Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

has been a tourist destination since the early days of the 20th Century, with attractions including

national parks A national park is a natural park in use for conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individua ...

, National Historic Sites of Canada, urban arts and cultural facilities, outdoor locales for skiing, hiking and camping, shopping locales such as

West Edmonton Mall West Edmonton Mall (WEM) is a shopping mall in Edmonton, Alberta, that is owned, managed, and operated by Triple Five Group. It is the second most visited mall in Canada, after the Toronto Eaton Centre in Toronto, followed by Metrotown Mall in ...

, outdoor festivals, professional athletic events, international sporting competitions such as the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

and Olympic Winter Games, as well as more eclectic attractions.

Overview

Calgary and

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

, and larger regions Canadian Rockies ( Banff National Park and

Jasper National Park Jasper National Park is a national park in Alberta, Canada. It is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains spanning . It was established as a national park in 1930 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Its locatio ...

) are the most popular destinations for visitors. West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton is the most visited attraction in the province. Around one million visitors each year attend Calgary's

Stampede A stampede () is a situation in which a group of large animals suddenly start running in the same direction, especially because they are excited or frightened. Non-human species associated with stampede behavior include zebras, cattle, elephants ...

, a celebration of Canada's own

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

and the cattle ranching industry. Edmonton, known as Canada's Festival City, boasts a summer calendar of non-stop festivals, including the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival and the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. Alberta tourism is split into four large regions by the government. As of 2014; Alberta North which saw 1.81 million visits, Alberta Central in saw 8.45 million and Alberta South with 4.29 million and the Canadian Rockies with 4.35 million. As well, Calgary & Area and Edmonton & Areas encompass the two largest cities, Edmonton and Calgary and areas around them. As of 2014; Calgary & Area saw 8.27 million visits, while Edmonton & Area had 8.43 million. Calgary skyline 2012

Tourist attractions

Mountains

The Canadian Rockies in Alberta's southwest are a major attraction for

climbing Climbing is the activity of using one's hands, feet, or any other part of the body to ascend a steep topographical object that can range from the world's tallest mountains (e.g. the eight thousanders), to small boulders. Climbing is done ...

and

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

, with an extensive park system and mountain peaks reaching over 3000 m. The

Kananaskis Country Kananaskis Country is a multi-use area west of Calgary, Alberta, Canada in the foothills and front ranges of the Canadian Rockies. The area is named for the Kananaskis River, which was named by John Palliser in 1858 after a Cree acquaintance. Cove ...

park system has numerous trails for hiking and

horseback riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

, and

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

is done on some of the rivers.

Skiing

Alberta is an important destination for tourists who love to

ski A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partia ...

. It boasts several world-class

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In Nort ...

s, such as

Nakiska Nakiska is a ski resort in western Canada, in the Kananaskis Country region of the province of Alberta. It is located from Calgary, west on Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway) and south on Highway 40 (Kananaskis Trail). "Nakiska" is a Cree word me ...

and Fortress in Kananaskis Country,

Sunshine Village Banff Sunshine Village (formerly Sunshine Village) is a ski resort in western Canada, located on the Continental Divide of the Canadian Rockies within Banff National Park in Alberta and Mt Assiniboine Provincial Park in British Columbia. It is on ...

, Mount Norquay and

Lake Louise Mountain Resort The Lake Louise Ski Resort & Summer Gondola is a ski resort in western Canada, located in Banff National Park near the village of Lake Louise, Alberta. Located west of Banff, Lake Louise is one of three major ski resorts within Banff National P ...

in the Banff area or

Marmot Basin Marmot Basin is an alpine ski area located on Marmot Mountain in Alberta's Jasper National Park. It has 91 named runs on four mountain faces with 3,000 vertical feet of drop. The area has a lift capacity of close to 12,000 skiers per hour on se ...

near Jasper.

Canada Olympic Park Canada Olympic Park (COP), formerly known as Paskapoo Ski Hill, is a ski hill and multi-purpose training and competition facility located in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, owned and operated by WinSport. It is currently used both for high performance at ...

, with its downhill ski and ski jumping facilities, is located in the city of Calgary.

