We are slowly trying to visit places near to us that we have on our bucket list. Our kids really enjoy living history museums and we thought we would plan a weekend around that this summer.
Rocky Mountain House is just over 2 hours north of Calgary. It is a nice drive up through rolling hills and without a great deal of traffic. Being that it is a National Historic Site, your Parks Canada Pass will gain you free entry.
We elected to camp on site. The campground is an open area, but the sites are quite large and each site is equipped with a picnic table and a fire pit. There are no hookups on the sites, but there is a water fill station. For sewage dump you do need to go into Rocky Mountain House where there is a pay dump station at the Visitor Centre. This is a small campground, however it did not fill up when we were there.
When you check in, staff will provide you with a map of the entire site along with tokens for the showers. They do run an evening program some nights at the campground, however we didn’t make it to one.
It is wide open skies here, so you get a pretty great sunset view. We also spent one evening watching a storm roll in from off in the distance which was kind of neat.
At the one end of the campground is the beginning of some of the historic site as well as a viewing platform to view the bison from. The path then meanders through grasslands, past the tipi campsite, and up into the forest where you join the main loop of attractions. You can book a Tipi to camp in for the night here as well as Trapper Tents and Trapline Cabins.
There was a tipi set up with 2 interpreters dressed up as Metis who were showing off some of the tools that would have been used when this fort was in operation. They did tell us that some days they are prepping pelts at this site. This is slightly off from the main site, but can be worth a wander down as they do perform different activities down here. We arrived just as they were setting up, so if you waited until a bit later there would be more going on at this spot.
Once we arrived at the main site the kids wanted to check out the museum and learn a bit more about this site before venturing around more. They had a virtual reality activity so the kids could see what the fort would have been like when it was in operation. My kids loved that and thought it was pretty neat. They had 2 different options as our youngest was too small for the main virtual reality, but they had one where he felt he did the same as his big sister.
The museum is small, but has a wealth of information and many hands on activities for kids. This would be a good spot to take a break from the heat on a hot summer day.
After exploring the museum and enjoying all of the activities it was time to head back outside. The kids wanted to go and see what the blacksmiths were making. We wandered over and watched them make some hot dog roasters. We ended up returning a few times throughout the day as my oldest thought this was pretty neat and loved watching them work. While they were working they shared information about the fort, about the Metis heritage and some fun facts about the area.
While our oldest was watching the blacksmiths work, our youngest had a great time pretending he was setting off on great voyages in his long boat. It was hard to get him out of the boat.
Once we could convince him to get out of the boat we wandered over to the Metis Tent to explore it and try some fresh made bannock that had been cooked on the fire. While the kids were waiting for the bannock to finish cooking they enjoyed chatting with the interpreters about their Metis heritage and the Metis culture. After chatting for a while one of the interpreters asked my kids if they would like to see some of the traditional dances. Of course our kids said yes, so the fiddle came out and we got to watch some dancing. After they performed a few dances, the kids were invited up to learn a dance. This was certainly a highlight for our daughter.
Our sons absolute favourite thing to do here was to watch the David Thompson Puppet Play. This is a play all about the life of David Thompson with singing and story telling. They keep the children well engaged throughout and our youngest still likes to occasionally tell me the story of David Thompson.
We spent the entire day having fun on site and participating in the numerous activities, talking with the interpreters and having fun.
We noticed the bison had moved closer to the main visitor area near the end of the day, so went over to watch them for a few minutes before heading back to the camp site for dinner.
We took a different trail back to the campsite that followed along the river for some of it and some of it was through the forest. This trail also passed by the Trapper tents and Cabins.
This is a great place to visit with kids whether it is for the day or to make a weekend of.
If you are up there for the weekend then it is also worth stopping into the visitor centre in Rocky Mountain House and viewing the museum they have there. Be sure to ask at the desk for the scavenger hunt for the kids. If they complete the scavenger hunt they will get a prize. I took the kids in while my husband waited for the Sani-Station for our trailer.
Have you been to Rocky Mountain House? Is there something we missed?
Patricia P.
Fun! I grew up in Calgary and have been to Rocky Mountain House. I was young then, so don’t remember much. Thanks for this post and helping me relive some of my childhood. Alberta truly is a beautiful province. I look forward to reading more of your adventures.
coachkatye
It truly is a pretty special place to live. We are trying to take full advantage of all the province has to offer. Glad you enjoyed reading about our adventure.
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