8 Of The Friendliest Towns In Alberta
Where humungous mountains and primeval forests dominate the landscape, the Canadian province of Alberta glimmers with snow-capped summits and some of the friendliest towns in Alberta. You will get to know all about the Metis, the First Nations, and the Inuit that have lived in this land for thousands of years in some of the most amicable destinations worth visiting, be they the Banff National Park or the grand Canadian Rocky Mountains or Rockies. Wherever you intend to go on your sojourn through the fourth-largest province of Canada, consider first exploring the friendliest towns in Alberta.
Smoky Lake
Smoky Lake, found on the confluence between Smoky Creek, White Earth Creek, and North Saskatchewan River, is a remarkable agricultural town. As the Pumpkin Capital of Alberta that is only about 72 miles from the city of Edmonton, newcomers can participate in the town’s yearly Great White North Pumpkin Weigh-off & Fair every October 5. The Smoky Lake Museum provides insight into the town’s diverse origins, whether the name itself originated from “Smoking Lake” as an allusion to the surface haze on the town’s lake which the Cree First Nation were mesmerized by or perhaps by the smoke pipes the Cree used in their hunts. Most of all, you can find out for yourself why Smoky Lake was featured in Ripley’s Believe it or Not since the town had the largest number of businesses per capita compared to other locations throughout Canada. More wonders await in this smoking hot town in Alberta.
Banff
The magnificent town of Banff beside the Bow River is a homebase to retreat to when you have finished your exploration throughout the Banff National Park, a 4,040-square-mile UNESCO World Heritage Site in Canada. Where elk, grizzly bears, and wolves roam about, travelers can delve into the Cave and Basin National Historic Site which happens to be Canada’s first national park. The Banff Park Museum National Historic Site and the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies both explore the numerous indigenous cultures that reside within the Banff National Park, while destinations such as Mount Rundle and Mount Cascade, both massifs of the Rocky Mountains, are within ambit of Banff.
At Lake Minnewanka, one can enjoy the simple splendors of Banff’s waterways, while the Sundance Canyon and Banff Gondola give you a good aerial view of the land as the latter takes you all the way to Sulphur Mountain. On Sulphur Mountain, you can find the Sulphur Mountain Cosmic Ray Station National Historic Site which was a former geophysics laboratory from 1957. It is time for you to take a vacation from all the city bustle and hassle of civilization, and enjoy the primordial whimsies of the outdoors in Banff.
Jasper
On the Athabasca River and a close rival to one of the best national parks in Alberta is the remarkable village of Jasper. You will be filled with fulfilment and amazement whether you are traipsing through the expansive Jasper National Park close to the Canadian Rockies, ascending to the top of Whistlers Mountain vis-à-vis the Jasper SkyTram, admiring the soft cascades of the Athabasca Falls, or learning all about the industry and fur trade expenditures of Jasper’s past at the Jasper Yellowhead Museum and Archives. You do not want to miss out on Jasper’s most beloved celebration, the Dark Night Sky Festival from October 18 to November 3, when the evenings are at their clearest for all to gaze up at the eternal spectacle of the Milky Way Galaxy. Though small in comparison to Banff, Jasper is nevertheless a memorable destination worth visiting in Alberta’s vast wilderness.
Canmore
Approximately an hour away from the city of Calgary, the mountainside town of Canmore entreats people to a number of heightened explorations and attractions near Canmore’s mountains. Between the Three Sisters Peak, Mount Lawrence Grassi, and the Ha Ling Peak are trails such as the Grassi Lakes Trail that terminate into remarkable destinations as seen in both the Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park, the Grassi Falls, and a pair of turquoise-blue lakes.
