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Travel to Alberta |
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Source: About this
Guidebook
Tips for Travel to Canada |
But for most visitors to Alberta, the great outdoors, not the big cities or the fast bucks, is the main draw. The stunning mountain playgrounds of Banff, Jasper, and Waterton Lakes national parks show off the Canadian Rockies at their best, with pristine glaciers, rushing rivers, and snowcapped peaks reflected in hundreds of high-country lakes. The parks, and much of the rest of the province, are home to an abundance of wildlife such as moose, elk, bighorn sheep, wolves, bears, and an amazing array of birds; approximately 340 species of birds migrate through or nest in Alberta. And ancient wildlife thrived here, too; one of the world's greatest concentrations of dinosaur bones continues to be unearthed in the Red Deer River Valley outside Drumheller. The "Dinosaur Valley," as it's called, attracts tourist tyros and professional paleontologists alike to learn more about earth's once-dominant former tenants. Throughout the province, wide-open spaces, endless blue skies, and accessible wilderness beckon, and big-city culture awaits when you come down from the hills. So whether your interests lean toward high peaks or high tea, you're sure to find plenty to suit you in Alberta.
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sixth-largest cities, respectively, between them holding more than half of
the province's population. These boomtowns have been Canada's
fastest-growing cities since World War II, centers for the staggering oil
and gas reserves that have propelled Alberta to the forefront of world
energy markets and technology. Edmonton is a modern, livable city boasting
some of Canada's finest cultural facilities, as well as the world's
largest shopping and amusement mall. Calgary, meanwhile, is home to the
world-famous Calgary Stampede--a Western wingding of epic
proportions--and the city received international attention as the host of
the 1988 Winter Olympic Games. Its futuristic skyline rises from the
prairie like the oil derricks that put the city on the map, and cattlemen
in Caddies drive past gleaming skyscrapers on their way out to the ranch.