Sacred south
Explore historic Indigenous monuments and scenic valleys in Alberta’s southern reaches
Best for: UNESCO World Heritage sites, Indigenous culture, history and nature
Why go: Experience a side of Alberta that many travellers miss, from the spectacular hoodoos in the Milk River Valley to the quieter, less-tramped trails of Castle Provincial Park, immersing yourself in Blackfoot culture and tradition
Route: Diamond Valley; Crowsnest Pass; Waterton Lakes National Park; Áísínai’pi/Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park; Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo Jump; Okotoks; Calgary
For insights into the long history of Alberta’s First Nations peoples, trace a loop south from Calgary through dramatic landscapes that have been used, shaped and adorned by Blackfoot and other Indigenous communities over many millennia. And though road-tripping is the way to reach off-thebeaten-track destinations, be ready to lace up walking shoes or grab paddles to immerse yourself in the wilder reaches.
Hire a car at Calgary International Airport and head south down Highway 22 - officially named Cowboy Trail - dawdling through Diamond Valley, a swathe of verdant farmland, microscopic towns and rolling foothills with the Kananaskis mountain range above the distant horizon. That road ends at the junction with Crowsnest Highway, leading west to its namesake pass, home to a collection of tiny hamlets. The road to Crowsnest Pass cuts through rubble ridges - the eerie remains of the Frank Slide, where Canada’s deadliest landslide buried dozens of people in 1903.
En route, enjoy an experiential lesson in Albertan mining history at the Bellevue Underground Mine. Spend the night in a rustic cabin and learn about the pass’s murky and murderous Prohibition past. Return east along Highway 3 to embrace the wild by camping in Castle Provincial Park, paddling and fishing on Beaver Mines Lake, hiking up Table Mountain or cooling down with a dip in Castle Falls. Then veer south on Highway 6 to reach Waterton Lakes National Park which, together with neighbouring Glacier National Park across the US border in Montana, is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Spend a few nights at the Prince of Wales Hotel on the hill and explore uncrowded hiking trails that lead to cerulean lakes, ochre-glazed canyons and rocky ridgelines. Don’t miss nearby Waterton Park, where the restaurants and boutiques buzz in summer, and get out onto Waterton Lake on a canoe, kayak, stand-up paddleboard, or on a sightseeing trip with Waterton Shoreline Cruise Co.
Drive east through rural Alberta on Highways 5 and 501 to reach Milk River, a put-in point for a multi-day canoe voyage along the chalky Milk River to Áísínai’pi, the World Heritage site also known as Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, where beautifully preserved engravings and paintings made on the sandstone cliffs around 4,000 years ago offer glimpses into the sacred history of the Siksikáíítsitapi (Blackfoot Nation, also known as Niitsítapi).
Return north-west on Highways 4 then 3 to HeadSmashed-In-Buffalo Jump. The Interpretive Centre at this World Heritage site reveals how, for some 6,000 years, the Blackfoot combined their knowledge of the environment and bison behaviour to stampede herds off the cliff, using the resulting carcasses to provide food, shelter and clothing. Sleep in traditional Native American fashion at the nearby Buffalo RockTipi Camp on the