Bikers and cross-country skiers will definitely feel the thrill of racing through the Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park, while those for an affinity for underground cavities can delve deep into the Grotto Canyon for its pictographs of the Stoney-Nakoda nations who once called Canmore "Chuwapchipchiyan Kudi Bi" ("shooting at the willows"). Much of Alberta’s wildlife can be seen at the Bow Flats Natural Area, and more lays of the land can be viewed from atop the Lac Des Arc Viewpoint, the Grotto Canyon Icefall, and Spray Lakes View Point. In this town so called from the Gaelic word "Ceann Mór," meaning "big head," "great head," or "chief" as an allusion King Malcolm III of Scotland, Canmore can give you much more than what you thought possible in Alberta.
Drumheller
Drumheller, about an hour and a half northeast from Calgary, houses the largest collections of dinosaur fossils in Alberta. One can delight at the sight of the prehistoric animals at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in the Midland Provincial Park in addition to model of a Tyrannosaurus Rex, dubbed the “World’s Largest Dinosaur”, whose gaping maw can be used as a photographic viewpoint. Furthermore, the imaginary dinosaur named Barney has his own theme park known as Barney’s Adventure Park that mainly features real-life dinosaurs than the imaginary ones. Aside from prehistory, one can journey into more recent moments in history at the Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site, where old coal mines have been preserved and promoted. Finally, admire the Willow Creek Hoodoos for its unique rock formations and other geological attractions.
Okotoks
Less than ten miles south of Calgary, the beautiful town of Okotoks lounges beside the Sheep River as one of the best bedroom communities in Alberta. With dozens of shops and galleries lining the town’s main street, one can enjoy a number of quaint amenities in Okotoks like a farmer’s market at the lovely Saskatoon Farm. Admire a duo of mammoth monoliths known as the Big Rocks or "Okotoks" as the Blackfeet tribe called them, or peruse much smaller minerals at the Big Rock Crystals, Minerals & Fossils. The Chinook Honey Company & Chinook Arch Meadery promises a bevy of beautiful beverages to satisfy anyone’s appetites. Most of all, since Canada is a land fit for golfers, you can certainly perfect your game-plan in the many golfing courses around Okotoks.
Bragg Creek
On the Elbow River lies the luxuriating village of Bragg Creek. With its award-winning nature routes throughout the Kananaskis, an improvement district in the Canadian Rockies, Bragg Creek has been a site of adventure and outdoor rejuvenation ever since two brothers, Albert Warren Bragg and John Thomas Bragg, conducted cowboy-ranching in the late 1800s. The Bragg Creek Trading Post has serviced the Nakoda First Nation, known often as the Stoney Tribe, and early pioneering settlers who wanted a break from the cold Canadian Rockies. Whether you are admiring the vast woodlands and fields of the Bragg Creek Provincial Park or following the Elbow River all the way to Elbow Falls, you will undoubtedly regard Bragg Creek as one of the friendliest towns in Alberta due to its accommodating atmosphere and riveting landmarks.
Lake Louise
Approximately 40 minutes away from Banff and near to the provincial border of British Columbia, the hamlet of Lake Louise also provides visitors unparalleled opportunities in the Banff National Park. With its turquoise lake that gave hamlet its name, and with glacial waters trickling down from nearby peaks towards an impeccable chateau, Lake Louise is the visage of an opulent vacation resort high up in the Canadian Rockies. One can gaze out into the Banff National Park from the Lake Agnes Tea House while sipping warm tea in the cold mountain air.
In summer, travelers can go canoeing across the hamlet’s lake, whereas in the winter the lake is frozen enough to become a skating rink for those interested in gliding on thick ice. Naturally, you can go skiing and sledding down the mountainsides from Lake Louise Ski Resort, and even learn all about the wildlife that call Lake Louise their home from said resort. Lastly, you can appreciate the scenic wilderness from Morant's Curve and Fairview Lookout.
So named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, the province of Alberta welcomes tourists from all over with a panoply of perfect places worth visiting. Explore the deep wilderness of Canada from humble villages and hamlets like Lake Louise, Banff, and Jasper. Try out your golfing game in Okotoks or reignite your passion for the prehistoric in Drumheller. Enjoy the lackadaisical cultures in Bragg Creek and Canmore. But most of all, have a jolly good experience in some of the friendliest towns in Alberta.
