Alberta, a province roughly the size of Texas, rests within western Canada, with the Canadian Rockies running along its western border. The province offers a range of activities in which to indulge, from discovering Alberta's cultural history at museums and events to exploring the province's lakes and woodlands at its national parks. Alberta's official tourism website notes that while winter temperatures can plunge to 13 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, travelers will find comfortable weather during the summer, with temperatures ranging from 60 to 70 degrees.

Cultural Attractions

Parks Canada administers the Bar U Ranch (, a restored 19th-century cattle ranch located about an hour's drive from Calgary. Volunteers dress as early-20th-century ranch hands, demonstrating the original wrangling and blacksmithing techniques the Bar U's workers used during the 1800s. Visitors can tour the ranch's buildings, corrals and grasslands on foot, or ride a hay wagon through the grounds. Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park ( is maintained by members of the Siksika, or Blackfoot, tribe and covers 6,000 acres of prairie. Volunteers offer workshops on drum making and traditional dance costume creation, and the park's tepee village hosts ceremonial dance events and storytelling. Blackfoot Crossing also offers guided tours through its archaeological sites and its interpretive center, which features artifact displays and exhibits on Siksika culture.


The Calgary Stampede ( is an annual 10-day rodeo that dates back to 1912 and features events such as bull riding, barrel racing and steer wrestling. The Stampede also hosts live entertainment at its grandstand nightly, along with agricultural exhibitions where ranchers from throughout Canada present their finest breeds. Organizers hold the event every July at Calgary's Stampede Park. Capital Ex (, formerly known as Edmonton's Klondike Days, is a 10-day festival that celebrates Edmonton's heritage, offering attractions such as the rides and children's activities of Family Fun Town, and the agricultural presentations at Fun Town Farm. Vendors offer traditional western Canadian handicrafts, and guests can attend concerts by Canadian performers every night at the TELUS stage. Organizers hold Capital Ex every summer at the Northlands entertainment venue.

Family Excursions

Nestled within the Alberta badlands outside Drumheller, the Royal Tyrell Museum ( features 50 reconstructed dinosaur skeletons, along with displays detailing the evolution of life on Earth and exhibits exploring possible reasons for the dinosaurs' mass extinction. The museum also offers guided tours of the excavation sites surrounding the museum, where paleontologists continually recover fossils. The West Edmonton Mall ( hosts a variety of attractions including a five-acre indoor water park with 17 water slides and the world's largest indoor wave pool. Guests can ride the world's largest indoor roller coaster at the mall's Galaxyland, which also hosts 23 other rides. Families who enjoy mini-golf have two 18-hole courses from which to choose.

Outdoor Activities

Alberta's national parks include the Jasper and Banff parks (, two adjoining preserves that cover a combined 6,674 square miles. Both Jasper and Banff offer camping facilities, hiking and horse trails, and waterways for boating and canoeing. Visitors who'd like to engage in ice climbing or dog-sledding can hire knowledgeable guides and rent equipment from local tour operators. Wood Buffalo National Park ( offers few amenities, catering to outdoor enthusiasts who want to visit pristine parklands and view the aurora borealis, or northern lights, in the night sky. Wood Buffalo offers areas for camping and boating, and lucky visitors may catch a glimpse of the park's bison, the last free-roaming herd on the planet.

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