Best of Alberta: Day-Trips from Calgary

Nora D.S. Robins is the co-ordinator of internal collections at the
University of Calgary Libraries.

This book introduces travelers to day-trips within a 20-minute to
two-hour drive in any direction from Calgary. Its four sections roughly
correspond to the directions of the compass, with Calgary as its centre.
Each section begins with a map, a brief overview of the geographical
area, and an explanation of what the area offers the day-tripper.
Descriptions of the individual trips include information about route and
driving distance, hours of service of museums and other places of
interest, flora and fauna, and best places to stop.

South of Calgary the trips are very diverse. One encounters prairies,
foothills, and the front ranges of the Rocky Mountains. In this section,
the author describes 22 trips, including the Highwood Pass Loop (one of
the finest and most diversified tours in Canada), the
Claresholm-Porcupine Hills to the Skyline Road, and
Head-Smashed-in-Buffalo-Jump. The 14 day-trips north of Calgary include
the Wool Tour, the Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site, and the
Icelandic community of Markerville. The 14 tours east of Calgary include
the badlands in the Drumheller Valley and Dinosaur Provincial Park,
areas rich in dinosaur fossil deposits. With respect to the area west of
Calgary, generally the most heavily explored owing to the attractions of
Banff and Lake Louise, the author details 14 tours that greatly enhance
our knowledge of the region.

The trips described in this book require no expertise or special
equipment other than a tank of gas, a road map, and, on occasion, a
picnic lunch. (Travelers should be prepared to travel on secondary and
gravel roads.) Often exhilarating, always entertaining, and sometimes
challenging, these trips will be of interest to Calgarians and visitors
alike.