Issue link: http://read.canadatravelguides.ca/i/651528
TRAVEL GUIDE TO CANADA Music Festival, K-Days and Heritage Festival. North America's largest indoor shopping complex is like a self-contained mini-city. West Edmonton Mall spans the equivalent of 48 city blocks, has 800+ retail/food outlets and the year-round World Waterpark. Calgary's glittering towers contain the majority of Canada's oil and gas company headquarters. Don't forget to pose for a photo in front of Alberta's tallest building, the Bow Tower, a modern architectural skyscraper that spans two city blocks. The city has preserved much of the sandstone buildings along Stephen Avenue Walk, where many great restaurants and shops are found, along with the Glenbow Museum, Olympic Plaza and the Calgary Tower. Numerous retail stores and eateries are also part of The CORE complex tucked between 7 th and 8 th Ave. S.W. Don't miss the Devonian Gardens, an urban skylit garden with a backdrop of shiny skyscrap- ers (www.visitcalgary.com ). Residents are devout nature lovers, fl ocking to the city's network of river pathways as well as the inner city Prince's Island Park, Inglewood Bird Sanctuary and Bowness Park lagoon, where families can skate in winter and canoe and paddleboat in summer. The new National Music Centre, which houses music memorabilia, is slated to open later this year ( www.nmc.ca ). THE GREAT OUTDOORS Head for the hills from summer to fall for a guided multi-day backcountry pack trip on horseback. Sleep under the stars and listen to coyotes howl in a riverside tent camp with a view of Dinosaur Provincial Park, home to some of the planet's largest fossil beds. Or scramble up the new Via Ferrata (Italian for iron path), a rope and cable- assisted mountain journey at Mt. Norquay near Banff. Should winter be your season, there's loads of ice-climbing terrain west of Calgary—and of course fi ve world-class ski resorts in Banff and Jasper national parks. Explore a snow-caked valley on dogsled, or book a popular boat trip up the shores of windswept Waterton Lake in Alberta's most southern national park. Don waders, grab a reel and cast for world-class trout in hundreds of rivers, lakes and creeks. HERITAGE AND CULTURE The province's history is just over a century old, but the First Nations heritage dates to prehistoric time. Métis Crossing, northeast of Edmonton, offers a taste of the musical culture created by the melding of First Nations people with European settlers in the 19 th century. Fort Edmonton tells of the city's Gold Rush era, when these same voyageurs paved the way for the fur trade. Calgary's Heritage Park Historical Village overlooks the calm waters of the Glenmore Reservoir—which has dragon boat racing and other water sports. History is also chronicled at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, one of fi ve UNESCO sites in Alberta, or the modern Blackfoot Crossing east of Calgary where Treaty 7 was signed with the federal government in 1877. Explore transportation history at the Remington Carriage Museum at Cardston, a town that was settled by Mormons— admire the sprawling white marble temple (no public access). Or savour the solitude of the Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens, a lush Lethbridge horticultural tribute to the city's Japanese citizens. MUST SEE, MUST DO Canmore Cave Tours: The Rat's Nest Cave has been used by spelunkers for many years, but you can now enjoy the same experience on a guided tour. The undeveloped cave under Grotto Mountain near Banff and Canmore is the real deal—with no interior lighting, no walkways and no handrails. QUICK FACT THE NORTHˆWEST MOUNTED POLICE ŠLATER RCMP‹ SET UP ITS FIRST POST IN FORT MACLEOD IN ŒŽ TO CURTAIL LAWLESSNESS. SPECIAL EVENTS JANUARY • ice Magic festival, Lake Louise • ice on Whyte ice Carving festival, edmonton JUNE • Sled island Music and arts festival, Calgary • Waterton Wildfl ower festival JULY • Calgary Stampede • Canadian Badlands Passion Play, Drumheller • edmonton international Street Performers festival • K-Days, edmonton • Vul-Con, Vulcan AUGUST • Big Valley Jamboree, Camrose • Canmore folk Music festival • edmonton international fringe theatre festival NOVEMBER • agri-trade exposition, red Deer • Canadian finals rodeo, edmonton www.travelalberta.com/Things to Do/Events and Festivals/Festivals and Special Events.aspx roYaL tYrreLL MUSeUM, DrUMHeLLer • SHUtterStoCK/Jeff WHYte ALBERTA