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The Best Small Towns and Villages
Cochrane: Get there before it's gone! Cochrane, just a half-hour from downtown Calgary in good traffic, is rapidly expanding beyond small-town status, and it's easy to see why: The spectacular location in the foothills along the Cowboy Trail is drawing city slickers with a taste for country living in droves. Calgary's boom has the city limits pushing ever-closer to Cochrane's boundaries as well, but the town retains its commitment to western heritage, with sites like the Cochrane RancheHouse (tel. 403/851-2561), which was built in 2004 to recognize ranching and rodeo as twin pillars of rural Albertan culture.
Rosebud: A tiny prairie gem cradled in a river valley on a provincial byway, Rosebud is a thriving arts center just off the map. An art school, theater, and opera house are among the tiny hamlet's hidden pleasures, as are the meals to be had at the historic Mercantile Dining Room (tel. 403/267-7553). Art galleries and crafts by local artisans are for sale here as well, most of them so good you'd swear you were in a town 100 times its size (Rosebud has a little over 100 permanent residents).
Rowley: North and west of Drumheller sits Rowley, one of Alberta's almost-ghost towns. A semi-famous Canadian movie, Bye Bye Blues, was shot here in 1989, increasing the town's population -- albeit briefly -- by a factor of 50. This is because Rowley has four permanent residents, who share maintenance duties and fund the town's up-keep with a monthly pizza night -- one of the biggest draws in the region.
Vulcan: The folks in Vulcan, Alberta, have a motto you've probably heard before: "Live long and prosper." Granted, the town was named well before Leonard Nimoy's pointed-eared alter-ego, Mr. Spock, became a cult legend. But never let it be said that an Albertan would let an opportunity to make a few bucks go to waste. The tourist bureau (tel. 403/485-2994) features a miniature Starship Enterprise as a welcoming sign, and the building itself looks lifted from the set of the late-60s Star Trek. Vulcan, a small farming community, celebrates Spock Days/GalaxyFest each June, and brings in whatever tangentially Trek-related celebrity it can get (in 2008, it was Rod Roddenberry Jr., son of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett Roddenberry).
Bragg Creek: Not much more than a shopping plaza and a gas station, Bragg Creek, a short 45-minute hop west of Calgary, remains a draw as much for its excellent ice cream shop as for its perch on the edge of Kananaskis Country. Increasingly becoming known as a weekend getaway for moneyed Calgarians, Bragg is starting to show its urbane side: contemporary fusion restaurants, for one, and a day spa. But really, the attraction is the location: Bragg sits in the curl where the Rockies begin -- picturesque, to say the least.
Lake Louise: Just a half-hour west of Banff seems to make all the difference. Where Banff is crowded, noisy, and over-touristed at times, Lake Louise is peaceful and serene. An excellent, hippie-ish bakery and laid-back atmosphere make it all the more appealing. In Banff, you feel urged to do everything; in Louise, as the locals call it, you can be content to do nothing at all.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without
notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before
planning your trip.
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