Alberta, Alberta History, Alberta Parks, Battle River, Big Knife Provinical Park, canada, Canadian Badlands, Clipper Canoes, Clipper Cascade Canoe, Day Hike, Diplomat Mine, Donalda, Elevators, Go East of Edmonton, Hiking, Meeting Creek, Paddling, Railway, Train Station, Trains, World's Largest - August 30, 2020

Paddling Big Knife Provincial Park/Battle River - Go East of Edmonton, Alberta Road Trip

As summer slowly starts to come to an end we decided to go on one last adventure before the leaves turn color and the days become short.

We packed our truck and loaded our 17' Clipper Cascade Canoe and traveled South East from Edmonton Alberta along hwy 21/13 to Camrose, south on 56 and stopped off at Meeting Creek to see an abandoned historic railroad and elevators. This is worth a stop if you enjoy a little bit of Alberta's history.

After leaving meeting Creek we headed to hwy 53 and stopped off at Donalda to see the World's largest Oil lantern and another abandoned Railway. This is a peaceful little town and a nice place to stop for a picnic.

Did you know that Donalda is the most Northerly part of the

Canadian Badlands and overlooks the Meeting Creek Coulee.

World's tallest Oil Lamp at 42' tall

We hit the road again and headed down hwy 855 towards Big Knife Provincial Park and the Battle River. There are so many stops you can make on this trip and scenic outlook spots for some pretty epic pictures of the prairies/badlands. We made one last stop at the Diplomat Mine Interpretive Site to check out some old mining equipment built in 1927. (Wow almost a century ago!) Don't forget to put a little tip in the donation bins.

Our final destination was the first come first served campground of Big Knife. Note we arrived around lunch on a Friday and the rv loop was almost full. We stayed in the tenting area which was secluded and peaceful. This Park has a boat launch, Day use area, Playground, No services, Hiking Trails and of course a beautiful place to paddle. When you launch there is a parking lot to leave your vehicle which is nice. You can head North or South from the launch on the River. That being said this is not much of a river in flow rate. It it wide but because of the Generating station/damn it has kind of made a wetland, marsh/lake. If you head North out of the launch it is a peaceful paddle down the river and a great place to bird watch. Lot's of little places to paddle in and out of!

We highly recommend this trip for anyone looking for a quick weekend getaway. We would love to go back and paddle Big Knife Provinical Park in the fall, The colors would be just breathtaking. Thanks for comming along on our Adventures and don't forget to check out Alberta Adventurer Family on Instagram, Youtube, Facbook and Pintrest.