Alberta
Alberta is the fourth largest province is Canada and about 1.5 times larger than California and about the same size as Texas. It is sometimes referred to as the Texas of Canada (or maybe it is Texas that is referred to as the Alberta of the US). It is similar to Colorado in the sense that it has the Rocky Mountains in the west and prairies in the east. It is known for its natural beauty (think Banff and Jasper), it’s richness in natural reserves, and its beautiful prairies full of agricultural fields. Alberta is about 760 miles from north to south and 410 miles from east to west. You can drive for hours and still be in Alberta. The province is full of small towns everyone that have their own unique charm and quaintness.
Small Town Alberta
We spent time in Bashaw, Edberg, Stettler, Mirror, Camrose, Wetaskiwin, Lamont, Tofield, and Donalda to name a few. All of which have their own uniqueness and beauty. Bashaw still has a small barber shop on the corner and Donalda has a charming tea house and the world’s largest lamp. I could go on and on with the small towns in Alberta and what they are known for such as the worlds largest railroad spike, world’s largest bee, world’s largest working weathervane, world’s largest oil derrick, world’s largest Ukranian sausage, world’s largest mushrooms, world’s largest mallard duck, world’s biggest beaver, and so on. It is a beautiful place full of places to explore and discover.
Elk Island National Park
Elk Island National Park is a national park in Alberta and sits about 22 miles east of Edmonton along the Yellowhead Highway. The parks plays an important role in the Plains bison conservation. It has a visitor center, lots of trails for hiking/biking, a few lakes for canoeing/kayaking, a campground, a boardwalk, a day use area with beach, and is also known for its wildlife (bison, deer, moose, beer, elk, timber wolves, beaver, and pygmy shrew to name a few). The landscape is prairies plateau with grasslands and boreal forest. Over 250 bird species are in the park at different times of the years. It is a great place to drive through, hike, camp, and/or just spend the day.
The entrance and visitors center is right off the highway for easy access.
One of the first attractions after the visitor center is the Bison Loop drive. We saw quite a number of bison along this short loop drive.
As we drove further north there were quite a number of trailheads with nice hiking trails and eventually we came to the boardwalk which takes you around a lake.
It is a terrific park and one which we could have spent a number of days hiking and exploring.
Lamont, Alberta
Lamont, Alberta is just north of the national park and has been described as “the nicest open country a person could wish for”. Lamont County has over 40 historical churches which is more per capita than anywhere else in North America.
Farm Life
We enjoyed our time on the farms with cats, horses, birds, gardens, and lots of flowers. Beauty everywhere.
And we try also tried to do some work here and there. Norm was busy trimming trees while I just hung around in my new ride playing with the horses and getting in everyone’s way!
Leave a Reply