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ALB
ERTA Have another close look at
my official map. From Wild Rose Country to the Blue
Canadian Rockies of song and legend, I am Alberta's
own highway to adventure. By the way, Alberta's
emblem came from the wild roses, which grew along
the old Victoria Trail. Crossing the province in a
westerly direction, I parallel the mighty North
Saskatchewan River with its broad and scenic
valley, via Elk Island National Park to the City of
Edmonton. From Alberta's capital I make a beeline
straight west to one of Canada's most outstanding
world-class destinations - a place where millions
have enjoyed their "Rocky Mountain high of a
lifetime" ... Jasper National Park. Need we say
more? County of Vermilion
River How green is my valley? The
County of Vermilion River, which includes the
hamlets of McLaughlin, Rivercourse, Blackfoot,
Islay, and Clandonald offers a laid back
atmosphere. Vermilion Provincial Park and Lea Park
provide opportunities for pleasure boating,
fishing, and the usual water sports. What's more,
visitors can golf with a backdrop of rolling hills,
or choose a hiking or horseback riding trail along
the verdant Vermilion River valley. Country
museums, local festivals and top events like the
CRA Lea Park Rodeo and Three Cities Fair keep
enthusiastic supporters from near and far coming
back in droves. Main Street, Alberta. For
Yellowhead travellers coming from the east, the
town of Vermilion is likely their first taste of
Alberta - and around here; good taste is always in
fashion. A walk-around tour of Vermilion's downtown
area includes over 30 historic blocks, all lovingly
restored, and each featuring an interesting shop or
service. The result could easily pass for a Norman
Rockwell original, vintage 1930. Add some antique
autos, and you've got the perfect movie set. This
tree-lined community offers visitors a the
pleasures of heated outdoor swimming pool, a nine
hole golf course and in winter -- a km-long
snowmobile track. Small wonder that, several of
Canada's Olympic athletes come from this area. Fun
events are always in season -- including a spring
and fall rodeo, a spring music festival, a summer
agricultural festival and an autumn trade fair.
Places to visit are "FireWorks"- Canadian Fire
Museum and Discovery Centre, the Alberta Fire
Training School and Lakeland College. County of Minburn A year-round destination in
the Lakeland Tourist Zone, the County of Minburn
attracts major sports events and is a magnet for
vacation and recreation bound travellers.
Activities include everything from hunting and
fishing to water sports, camping and other
pleasures of the great outdoors. Multicultural
activities abound, hosted by churches, light
theatre groups, service clubs, agricultural
societies, arts and craft guilds. Check the
official Yellowhead map for a minute. See how the
County of Minburn occupies a vast, park - like
area, which straddles the Trans Canada Yellowhead
Highway, from a point an hour west of the
Saskatchewan border to its outer limits an hour
east of Edmonton. There are 37 townships in the
county, the main centres of activity being
Innisfree, Lavoy, Mannville, Minburn, Ranfurly,
Vegreville, and Warwick. Lamont County Get Quacking. The world's
largest mallard duck stands tall at Andrew, a
hamlet near Whitford Lake Wetland Preserve. His
presence is a magnet to nature lovers. Being the
heart of a well-travelled waterfowl flyway, hunters
and bird watchers flock here to catch the action
each spring and fall. Due to its rich cultural
mosaic, Lamont County is called the "Church Capital
of Canada," many of them crowned with a familiar
onion dome signifying their Ukrainian origin.
Lamont County offers self-guided driving tours to
47 different churches and shrines in the area.
