Planning your road trip across Canada can be a daunting task. Do you focus on the history enriched museums, non-stop activities, or the interesting sights you can stop at and post to your Instagram feed? In today’s blog post, we hope to help make your decisions a little easier by discussing our top places to stop on your cruise across the country.
While every province and territory contain beautiful sights to see and interesting or fun activities, today we’re focusing on a few of our Western Canada favourites across British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
British Columbia
1. Tofino
On the western most edge of Canada, the island town of Tofino is a gorgeous place to go. Tofino is right on the ocean, and there is no shortage of fun activities and beautiful, Instagram-worthy, landscapes to take in. You can take in a whale-watching tour, where you may see a pod of Orcas, dolphins, and other sea-life. If you’d prefer the land over the sea, this is still the place for you! Check out “Incinerator Rock”, located at Long Beach (20 minutes south of Tofino) – home to majestic rock formations and amazing ocean views, this beach also serves as a popular surf and sunset-watching destination. On your way east out of Tofino, stop in Cathedral Grove to see an amazing old-growth forest and catch the ferry to the mainland of the province!
2. Kangaroo Creek Farm
Just outside of the beautiful lakeside city of Kelowna, is the Kangaroo Creek Farm. Petting kangaroos might seem like a child-only activity, but people of all ages frequent this little farm to relieve their stress and absorb some cuteness from these animals. This sanctuary has been around for more than 20 years and features kangaroos, wallaroos, and wallabies. They also have animals outside these species, including emu, peacocks, goats and more. While you’re there, you can pick the brains of the knowledgeable and experienced staff to learn all about kangaroo habitats, diet, and breeding behaviour!
3. Canyon Hot Springs
Once you’ve had your fill of adorable marsupials, you can continue past Sicamous to Canyon Hot Springs which is set in the Selkirk Mountains. This is a great place to stop for the night, with a full resort facility and campgrounds for tenting. The hot springs will help loosen and relax your muscles, with natural minerals and temperatures of 32C and 40C, preparing you for another day on the road as you cross into another province!
Alberta
4. Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary
Between Banff and Calgary, make a pit stop in Cochrane, where you can find the Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary. Offering a variety of walking tours, the sanctuary offers a break from the road, where you can get up close and personal with rescued and rehabilitated wolfdogs. If you want to get even closer, they offer the option of adopting one of their wolfdogs! This is not for the faint-of-heart though; adopting a wolfdog needs a lot of space and attention for these domesticated mammals! The tour options vary in length and price, and also have a minimum age requirement (6 years, 10 years, and 15 years, depending on the specific tour) so keep in mind who you’ll be travelling with before adding this stop to your itinerary!
5. Royal Tyrrell Museum
As you continue east through Alberta, after passing through Calgary, another picturesque break should be at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller. This museum allows dino-loving adventurers to take a hike into the desert landscape and dig for real fossils or explore the air-conditioned facility, where the museum houses over 130,000 fossils. Check out the life-size model of a 375-million-year old reef or the 69” long ichthyosaur exhibit. You can also spend hours roaming around the dinosaur exhibits and re-creations inside the museum, including being able to see fossils being processed – behind safety glass of course!
6. Vulcan Tourism & Trek Station
If you’re more interested in deep space than you are in dinosaurs, head a little further south from Calgary to the city of Vulcan where you can head to the Vulcan Tourism and Trek Station. You’ll be able to spot it easily as the building looks like a small space station! Take your picture with the starship Enterprise, a bust of Spock, and even their space shuttle out back. Don’t let the Star Wars fans see though - they may get jealous!
Saskatchewan
7. Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park
On the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan sits Cypress Hills, the first Interprovincial Park in Canada. The hills are the highest point in Saskatchewan, sitting at 1392 metres above sea level! Not only is this a great stop for adventurers - with zip-lining, biking and hiking trails, fishing, and camping available – it is also a nature-lovers paradise. This park features over 700 species of plants, including 14 species of orchids alone. There will be plenty of amazing views here, year-round, so make sure to have your camera at the ready!
8. Athabasca Sand Dunes Provincial Park
Were you one of the first in line, excited to see the new Aladdin movie? Ever wanted to play in the sands of Agrabah but are stuck in Canada? Head to the Athabasca Sand Dunes Provincial Park, which boasts the largest active sand surface in Canada. Dunes here can be as high as 30 meters and the entire sand surface stretches across 100 kilometres! While free camping is available throughout the park, there are no on-site facilities so you’ll need to be prepared for self-sufficient travel and accommodations. There are guided tours available so you can see the sand dunes from the lake, the sky; immerse yourself and take a hike through them! Make sure to check your travel arrangements as the sand dunes can only be reached via float plane or boat!
9. Mac the Moose
While Mac no longer holds the “World’s Largest Moose” title, after being surpassed by Norway’s Big Elk, he does still hold the record of “North America’s Largest Moose”, standing at a massive 32 feet tall. Mac’s hometown is Saskatoon, where he was built in 1984, but he made the move to Moose Jaw back in 2004 and this is where he continues to stand guard. Don’t pass up your opportunity for an Insta-worth photo as you’re passing through!
Manitoba
10. Riding Mountain National Park
As you enter Manitoba from the west you’ll find Riding Mountain National Park, covering almost a 3,000 km2 area, which was named as a National Park because it is home to three unique eco-systems throughout: grasslands, upload boreal, and deciduous forests. This park is home to more than five lakes that allow swimming, fishing, canoeing, and other fun water activities. You will also find over 60 species of mammals wandering the preserved land, including an enclosed bison paddock! This is the perfect stop for outdoor-lovers looking to enjoy some beautiful views and activities, during any season.
11. The Royal Canadian Mint
If you would rather stay indoors, or the finicky Canadian weather forces you under cover, you can travel into the center of Winnipeg and spend some time at the Royal Canadian Mint. Here you can see where every single Canadian coin has been produced! This state-of-the-art facility is one of two manufacturing plants (the other is located in Ottawa) and has been in operation for over 40 years! You’ll find plenty of photo opportunities, intriguing history, and interesting facts - like how many other countries the Mint has produced coins for! The Royal Canadian Mint provides 45-minute guided tours, or you can explore on your own.
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba make up the western side to our beautiful country, and each of these provinces offer interesting and unique sights to take in. Some of our top spots will take you farther away from the Trans-Canada Highway than others, but they all offer exciting and once-in-a-lifetime adventures! Be sure to plan your route according to the time you have available, the weather and time of year, and what your most important stops will be. Finished exploring the west side of Canada? Move on to Part Two of our road trip – Canadian Road Trip, the East.