Hunting and fishing

Hunters and fishermen from around the world are able to take home impressive

trophies A trophy is a tangible, durable reminder of a specific achievement, and serves as a recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics. In many sports medals (or, i ...

and

tall tales A tall tale is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual. Some tall tales are exaggerations of actual events, for example fish stories ("the fish that got away") such as, "That fish was so big, why I tell ya', it n ...

from their experiences in Alberta's wilderness. The

Bow River The Bow River is a river in Alberta, Canada. It begins within the Canadian Rocky Mountains and winds through the Alberta foothills onto the prairies, where it meets the Oldman River, the two then forming the South Saskatchewan River. These w ...

is famous for fly fishing and its

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', '' Salmo'' and '' Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salm ...

population. Many of Alberta's lakes contain amenities for fishing, such as campgrounds and boat launches.

Museums

''See List of museums in Alberta.'' Museums in Alberta: * The

Royal Alberta Museum The Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) is a museum of human and natural history in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The museum is located in Downtown Edmonton, north of City Hall. The museum is the largest in western Canada with more than exhibition space ...

, in

is the official provincial museum and largest museum in western Canada. * The

Galt Museum & Archives Galt Museum & Archives is the primary museum in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, and is the largest museum in the province south of Calgary. In 2006, the museum cared for a growing collection of over 20,000 artifacts and 300,000 archival documents a ...

is the primary museum in Lethbridge, and is the largest museum in the province south of Calgary. * The

Heritage Park Historical Village Heritage Park Historical Village is a historical park in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, on of parkland on the banks of the Glenmore Reservoir, along the city's southwestern edge. The Historical Village is open from late May to Thanksgiving and Heritag ...

is a historical park located in Calgary. The park is located on 66 acres (267,000 m²) of parkland on the banks of the

Glenmore Reservoir The Glenmore Reservoir is a large reservoir on the Elbow River in the southwest quadrant of Calgary, Alberta. It is controlled by the Glenmore Dam, a concrete gravity dam on the Elbow River. The Glenmore Reservoir is a primary source of drinking w ...

, along the city's southwestern edge. It is one of the city's most visited tourist attractions. * The

Michelsen Farmstead The Andreas Michelsen Farmstead was originally built as a two-room house in 1902 by Andreas himself. In 1912 an addition was added to the home, making seven rooms in total, and little has changed since. The homestead consists of a 1 1/2-story Vic ...

is a typical

farmstead A homestead is an isolated dwelling, especially a farmhouse, and adjacent outbuildings, typically on a large agricultural holding such as a ranch or station. In North America the word "homestead" historically referred to land claimed by a set ...

of the 1890s era, located in the

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

. It was declared a Provincial Historic Site of Alberta in 2001, and has been restored back to its original 19th century Victorian style. * The

Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology (RTMP, and often referred to as the Royal Tyrrell Museum) is a palaeontology museum and research facility in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. The museum was named in honour of Joseph Burr Tyrrell, and is sit ...

Drumheller Drumheller is a town on the Red Deer River in the badlands of east-central Alberta, Canada. It is northeast of Calgary and south of Stettler. The Drumheller portion of the Red Deer River valley, often referred to as Dinosaur Valley, has a ...

is the museum that earns 5 Guinness World Records (as of November 2021) including the best-preserved armoured dinosaur in the world.

National and provincial parks

Five national parks are located in the province of Alberta, with Banff,

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases,Kostov, R. I. 2010. Review on the mineralogical systematics of jasper and related rocks. – Archaeometry Workshop, 7, 3, 209-213PDF/ref> ...

, Waterton Lakes and Elk Island National Park being the most popular tourist destinations. 69 provincial parks, 33 wildland provincial parks, 248 provincial recreation areas, 16 ecological reserves, 3 wilderness areas, 149 natural areas and a heritage rangeland are also protected on a provincial level. Alberta contains five of Canada's 13

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

s. These are

Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks World Heritage Site is located in the Canadian Rockies. It consists of seven contiguous parks including four national parks: * Banff *Jasper * Kootenay * Yoho and three British Columbia provincial parks: * Hamb ...

(includes Banff and

National Parks),

Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park The Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is the union of Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada and Glacier National Park in the United States. Both parks are declared Biosphere Reserves by UNESCO and their union as a World Heritage Site. H ...

Wood Buffalo National Park Wood Buffalo National Park is the largest national park of Canada at . It is located in northeastern Alberta and the southern Northwest Territories. Larger in area than Switzerland, it is the second-largest national park in the world. The park w ...

