Recreation and Places
to Visit
Alberta has five national parks: Banff National
Park, in the Rocky Mountains, is the oldest national
park in Canada. It was established in 1885 and
encompasses 6,641 sq km (2,564 sq mi). The resort
town of Banff, in the park, is noted for its
mineral hot springs. A highway from Lake Louise
leads northward through 290 km (180 mi) of spectacular
mountain scenery to Jasper National Park.
Jasper National Park is the fifth largest national
park in Canada, covering 10,900 sq km (4,210
sq mi). The park is famous for its alpine scenery
and diverse wildlife population, which includes
grizzly bears, caribou, moose, and wolves. The
resort town of Jasper, in the park, lies on the
CN railway line.
Waterton Lakes National Park, in the southwestern
corner of Alberta, has an area of 505 sq km (195
sq mi). The park, which encompasses grassy plains
and mountain foothills, adjoins Glacier National
Park in Montana. Together they form the Waterton-Glacier
International Peace Park.
Elk Island National Park, east of Edmonton,
is mainly a wildlife preserve for bison, elk,
deer, and moose. The park covers 194 sq km (75
sq mi).
Wood Buffalo National Park straddles the Alberta-Northwest
Territories boundary. It is the largest national
park in Canada, with an area of 44,807 sq km
(17,300 sq mi). The park is a noted wildlife
refuge for wood bison, plains bison, and other
animals. It is the summer nesting ground of the
whooping crane, one of the world’s rarest
birds.
Provincial Parks
Alberta has developed an extensive system of
provincial parks. They include Cypress Hills
Interprovincial Park, southeast of Medicine Hat,
where forested hills and plateaus rise more than
460 m (1,500 ft) above the prairie; Writing-on-Stone
Provincial Park, on the Milk River in the extreme
south, where ancient picture writing found on
sandstone cliffs is still undeciphered; Dinosaur
Provincial Park, where the fossils of dinosaurs
and other prehistoric creatures may be seen in
the Badlands region of Red Deer Valley; Vermilion
Provincial Park, a swimming and boating resort
in the east; and more than 100 other areas.
Museums
The Provincial Museum of Alberta, in Edmonton,
is one of Canada’s most popular museums
and offers a variety of exhibits that explore
the human and natural history of the province.
Also in Edmonton are the Alberta Railway Museum,
which displays historic railway cars and locomotives;
Fort Edmonton Park, which preserves a Hudson’s
Bay fort and dozens of period buildings; and
the Odyssium, a space and science center that
features North America’s largest dome theater.
Several important museums are located in Calgary.
They include the Glenbow Museum, with a large
permanent collection that focuses on the art
and history of western Canada; the Museum of
Regiments, the largest military museum in western
Canada; and the Alberta Science Centre Centennial
Planetarium, offering interactive displays on
a wide range of science topics.
Other popular museums in Alberta include the
Sir Alexander Galt Museum and Archives in Lethbridge,
which preserves and interprets the history of
southwest Alberta; the Buffalo Nations Luxton
Museum in Banff, which explores the culture and
history of indigenous peoples; the Sunnybrook
Farm Museum and Interpretive Centre in Red Deer,
an agricultural museum; and the Royal Tyrrell
Museum of Paleontology in Drumheller, which exhibits
dinosaur bones and other fossils. Many small-town
museums display artifacts from indigenous peoples
and pioneers.
Other Places to Visit
In Edmonton are the Legislative Building; the
Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium; the Valley
Zoo, featuring native and exotic species; the
Odyssium (formerly the Edmonton Space & Science
Centre); and a reconstruction of Fort Edmonton.
The Edmonton area is also home to one of the
world’s largest shopping centers, the West
Edmonton Mall, which houses more than 800 stores
and covers more than 45 hectares (120 acres).
In Calgary are the Southern Alberta Jubilee
Auditorium, which is a duplicate of the one in
Edmonton, and the Calgary Zoo, which includes
botanical gardens boasting more than 4,000 ornamental
plant species and a prehistoric park that seeks
to replicate the natural world of the dinosaurs.
In downtown Calgary are the Devonian Gardens,
the largest indoor gardens in the province, and
the Calgary Science Centre, offering many types
of interactive displays and exhibits. Fish Creek
Provincial Park, on Calgary’s south side,
is the largest urban park in Canada, encompassing
an area of 1,348 hectares (3,331 acres).
Provincial forestry roads connect Coleman in
the south with Brazeau and Hinton in the foothills
west of Red Deer. These roads afford spectacular
views of the Rocky Mountains. Near Lethbridge,
there is a historical site called Head-Smashed-In
Buffalo Jump, a cliff that indigenous peoples
used to kill bison nearly 6,000 years ago. Groups
of hunters chased the bison off the 10-m (33-ft)
cliff while others waited at the bottom to kill
those that survived the fall.
Source: MSN
Encarta: Online Encyclopedia |
