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Settled in the picturesque Oldman River Valley
an area that reportedly has more sunshine than anywhere else in
Canada Bridgeview RV Resort provides plenty of opportunities
for sightseeing, boating, and fishing on the surrounding river.
Drive into town to visit the Nikka Yuko Japanese
Garden, where kimono-clad hostesses will take you on a tour of the
five types of traditional Japanese gardens in the complex. Also
featured is the unique bell tower, constructed in Japan without
nails, then taken apart and reassembled in Canada. At Indian Battle
Park, youll see the site of the final Indian intertribal battle
on the continent (between the Cree and Blackfoot tribes). You can
also view he High Level Bridge, one of the highest and longest steel
viaduct railroad bridges in the world. Or you can follow self-guided
trails through the 196-acre Helen Schuler Coulee Centre and Nature
Reserve, home to a wide variety of desert flora and fauna as well
as a sanctuary for wildlife; see the history of area coal mining
at the Coal Banks Interpretive Site; and take a 20-minute train
ride through nearby Fort Whoop-Up, the former fur bartering center
that led to the formation of the North West Mounties.
Worth the drive west on Highway 3 is the Head-Smashed-In
Buffalo Jump, located in the foothills west of Fort MacLeod. One
of the oldest and best preserved sites of its kind, for 10,000 years
it was used by the Plains Indians to stampede buffalo over the sandstone
cliff to their deaths. A seven-story interpretative center, built
into the side of the cliff, documents the history and culture of
those Indian tribes.
If time allows, youll want to drive north
through the cattle ranches and farmland to the beautiful city of
Calgary. Not only will you have a marvelous view of the Rockies
to the west of the city, but youll be able to learn more about
the Native American society and early European settlement of western
Canada through the exhibits in the art gallery, library, and archives
at the Glenbow Museum in the central downtown area. |