Dinosaur Provincial Park Dinosaur Provincial Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site situated a two hour drive east of Calgary, Alberta, Canada; or , about a half-hour drive northeast of Brooks. The park is situated in the Red Deer River valley, which is noted for its stri ...

and

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is a buffalo jump located where the foothills of the Rocky Mountains begin to rise from the prairie 18 km (11.2 mi) west of Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada on highway 785. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site an ...

Railway

Located in East-Central Alberta is

Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions is a heritage railway originating in Stettler, Alberta. The train runs between Stettler and Big Valley. The trips last five to six hours, with a stopover (all excursions include a buffet meal). Many trains are ...

, a popular tourist attraction operated out of Stettler that draws visitors from around the world. It boasts one of the few operable steam trains in the world, offering trips through the rolling prairie scenery. Another popular tourist attraction located near the

is the Galt Historic Railway Park A restored 1890

North West Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

International Train Station, the station has many Displays of life and travel in the 1880s. The station was moved from its former location in

Coutts, Alberta Coutts ( ) is a village in southern Alberta, Canada that is a port of entry into the U.S. state of Montana. It is one of the busiest ports of entry on the Canada–United States border in western Canada. It connects Highway 4 to Interstate 15, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and Sweetgrass, Montana, USA

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

to the current location near Stirling in 2000. Tourists also ride the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

, the

Rocky Mountaineer Rocky Mountaineer is a Canadian rail-tour company based in Vancouver that operates luxury scenic trains on four rail routes in British Columbia, Alberta, Colorado, and Utah. History Via Rail Canada The Rocky Mountaineer concept was created b ...

, and the

Royal Canadian Pacific The ''Royal Canadian Pacific'' is a luxury excursion passenger train operated by Mount Stephen Properties, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). It made its first run on June 7, 2000, after the CPR received the ''royal'' ...

, which are tourist-oriented passenger services which operate on scenic routes through the Canadian Rockies.

Significant events in Alberta tourism

The history of Alberta tourism events: *1885: Banff National Park established, making it the first Canadian National Park, and the world's thirdCanada Parks
- Banff National Park *1912: The Alberta Legislature Building opens;

Calgary Exhibition and Stampede The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and f ...

debuts; Alberta's first movie theatre, the Empress Theatre, opens in

Fort Macleod Fort Macleod ( ) is a town in southern Alberta, Canada. It was originally named Macleod to distinguish it from the North-West Mounted Police barracks (Fort Macleod, built 1874) it had grown around. The fort was named in honour of the then Commis ...

*1921: Road from Banff to Lake Louise opens *1923: Road from Banff to

Radium Radium is a chemical element with the symbol Ra and atomic number 88. It is the sixth element in group 2 of the periodic table, also known as the alkaline earth metals. Pure radium is silvery-white, but it readily reacts with nitrogen (rathe ...

opens; First competitive chuckwagon races at the Calgary Stampede *1927:

Prince of Wales Hotel The Prince of Wales Hotel is a historic hotel located in Waterton, Alberta, Canada. It is situated within Waterton Lakes National Park, overlooking Upper Waterton Lakes. It was designed by and built for the Great Northern Railway company. It i ...

in Waterton opens 25 Jul 1927 *1932:

established; Going-to-the-Sun Road opens in Waterton *1936: Chinook Train begins operation between Calgary and Edmonton (now on display at the

Canadian Museum of Rail Travel The Cranbrook History Centre - Formerly The Canadian Museum of Rail Travel, or its brand name "Trains Deluxe", is located in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada, a city of about 25,000 on the west side of the Rocky Mountains. The city was develo ...

