Jul. 01, 2009 - Issue #715: The Bestest of Edmonton 2009
Bestest daytrip from Edmonton
At the turn of the 20th century, east central Alberta enjoyed its highest influx of Ukrainian settlers. This legacy still stands in the form of the 26 remaining onion-domed churches that pin down these nascent communities. Take a camera and a sense of adventure as you head for the gravel backroads that span from Mundare and Vegreville to Cold Lake and Lamont. Points of interest range from the simplest, single-room churches to elaborate grottos and monasteries. And don’t worry about lunch—if you can’t find a satisfying meal in the heart of Kalyna country, you may as well stay home. MASeriously, that Place Which Shall Not Be Named down in Nevada, USA, doesn't hold a candle to the UFO Landing Pad, aka "Stargate Alpha" at St. Paul, Alberta, a mere three hour drive east of Edmonton. The flags are pretty, the folks are friendly and there's a Boston Pizza nearby. JB
My family took a day trip to Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park when I was a teen. Even though this place is a bit south of Red Deer, it feels as though it should be more than just a two-hour drive from Edmonton. I mean, a little cactus was growing on the ground there. One nice thing about Edmonton is the ease with which we can enter a completely different physical environment or climate in just a few hours. Forests. Lakes. Mountains. Deserts. It’s all accessible to us, often by taking a day trip. MK
Hop in the car at a moment’s notice when you realize you are wasting away a perfectly good day and head to a lake—any lake that is not filled to the brim with algae from over zealous motorboats. Wizard, Long Lake or Pigeon Lake will do the trick, or if you have a friend of a friend who has a relative that lives in Summerside weasel your way in without getting kicked out. Set up a towel, pail and shovel to build a sand castle and cooler for your various chilled bevies, or when it’s cooler just take a walk around a body of water in a semi-natural setting. XC
The Smoky Lake pumpkin festival, also known as “The Great White North Pumpkin Weigh-off” is an event that shouldn’t be missed. The annual event takes places on the first Saturday of October in the town of Smoky Lake, dubbed “The Pumpkin capital of Alberta,” about an hour out of Edmonton. On Pumpkin festival day, the town of 1000 attracts about 5000 people, who attend to watch the Giant Pumpkin weigh-off, eat pumpkin goods, tour the town, and celebrate all things pumpkin related. The entire town goes crazy for pumpkins, with scarecrow displays, awards for best decorated homes and businesses and a midway. People travel from all over Alberta, Saskatchewan, and even British Columbia to enter their giant gourds in the weigh-off. The weigh off is judged in front of a packed arena as local boys wearing orange jumpsuits carry the pumpkins on and off the stage. This isn’t just a site, it’s a spectacle. For more information, you can always call the pumpkin hotline at 780.656.3674. AK
Elk Island National Park is only an hour from Jasper Ave and at less than $10 per person, offers the best daytrippin’ value around. Where else can you check out the majestic plains bison, which were hunted to near-extinction in the great western expansion over 100 years ago? For hiking, bird-watching, canoeing or mosquito-feeding, no other spot can touch the national park that is just outside our back door. Stay over inside or just outside Elk Island and make a weekend of it with the nine-hole golf course, on-site theatre productions or the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village just down the road. CT
Want to see all kinds of really big stuff? The weigh station an hour or so north of Edmonton just outside the hamlet of Radway at the base of Highway 63 sees all sorts of oilsands-destined equipment of one sort or another. JB
The quick drive over to the Pembina River. Bring an inner tube and spend the day floating along and going where the river goes! ED
Pick a direction. Point your car in said direction. Drive for a couple of hours. Eat pie and have coffee in small town with requisite giant item (the sausage is close, but the perogy is close to the heart). Return to the big city. VW
Someone from out-of-country is staying at my house and they want to see the rest of the province. But where do I take them? Elk Island National Park, of course! Less than an hour away from the city by car, Elk Island is the perfect distance away for a daytrip and if someone is in a rush to see some truly Canadian landscapes, it's the place to be. As one of the last bits of unspoiled aspen parkland in the country, Elk Island is also home to elk, moose, deer, hundreds of different species of birds, and—the most Canadian symbol of them all: buffalo. BS
Contributors: Mike Angus (MA), Xanthe Couture (XC), Erika Domanski (ED), Alexis Kienlen (AK), Maria Kotovych (MK), Bryan Saunders (BS), Chris Thrall (CT), Vikki Wiercinski (VW)
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