My wife is attending a conference in Edmonton July 9 - 11 and "taking" me with her . We're arriving July 5 for a few days with our daughter at UA but I'm interested in sights around Edmonton during the conference and we'd like to visit Banff after the conference (11-17). Suggestions of places to see/photograph in and around both locations would be greatly appreciated.
Given limited time, would it be equally good (and quieter) to visit Jasper or some of the parks west of Edmonton?
Mark, Im going out around the same time. I purchased a guide book called "Dont waste your time in the Canadian Rockies" great referance for sights and trails both short and long with maps and contact info for permits which must be obtained 3 months in advance and fill quickly. Good luck and enjoy.
You might want to visit the Ukrainian Heritage Village , http://www.history.alberta.ca/ukrainianvillage/
Elk Island National Park , http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/elkisland/index.aspx these are both 45 min. to an hour east of Edmonton.
Devonian Gardens , http://www.devonian.ualberta.ca/ , 40 min west of Edmonton.
Fort Edmonton , http://www.fortedmontonpark.ca/ , in the city it's self.
There is not a lot in Edmonton it's self as far as sites to photography other than, http://oldstrathcona.ca/ .
They will be holding the street performer fes. http://edmontonstreetfest.com/
The Edmonton Zoo and the MD Zoo don't even compare so I would not waist your time !!
Edmonton is still a fairly young city compared to MD. and no were near as lush. The light here is very harsh so bring filters !
I am not sure which way you plan to travel to Banff . You can travel west of Edmonton 4hrs to Jasper then south to Banff ,or 3 and 1/2 hrs south to Calgary then 2hrs west to Banff either way gets you there.
Hope that helps a little. Remember we are the second largest country in the world everything requires a lot of time spent driving as it is all very spread out as I know you are on a time crunch.
Tell your wife to bring lots of moisturizer as the air here is very dry and the water very hard so she may have better hair days here but she will find her skin dried out !!
Hi Mark! Glad to hear you're coming up to Alberta! I'm in Yellowstone right now so I don't have my usual resources in front of me, but look for books (eBooks also?) by Darwin Wiggett and John Marriott on places to photograph in the mountain parks for scenery (Wiggett) and wildlife (Marriott). You should drop Gary Gulash a note for his thoughts on wildlife in Jasper at that time, but I'd have a hard time thinking you'd need to make the long drive to Banff. You could do a loop by heading south to Hwy 11 (Hwy 2 to Red Deer then west or better, backroads south to Rocky Mountain House then west on 11) then over to Saskatchewan River Crossing and north on the Icefields Parkway to Jasper...this will get you bears and goats along the parkway along with a chance of mountain caribou and you could do some glacier photography at Columbia Icefields to boot.
Another one you should look into for a day trip would be Elk Island National Park for birds and bison.
Hope this helps a little! Now you've got me thinking about a northern trip!
Thanks for the pointers, all. John, I bought the ebooks on Jasper, Banff, and the Icefields Parkway and the idea of a loop through Jasper and Rocky Mountain House fits my thinking well. Lorna, we drove from our Montana house to Edmonton last fall and learned "the hard way" how big Alberta is. It's pretty mind boggling to imagine that Edmonton is only about halfway North in the province!
I had a lovely lady I knew from NY who was coming to Toronto last summer for a week and thought she would pop by and visit us in British Columbia thinking it was only a day drive . I had to pop her bubble as it takes three days to get across Alberta and BC combined to where we lived and she still had two other provinces to drive through before she even got to Alberta.
I hope you have a great visit, I will be in Newfoundland for July so will miss your visit. I wish you wonderful weather while you are here!
Discussion
6 repliesGiven limited time, would it be equally good (and quieter) to visit Jasper or some of the parks west of Edmonton?
You might want to visit the Ukrainian Heritage Village , http://www.history.alberta.ca/ukrainianvillage/
Elk Island National Park , http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/elkisland/index.aspx these are both 45 min. to an hour east of Edmonton.
Devonian Gardens , http://www.devonian.ualberta.ca/ , 40 min west of Edmonton.
Fort Edmonton , http://www.fortedmontonpark.ca/ , in the city it's self.
There is not a lot in Edmonton it's self as far as sites to photography other than, http://oldstrathcona.ca/ .
They will be holding the street performer fes. http://edmontonstreetfest.com/
The Edmonton Zoo and the MD Zoo don't even compare so I would not waist your time !!
Edmonton is still a fairly young city compared to MD. and no were near as lush. The light here is very harsh so bring filters !
I am not sure which way you plan to travel to Banff . You can travel west of Edmonton 4hrs to Jasper then south to Banff ,or 3 and 1/2 hrs south to Calgary then 2hrs west to Banff either way gets you there.
Hope that helps a little. Remember we are the second largest country in the world everything requires a lot of time spent driving as it is all very spread out as I know you are on a time crunch.
Tell your wife to bring lots of moisturizer as the air here is very dry and the water very hard so she may have better hair days here but she will find her skin dried out !!
Another one you should look into for a day trip would be Elk Island National Park for birds and bison.
Hope this helps a little! Now you've got me thinking about a northern trip!
I hope you have a great visit, I will be in Newfoundland for July so will miss your visit. I wish you wonderful weather while you are here!