) *1940: First teahouse on Sulphur Mountain opens;

Icefields Parkway Highway 93 is a north–south highway in Alberta, Canada. It is also known as the Banff-Windermere Parkway south of the Trans-Canada Highway ( Highway 1) and the Icefields Parkway north of the Trans-Canada Highway. It travels through ...

opens *1959: Sulphur Mountain

Gondola The gondola (, ; vec, góndoła ) is a traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boat, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. It is typically propelled by a gondolier, who uses a rowing oar, which is not fastened to the hull, ...

opens - the first bi-cable gondola in North America and first ever gondola in Canada; First heritage trails (walking trails with posted historical information) open in Banff, including Hoodoos and Bow Summit trails *1962: Klondike Days begin in Edmonton, as extension of the Edmonton Exhibition, itself dating back to 1879. *1967:

St. Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...

opens a

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

landing pad to celebrate the Centennial of Confederation *1967: The Provincial Museum of Alberta/Edmonton opens December 6 as Alberta's project for Canada's centennial (now known as the Royal Alberta Museum). *1968:

Calgary Tower The Calgary Tower is a free standing observation tower in the downtown core of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Originally called the Husky Tower, it was conceived as a joint venture between Marathon Realty Company Limited and Husky Oil as part of an ...

opens June 30 *1975: Fish Creek Park established in Calgary; Ukrainian Easter Egg "

Pysanka The tradition of egg decoration in Slavic cultures originated in pagan times,Kazimierz Moszyński – Kultura ludowa Słowian, Kraków 1929Anna Zadrożyńska – Powtarzać czas początku, Warsaw 1985, and was transformed by the process of ...

" statueerected in

Vegreville Vegreville ( uk, Веґревіль) is a town in central Alberta, Canada. It is on Highway 16A approximately east of Edmonton, Alberta's capital city. It was incorporated as a town in 1906, and that year also saw the founding of the ''Vegre ...

, commemorating the settlement of

Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

immigrants east of Edmonton *1977:

opens *1978:

held in Edmonton *1981:

opens, with Phase II and

Fantasyland Fantasyland is one of the "themed lands" at all of the Magic Kingdom-style parks run by The Walt Disney Company around the world. It is themed after Disney's animated fairy tale films. Each Fantasyland has a castle, as well as several gentle ri ...

in 1983 and Phase III and the

World Waterpark World Waterpark is a water park located within the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Opened to the public in 1986, it is the second largest indoor water park in North America, after American Dream's DreamWorks Water Park which op ...

in 1985;

designated a

*1985:

opens in

;

Frank Slide The Frank Slide was a massive rockslide that buried part of the mining town of Frank in the District of Alberta of the North-West Territories,The province of Alberta was not created until September 1905, more than two years after the slide. ...

interpretive Centre opens April 28; Oil Sands Interpretive Centre opens in

Fort McMurray Fort McMurray ( ) is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. It is located in northeast Alberta, in the middle of the Athabasca oil sands, surrounded by boreal forest. It has played a significan ...

*1986: The Mindbender at

Galaxyland Galaxyland Powered by Hasbro formerly just Galaxyland, and previously known as Fantasyland, is an indoor amusement park. Located in the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the second largest mall in North America, it is home to the ...

derails and kills three riders *1988:

XV Olympic Winter Games The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games (french: XVes Jeux olympiques d'hiver) and commonly known as Calgary 1988 ( bla, Mohkínsstsisi 1988; sto, Wîchîspa Oyade 1988 or ; cr, Otôskwanihk 1998/; srs, Guts� ...

held in Calgary *1990: Museum of the Regiments opened in Calgary, June 30 *1991: Saamis Teepee erected in

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff to the northwest are with ...

; originally built for the Olympic Games in Calgary in 1988, the structure is the world's largest tepee *1995: Fantasyland changes its name to "Galaxyland" after a lawsuit from

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

*1996: Torrington Torrington Gopher Hole Museum opens *1997: Canadian Petroleum Interpretive Centre opens, honouring the occasion of the Leduc No. 1 oil well going into production on February 3, 1947; First leg of Trans-Canada Trail, the Bow Corridor Link Trail, opened on October 18; Town of

Legal Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

unveils first of 28 murals *2000: Dino 2000 opens in Drumheller as a Millennium project in August. The 8 story T-Rex sculpture incorporates a viewing platform in the head; Shaw Millennium Skate Park opens in Calgary, the world's largest public outdoor skate park. *2006:

The Military Museums The Military Museums is a reorganization of the former Museum of the Regiments in Calgary, Alberta, announced by Sophie, Countess of Wessex, on June 3, 2006. The new museum comprises the former Museum of the Regiments as well as the relocated Nav ...

announced June 3, a reorganization of the former Museum of the Regiments, Naval Museum of Alberta, and elements of the Calgary Aerospace Museum.

References

{{Canada topic, Tourism in