69 Cool and Unusual Things to Do in Alberta - Atlas Obscura

Unusual Attractions in Alberta

Bankhead, Alberta

Bankhead Ghost Town

The ruins of the "20-year town" lay out among the mountains of Alberta.

Banff Springs Hotel

Few other hotels can rival the grandeur of the Castle in the Rockies.

Improvement District No. 24, Alberta

Wood Buffalo National Park

The world's largest dark sky preserve is a Canadian park established to preserve the country's last wood bison.

Kananaskis, Alberta

The Vault

What was to be the world's most secure Cold War document vault ended up as just a few shallow caves.

Drumheller, Alberta

The Hoodoos of Drumheller Valley

Hoodoos, naturally eroded land formations, stand 20 feet tall in the Canadian badlands.

Lake Abraham

The frozen bubbles that form on the icy surface of this Canadian lake contain enough methane to create a small explosion.

Red Rock Coulee

Huge spherical rocks in the middle of the prairie.

Banff Merman

A mysterious taxidermy man-beast of the seven seas.

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Cool Places to Eat & Drink in Alberta

Last Chance Saloon

This ghost-town bar has bullet holes and plenty of stories lurking within its walls.

Calgary, Alberta

Little Chief

What happens when a chef with indigenous roots takes over a hotel-restaurant?

Glendon, Alberta

Giant Perogy

Roadside tribute to a staple of eastern European cuisine.

Lake Louise, Alberta

Lake Agnes Teahouse

Take a hike to this remote, scenic tea stop in the Canadian Rockies.

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Stories About Alberta

Cut off by a road, this bog has flooded unnaturally.

Bogs Lose Their Carbon-Chomping Powers When Roads Cut Through Them

In Canada, roads disrupt wetland water flow and multiply methane emissions, a new study finds.

by Sabrina Imbler

December 20, 2019

Sarah Adams and a rescued plant.

Canada’s Ultimate Plant Mom Will Take Your Unwanted Shrubs

And your irises, rosebushes, and spruce trees, too.

A "sea devil" from Icones animalium (1553).

Where to Find the World's Best Hometown Monsters

Here are 25 places to see yetis, sea monsters, Sasquatch, and other cryptids.

by Molly McBride Jacobson

February 24, 2017

A burger from 1969, encased in plastic.

So There's a 52-Year-Old Burger Sitting in the Alberta Legislature Building

The limp sandwich has since become a fixture.

by Michael Hingston

December 14, 2016

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