Another popular heritage site is the Old Walker
School house in Bruderheim. Other Lamont County
communities are Chipman, Lamont, Hilliard, Mundare,
St. Michael, Star/Edna and Wostok. At the Andrew
Museum, a railway caboose and mini golf keep the
kiddies amused, while the bigger kids and grandpa
take a journey into history. Vegreville The moment you spot an
onion-shaped dome or giant Easter egg on the
horizon, you know you're heading for Little
Ukraine, the capital of which Vegreville, home of
the Ukrainian Pysanka Festival, with its fly-in
breakfast and three solid days of food, festivities
and fun. Farm families from the steppes of Eastern
Europe found the Alberta plains resembled their
homeland in many ways. These hardy souls adapted
well, combining their knowledge of agriculture with
the sweat of the brows and muscle of their backs to
create solid, successful communities. Vegreville is rich in
cultural heritage, natural resources and modern
facilities, such as its indoor Aquatic and Fitness
Centre complex . Stop and enjoy the water slide,
leisure pool, whirlpool, sauna, fitness room, and
racquetball court, or depending on the season,
watch a hockey game at indoor ice arena. Located on
the main Canadian National Railway line and
serviced by a modern airport, Vegreville is a
transportation hub for the area. For those who
check out the lifestyle, it's an excellent place to
live, with low taxes, reasonable housing prices,
first class educational, medical, recreational and
cultural facilities. companies, institutions and
utilities. While agriculture is the primary
industry, Vegreville also has regional offices for
a string of prominent companies and
agencies. Mundare Ukrainian and East European
art and artifacts abound at Mundare's town museum
and Basilian Fathers Monastery. For example,
there's a 12th century gospel handwritten in the
Old Slavic language, several 14th century icons,
copies of the first printed Latin Bible (1520), and
the first printed French Bible (1558). Ornate
stained glass windows in the monastery's St. Peter
and St. Paul's Church depict the life of Christ as
well as the history of Mundare and the Ukrainian
people. We're sure the visit will inspire
you. Elk Island National
Park 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. 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 hay rides 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. Edmonton City of Big Shoulders and
Big Dreams. Do you love to shop 'til you drop, or
hanker for world famous Alberta prime rib? You'll
love it here &endash; and what's more, there's no
local sales tax. With the North Saskatchewan River
flowing by, the broad Trans Canada Yellowhead
Highway at its doorstep, and a glorious Indian
Summer that extends your fun-in-the sun season, few
Canadian cities can match Edmonton. It's a healthy
vacation spot and Alberta's gateway to adventure.
Edmonton's story is one of achievers. Its archives
tell of fur traders, riverboat captains, Klondike
trekkers -- a railway boom, a land rush, and
gushers of black gold that blew things sky high at
Leduc in 1947. It tells of legendary bush pilots
like Wop May, Max Ward and Grant McConachie, who
live again at Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame on
Kingsway at the Edmonton Municipal
Airport. A friend who began his
career in Edmonton says, "No place I know of has
such energy, or capacity to seize the moment.
Edmontonians have always been a cocky lot, from
their sports dynasties and oil czars, to politics.
Even the location is cocky - perched regally on a
broad plateau." In professional sports, the
Edmonton Oilers have won five Stanley Cups, the
Eskimos, eleven Grey Cups. Generations ago, the
Edmonton Grads ruled the world of ladies
basketball, bringing glory to Canada. Shoppers' Heaven. Who else
has the audacity to build a shopping Mecca that
rates seven mentions in the Guinness Book of World
Records? West Edmonton Mall has it all, from a
giant indoor swimming pool and Olympic ice rink, to
high fashion shops that rival those of Paris,
Hollywood and New York. Imagine - 800 stores and
world-class attractions like Galaxyland, World
Waterpark, Deep Sea Adventures, Ice Palace and
Adventure Golf. Valley Vista. The Hotel
Macdonald, one of Canada's elegant railway palaces
stands close to the glass-tiered Shaw Conference
Centre. Its patio offers a commanding view of one
of the world's most impressive river valleys.
Directly below is a replica of an early riverboat,
and just beyond the Muttart Conservatory's
triangular glass structure points skyward. Across
the river is Old Strathcona, a historical district
that brings the past to life. Looking to the right
, the Upper Level Bridge reaches from Alberta's
Legislature to Garneau, near the University of
Alberta. Edmonton's North Saskatchewan River Valley
is a tourist destination all by itself, with the
largest greenbelt of any major Canadian City and
122-km (76 miles) of trails. Lush golf courses and
dozens of picnic spots complete the picture. So
park the vehicle, get out, stretch your legs and
prepare to stay awhile. Count Our Blessings.
