Unusual Attractions
Every tourism destination has a collection of oddball, bizarre and larger than life attractions. Alberta is no exception. Inspired by the gargantuan beasts who roamed Alberta some 75 million years ago, prehistoric and modern multi-cultural roots, offbeat tastes in modern art and a town with the name of the home planet of a pointy-eared Star Trek officer, Albertans have created their fair share of unusual attractions.Lacombe Corn Maze (Lacombe)
Three miles west of Lacombe. Go one mile west of the Highway 2 overpass on Highway 12, then 1/2 mile south on Range Road 27-3. Watch for Signs! The Lacombe Corn Maze was the first in Alberta and is still a family favourite. It includes mini-mazes, a picnic area, a hay jump, a corn cannon, a goat walk and more. Other mazes can be found near Edmonton, Lethbridge, Leduc, Grande Prairie and Coalhurst.
World's First UFO Landing Pad (St. Paul)
Located at 50 Avenue and 53 Street (Galaxy Way) in the town of St. Paul, two and a half hours east of Edmonton, is the world’s first and only UFO landing pad. Seriously. Opened in 1967, the pad’s sign proclaims that all visitors “from earth or otherwise” are welcome. Visit the spaceship-shaped tourist information booth and the UFO Interpretive Centre, where you can see photos of UFOs, cattle mutilations, crop circles and learn about sightings and ingenious hoaxes.
World's Largest Bee (Falher)
The town of Falher is 161 km (100 mi) northeast of Grande Prairie, in the Smokey River region of the Peace River District. Known as the Honey Capital of Canada, it boasts the “world’s largest bee”—as big as a compact car—unveiled at the town’s first annual honey festival in 1990.
World's Largest Dinosaur (Drumheller)
The town of Drumheller, 140 km (87 mi) northeast of Calgary, is host to the largest Tyrannosaurus rex the world has ever seen. This fibreglass and steel brute is 25 m (82 ft) tall and 46 m (151 ft) long—five times bigger than real life. Climb up the 106 stairs through its belly and survey the town and surrounding badlands through its gigantic teeth.
World’s Largest Easter Egg (Vegreville)
The pride and joy of Vegreville, a small town on the Yellowhead Highway, is their giant pysanka, or Ukrainian Easter egg. It is 7.8 m (25.7 ft) long and 9.5 m (31 ft) tall. Brightly painted on aluminum according to a mathematical formula, the egg sits atop a 12,272 kg (27,000 lb) base of concrete and steel and turns in the wind like a weathervane.
The village of Glendon, in the Municipal District of Bonnyville southwest of Cold Lake, is considered the gateway to Lakeland country, an area filled with fishing and recreation lakes too numerous to mention. But Glendon’s real claim to fame is its giant pyrogy which is 7.6 m (25 ft) tall. Constructed of fibreglass and steel, it weighs in at 2,727 kg (6,000 lb). If it was real, the locals brag it could feed 10,000 people.
Vulcan Trek Station (Vulcan)
Star Trek fans from all corners flock to the town of Vulcan, an hour and a half southeast of Calgary. Looking uncannily like a hovering spaceship, the Vulcan Tourism and Trek Station is staffed by the captain and crew of the Starship Enterprise, who are happy to join you in a photo shoot on the main bridge. They even have spare Star Trek costumes so you’ll feel like part of the crew.
More of the World's Largest
- Badminton Racket (St. Albert)
- Beaver (Beaver Lodge)
- Bucking Saddle Bronc and Rider, The Legacy (Ponoka)
- Chuckwagon (Dewberry)
- Mallard Duck (Andrew)
- Mushroom (Vilna)
- Oil Derrick (Redwater)
- Oil Lamp (Donalda)
- Piggy Bank (Coleman)
- Putter (Bow Island)
- Sundial (Lloydminster)
- Susie the Softball (Chavin)
- Wagon Wheel and Pick (Fort Assiniboine)
- Western Boot (Edmonton)
Other Roadside Giants
- Baseball Bat (Edmonton)
- Big Horn Sheep (Jasper)
- Big Woman (Taber)
- Buffalo (Fort McMurray)
- Cactus (Hanna)
- Canada Goose (Hanna)
- Gopher (Torrington)
- Corn Stalks (Taber)
- Dove of Peace (Edmonton)
- Eddie the Squirrel (Edson)
- Francis the Pig (Red Deer)
- Henry Fuller "Twelve Foot" Davis (Peace River)
- Jasper the Bear (Jasper)
- Mermaid and Child (Sylvan Lake)
- Miner Memorial (Rosedale)
- Mozzy the Mosquito (Rainbow Lake)
- Pinto MacBean (Bow Island)
- Pinchers (Pincher Creek)
- Sammy and Samantha, the potatoes (Vauxhall)
- Squirt the Skunk (Beiseker)
- Sundial (Grande Prairie)
- Trumpeter Swan (Grande Prairie)
- Tire Man (Grassland)
- Ukrainian Sausage (Mundare)
- Wind Gauge (Lethbridge)
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