Unusual Attractions
Every tourism destination has a collection of oddball, bizarre and larger-than-life attractions. Central Alberta is no exception.Lacombe Corn Maze (Lacombe)
Three miles west of Lacombe. Go one mile west of the Highway 2 overpass on Highway 12, then 1/2 mile south on Range Road 27-3. Watch for Signs! The Lacombe Corn Maze was the first in Alberta and is still a family favourite. It includes mini-mazes, a picnic area, a hay jump, a corn cannon, a goat walk and more.
World's First UFO Landing Pad (St. Paul)
Located at 50 Avenue and 53 Street (Galaxy Way) in the town of St. Paul, two and a half hours east of Edmonton, is the world’s first and only UFO landing pad. Seriously. Opened in 1967, the pad’s sign proclaims that all visitors “from earth or otherwise” are welcome. Visit the spaceship-shaped tourist information booth and the UFO Interpretive Centre, where you can see photos of UFOs, cattle mutilations, crop circles and learn about sightings and ingenious hoaxes.
The village of Glendon, in the Municipal District of Bonnyville southwest of Cold Lake, is considered the gateway to Lakeland country, an area filled with fishing and recreation lakes too numerous to mention. But Glendon’s real claim to fame is its giant pyrogy which is 7.6 m (25 ft) tall. Constructed of fibreglass and steel, it weighs in at 2,727 kg (6,000 lb). If it was real, the locals brag it could feed 10,000 people.
World’s Largest Easter Egg (Vegreville)
The pride and joy of Vegreville, a small town on the Yellowhead Highway, is their giant pysanka, or Ukrainian Easter egg. It is 7.8 m (25.7 ft) long and 9.5 m (31 ft) tall. Brightly painted on aluminum according to a mathematical formula, the egg sits atop a 12,272 kg (27,000 lb) base of concrete and steel and turns in the wind like a weathervane.
More of the World's Largest
- Tractor Weather Vane (Westlock)
- Wooden Walking Beam Oil Pump (Wainwright)
- Bucking Saddle Bronc and Rider, The Legacy (Ponoka)
- Chuckwagon (Dewberry)
- Mallard Duck (Andrew)
- Mushroom (Vilna)
- Angus Shaw-Fur Trader (Bonnyville)
- Oil Lamp (Donalda)
- Sundial (Lloydminster)
- Susie the Softball (Chavin)
- Wagon Wheel and Pick (Fort Assiniboine)
Other Roadside Giants
- Eddie the Squirrel (Edson)
- Francis the Pig (Red Deer)
- Mermaid and Child (Sylvan Lake)
- Ukrainian Sausage (Mundare)
- Gopher (Torrington)
- Crown (Coronation)
- Buffalo (Wainwright)
- Sundial-Elevator (Sangudo)
- Elk (Vegreville)
