Hills area includes
Cooking Lake, Lake Edmonton and a bevy of smaller
lakes. Its wildlife population includes fox, lynx,
bobcats, wolves, beaver, muskrat, moose, bear,
martin, mink, elk, mule deer, white tail deer, and
a few caribou. Principal communities are Fort
Saskatchewa and Sherwood Park. A popular meeting
place and residential area, on Edmonton's doorstep,
Sherwood Park was the site of the Trans Canada
Yellowhead Highway Association's 56th Annual
Convention. The delegates found it ideal, being
next to one of Canada's most complete multiplex
sports facilities under one roof. The very latest
member of Strathcona County's eleven golf courses
is the Northern Bear Golf Club, a new Jack Niklaus
Signature Course. Wayne Gretsky of NHL and Olympic
Hockey fame, headlined its first tournament in
2002.
The area's
past comes alive at the Strathcona County Museum
and Archives; Kalyna Country Ecomuseum and the
Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village. Sherwood
Park's Heritage Mile, features Smeltzer House,
Ottewell Centre, Salisbury United Church, Monument
Park and the Smyth Farm. Exhibits cover early
settlement, grain and dairy farming, the railroad
era, sawmills and aviation. For family fun there's
farm visits, horseback riding, U-pick berry fields,
sleigh and hay rides. Strathcona County is home to
many stables where trail rides, riding lessons, and
hayrides are available.
Natural
attractions are Elk Island National Park,
Strathcona Wilderness Centre, and Cooking Lake.
Modern day amenities include Strathcona County
Kinsmen Leisure Centre, Millennium Place Aquatic
Centre with an indoor wave pool, lazy river, water
play structure, and a 10 lane competition pool.
Bird watchers enjoy the County's numerous nature
spots, such as Ministik Bird Sanctuary, Collingwood
Cove, Hastings Lake, Kawtikh Retreat, North Cooking
Lake, North Bruderheim, Astotin, Baseline Pond,
Bretona Pond and others
.
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