Page 65 - Travel Guide to Canada 2019
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LAKE LOUISE • SHUTTERSTOCK/TIMOTHY YUE
off ers a great opportunity to photograph WHAT’S NEW?
wildlife, including its resident buff alo and, The stunning Royal Alberta Museum
of course, elk. reopened in Edmonton’s downtown Arts
Alberta’s glacier-fed waterways—particu- District after three years of renovation. The
larly the Bow and Red Deer rivers—lure largest museum in Western Canada now
anglers with the promise of top-notch trout includes double the display space, over
fi shing. In the same day, visitors can play the 5,300 exhibits and an expansive gift shop
back nine of a world-class golf course, hop- with a major emphasis on Alberta artisans.
scotch past cactus patches in search of Two massive bronze mammoth sculptures
ancient rock carvings in the desert, and then dominate its bright lobby, while a sizeable
retire to the hotel hot tub to watch the sunset. Bug Gallery features live invertebrates and
the Children’s Gallery engages the youngest
VENTURING OUT visitors in hands-on interactive activities.
Float your boat down a river or head for With numerous research activities, the new
calmer waters along Lake Minnewanka or RAM is home to curatorial programs on
Moraine Lake in Banff National Park. Bonus: topics such as military and political history,
hear the crack of avalanches overhead, well botany and mammalogy. It also supports a
grain-fed beef. From upscale hotel dining out of your path but still powerful. Chase variety of international touring exhibits
rooms in the big city to eclectic alpine bistros champagne powder from the top of fi rst-rate (www.royalalbertamuseum.ca).
in Banff , Jasper and Lake Louise, the restau- resorts such as Sunshine Village, Lake Louise
rants consistently win international awards. or Marmot Basin, or explore them in summer The architecturally striking new Calgary
to unveil abundant wildlife and colourful Central Library is a $245-million spectacle
NATURE’S WONDERLAND carpets of wildfl owers. Canada Olympic adjacent to the popular National Music
Provincial recreational areas help keep Park in northwest Calgary has a national Centre, east of downtown’s offi ce towers.
Albertans and their visitors outdoors. athlete training centre, a snow park and With its swooping front archway clad with
Spread across 661,848 sq. km (255,541 sq. Olympic museum, while Peter Lougheed red cedar wood (which also dominates the
mi.) of pristine terrain, the fi ve major snow Provincial Park boasts unparalleled interior stairs and walkways), the 22,300 sq.
resorts and sprawling backcountry lure opportunities for adventure all year-round. m (240,000 sq. ft.) library’s many features
powder-hounds from November to May. Bar U Ranch National Historic Site, include a public art exhibit, a performance
Try dogsledding through the untouched south of Calgary, chronicles pioneer life hall, community meeting spaces, Indigenous
Spray Lakes valley, or take a guided ice walk from 1882 to 1950; this pristine setting in the Place Making and early learning centres. It
in frozen Maligne Canyon near Jasper. The shadow of the southern Rockies is featured has been called a “place for the people”
lakes of Kananaskis Country are a delight on many postcards. Travellers with time on because it welcomes everyone (www.
for ice fi shing in winter and boating, hiking their hands head north to Wood Buff alo calgarylibrary.ca/new-central-library).
and cycling in the summer. The 4,645-sq. m National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage
(50,000-sq. ft.) Kananaskis Nordic Spa site with 44,807 sq. km (17,300 sq. mi.) of For the fi rst time in more than a century,
opened late last year with outdoor hot, protected wilderness where the endangered wild plains bison can be seen roaming in
warm and cold pools and treatment rooms. whooping crane and the world’s largest herd Banff National Park. Hailed as an historic
Elk Island National Park east of Edmonton of free-roaming wood bison can be found. and cultural conservation triumph, the
