A Classic Cowboy Country Road Trip
Glacier Skywalk
Scenery Along the Cowboy Trail
The famous scene at Spirit Island at Jasper National Park
Sipping coffee, Ian Tyson crooning on the radio, we round a gentle bend in the road and our jaws drop. Yet another pastoral scene of rolling foothills, horses grazing in the foreground, and soaring, saw-tooth mountains in the distance. A tiny homestead clutches the top of a grassy hill and a tidy red barn anchors the scene. I pull over, put the flashers on, and grab my camera. Presto! Another idyllic Alberta scene is recorded.
Given the fact I’ve got a passion for landscape photography, there were numerous times when we (my wife and three boys rounded out my posse) had to pull over to record the beauty. In fact, during the 750 km journey, dozens of stops were made and nearly one thousand photos were taken. True, I’ve taken many photography-focused road trips before but, in terms of quantity, this one set a new record!
Our aim was true. This beautiful section of Hwy 22, also known as “The Cowboy Trail,” near Rocky Mountain House was a show-stopper. But, then again, our entire western Alberta road trip – a classic circle tour that incorporated super-scenic sections of the Icefields Parkway, the Yellowhead Highway, the David Thompson Highway, and, yes, The Cowboy Trail – was unforgettable on many levels.
From snow-dipped mountains biting into baby-blue skies to golden, grass-capped Alberta foothills peppered with pine, the variety and the quality of the scenes were spectacular from start to finish. The Columbia Icefields? Check! Glacier Skywalk? Check! Spirit Island? Check! And those were just a few of the highlights on the Icefields Parkway alone. Indeed, from a “postcard” perspective, there might not be a better circle route to travel in North America.
Besides visiting a number of awesome attractions - such as the classic fur-trading outpost at the Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site and a charming heritage ghost town called Em-Te Town - the breathtaking scenery along these roadways is what really stole the show for us. But this wasn’t really a surprise. After all, these are regarded as four of the most spectacular highways in North America! And incorporating all of them into one epic trip made this a road trip for the ages.
But this drive is definitely much more than just the ultimate photo safari. Numerous attractions and activities are found along the way. Hiking, camping, rafting, museums, dude ranches, festivals, rodeos, pow-wows, historic sites, saloons, farmers markets, artisan galleries, and so much more, make this trip a rich, variety-filled experience... especially if you allow enough time to explore at least some of the possibilities.
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