Nearby Banff and Lake Louise are well-known winter ski areas, and are mountain summer escapes. Kananaskis Country and Canmore are other mountain destinations about an hour car travel away. Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park is a 3-hour drive South of Calgary. Jasper, the other well-known mountain destination, is about 4 hours drive northwest of Calgary, 6-7 hours if you drive there by way of Edmonton.
Edmonton is the nearest urban, metropolitan centre to the North and host to North America's largest mall and has a vibrant cultural scene. It is a 3-hour drive north of Calgary on Highway 2. The city of Red Deer, which has its own list of attractions, is located exactly halfway between Edmonton and Calgary.
Located south and east of Calgary are 2 of Alberta's 5 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
18 km north and west of Fort Macleod, is a 90 minute drive south of Calgary. Its excellent interpretive centre is open year round.Dinosaur Provincial Park
near Brooks, 2 hours east of Calgary, is a 73 sq km park boasting one of the best dinosaur fossil beds in the world.The world famous Royal Tyrrell Museum, located in Drumheller 90 minutes east of Calgary, also houses many palaeontological specimens.
In Turner Valley, a 45 minute drive south of Calgary, is the Turner Valley Gas Plant National and Provincial Historic Site (http://culture.alberta.ca...). There is a pioneering gas plant and see how natural gas from Canada's largest gas field was processed prior to WWII. However, as of March 2008, the site is closed pending a decision on its future.
The Remington Carriage Museum (http://www.remingtoncarri...) in Cardston houses the largest collection of horse-drawn vehicles in North America, with over 250 carriages, wagons and sleighs.