Edmonton has at least 40 attractions of note, from
galleries, museums and zoos, to churches and
historical sites. Besides West Edmonton Mall, our
guide recommends the Odyssium, home of the IMAX
theatre and North America's largest planetarium
dome; the Alberta Legislature Building complex; and
Fort Edmonton Park (Canada's largest historical
museum). If you need more reasons to stay, Edmonton
has 900 parks, over 50 golf courses and 9,000 guest
rooms for visitors. Edmonton's 78 arts
organizations and theatre companies stage some 18
major festivals. South of the city at Nisku is the
Edmonton International Airport, with service to all
world gateways. Spruce Grove, Stony Plain
and Wabamun Beyond the outskirts of
Edmonton are the communities of Spruce Grove and
Stony Plain. For recreation close by, there's Lake
Wabamun (try saying that with your mouth full), a
popular family camping spot for
generations. Edson Railway Days. Edson got its
start with the arrival of the Grande Trunk Pacific
Railroad, which served the rich Alberta Coal
Branch. The Edson Historical Society's Galloway
Station Museum is located in a former railway
depot. Artifacts from the Grande Trunk Pacific,
Canadian Northern and Canadian National railways
are on display, plus exhibits saluting the coal
mining and lumber industries. Strategically
located, Edson became the jumping-off point for
homesteaders heading up the Grande Prairie Trail to
the Peace River country. The Trans Canada
Yellowhead Highway's major upgrading efforts
brought a dramatic increase in all types of traffic
to the area, and in its wake, a healthy and growing
tourist trade. Local amenities include the Red
Brick Arts Centre, the 1913 Edson School Building,
an Art Gallery, the Hatlen Theatre, School Room
Museum and more. As the Slo-pitch Capital of
Canada, Edson's annual Kinsmen Slo-pitch Tournament
attracts contestants from far and wide. Petroleum,
coal mining and forestry continue to fuel the local
economy. Rocky Mountain House
National Historic Park (side trip) Risen from the ashes. Rocky
Mountain House original fort was razed in 1799.
Weeks later, HBC erected a rival fort. Explorer
David Thompson trekked to the Columbia River from
here in 1807 and for generations Rocky was the
Northwest's richest fur-producing area. Two stone
chimneys are the lone reminders of a series of
forts that stood on these hallowed grounds. Other
exhibits include a York boat, Red River cart and
fur press. Hinton The best of both worlds. At
Hinton you're a few hours west of Alberta's
capital, yet on Jasper National Park's majestic
doorstep. From here, a wonderland of crystal clear
lakes, aromatic evergreen forests, towering peaks
and rushing streams awaits your pleasure. How about
a challenging 18-hole golf course? Or some of
Alberta's best trout streams, where one can watch
every ripple, each darting move, clear to the rocky
creek bed? If you've ever fished in the Alberta
foothills, you'll know exactly what we mean. Nearby
attractions include Athabaska Lookout, Whitehorse
Wildland and William Switzer Provincial Parks,
Foothills Model Forest and Forestry Museum, Ogre
Canyon. Select from walking, hiking and theme tours
supervised by local guides. Come snow time, a world
class cross-country ski track beckons. For the
traveller making a quick stop, Hinton features a
recreation complex with an indoor swimming pool and
arenas. Jasper National
Park Many travelers first love
affair with Jasper's Rocky Mountain paradise was by
train, sprinting off for souvenirs during a brief
stop at the town station. Today, most visitors
arrive on four wheels. By car you can seize the
moment, cooling off under a waterfall, standing
bug-eyed at a viewpoint, catching every photo
opportunity. Allow at least one extra day for this
Rocky Mountain high, which includes Maligne Lake,
Jasper Lake, , Punchbowl Falls, the Whistlers,
Pyramid Lake, Henry House, Skyline Trail and
Pocahontas for starters. The hottest water on the
entire drive (54°C) is at Miette Hot Springs.
Don't worry, it's cooled to a comfortable 39°
in the mineral pool. Near the mouth of Rocky River,
a cairn marks the Jasper House National Historic
Site, where a supply post was built by the
Northwest Company in 1813. Jasper National Park is a
wildlife sanctuary, where deer and antelope play,
bighorn guard the peaks, elk and bears are
everywhere. A friend describes Jasper National Park
as follows, "Our first lodging here was a war
surplus tent; the most recent visit was years later
at luxurious Jasper Park Lodge, where the waiter
brought dinner to our cabin by bicycle. We've
enjoyed it both ways &endash; Jasper provided two
of life's greatest moments." |
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Vermilion
Jasper
National Park's southern boundary is the Columbia
Ice fields, a marvel of nature with the largest
mass of ice in the Rockies. This seventh wonder of
the world is part of a formation that blanketed
Canada for a million years. Today, fleets of snow
coaches traverse the Athabaska glacier, looking
from a distance like ants on a giant vanilla
marshmallow sundae. To get to this site from the
Trans Canada Yellowhead Highway, take the Icefields
Parkway, following the Sunwapta River to Sunwapta
Falls. Take your time in the park and enjoy a Rocky
Mountain high you'll never forget.