Tour Highlights

DAY 01 - Calgary, AB ~ Lethbridge, AB
Arrive Calgary, Alberta and transfer to southern Alberta and the agricultural city of Lethbridge for a 2-night stay.  Southern Alberta is part of the Great Plains region, with the Canadian Rockies and their foothills to the west. The rest of region is dominated by irrigated farmlands, feedlots and specialty crops. Join us for a “Welcome Dinner” this evening. [D]

DAY 02 -  Lethbridge, AB
This morning, travel to “Feedlot Alley” to visit a feedlot operation specializing in both beef cattle feedlots as well as     a sheep feedlot. This will be followed with a visit to a commercial greenhouse facilities.  After lunch, visit with a local farmer that grows potatoes, beans, sugar beets and seed canola on his farm. Return to Lethbridge for the night. [B]

DAY 03 - Lethbridge ~ Calgary, AB
Departing Lethbridge, drive to Fort Macleod to visit a replica of a fort built by the NWMP in the 1800’s and watch a live performance of the Musical Ride.  Drive to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump for a guided tour of this unique facility and learn about the hunting of the buffalo by a ‘native’ story teller.  Travel to Calgary for a 2-night stay. [B/L]

DAY 04 - Calgary, AB
This is a whole day at the Calgary Stampede to enjoy as you would choose, from the agricultural pavilions and other many other displays.  There is the option to take in the afternoon rodeo performance.  This evening there is reserved seating for the world famous Chuckwagon Races, Grandstand show and Fireworks. (NOTE: this will be a late evening) [B]

DAY 05 - Banff National Park, AB
Departing Calgary this morning, travel into the heart of the Canadian Rocky Mountains and the Banff National Park.    Enjoy a scenic gondola ride up Sulphur Mountain in Banff, where you will take in breath-taking views of the mountain skyline before traveling on the “most scenic highway in the world” - the Icefield Parkway. This magnificent drive will offer spectacular mountain vistas and possibilities for wildlife sightings such as bighorn sheep, deer and bears. This afternoon,  visit Lake Louise - considered to be one of the most beautiful and photographic areas in Canada plus a visit to Bow and Peyto Lakes before arriving at the Saskatchewan River Crossing for an overnight stay.  [B/D]

DAY 06 -  Banff National Park, AB ~ Red Deer, AB
Travel into Jasper National Park where you will enjoy a unique snow coach ride on the icy slopes of the Icefields - the largest glacier south of the Arctic Circle. Return back via The Crossing and Lake Abraham—one of the largest “earth dams” in Alberta created for water management and hydro power production.  Travel to the historic village of Nordegg, then leaving the Canadian Rockies behind, continue the drive through the most fertile farm land in Western Canada.  This area is diverse with cattle farms, oil industry and grain farms.  Red Deer is our destination for a 2-night stay. [B]

DAY 07 -  Red Deer, AB
Touring today will include a Gouda Cheese factory, as well as a local farm. This afternoon, tour a Hutterite Colony. These "colonies", are all rural, depending largely on farming or ranching for their income.  This is followed by a visit to a local    family farm that specializes in oil seed and grain production. Enjoy a BBQ dinner at the family farm before returning to Red Deer for the night.  Overnight back in Red Deer.   [B/D]

Day 08 - Calgary ~ Yellowknife, NWT                  
Depart Calgary to fly to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.  Situated on the shores of Great Slave Lake, the 10th largest freshwater lake in the world. Yellowknife is known as the Diamond Capital of Canada.  After check into the hotel, enjoy a tour of the city including the Wardair Plane Monument; Old Town;  the Houseboat Village, the largest in Canada.  Yellowknife is the capital city of the Northwest Territories.  The Explorer Hotel will be your home for the next two nights.  Dinner this evening at an authentic northern restaurant. [D]

Day 09 - Yellowknife , NWT                                           
Today’s tour will include the Interpretive Center;  the Legislative Building; Buffalo Air Vintage Plane Museum.  Enjoy lunch at the “Wildcat Café” in old town one of the oldest establishments in the city. [B/L]

Day 10 - Yellowknife ~ Inuvik, NWT                                          
The morning is free to explore on your own before flying to Inuvik, situated on the banks of the Mackenzie River. This river is the second longest river in North America after the Mississippi River. The city of Inuvik was conceived in 1953 as a replacement administrative center for the hamlet of Aklavik situated across the delta..  The name Inuvik , means "Place of Man”.  Upon arrival transfer to the Mackenzie Hotel that will be ‘home’ for the next two nights.  After settling in you will be taken on a city tour as well as a walking tour to the Igloo Church built in 1960 and is a land mark of the city; the Interpretive Center; the community greenhouse garden. [B/D]   (NOTE: There is approximately 22 hours of daylight in the north in July)

Day 11 - Inuvik ~ Tuktoyaktuk ~ Inuvik, NWT                    
This morning you will fly over the McKenzie River Delta to the northern community of Tuktoyaktuk.  Thedeltais approximately62 km across.  The hamlet is commonly referred to as Tuk and is located on the shores of the Arctic Ocean and lies north of the Arctic Circle.   A local guide will give you a cultural tour of the village, his home and take you to view the “Pingos” which are mounds of ice   buried under dirt and vegetation.  You  will have a chance to dip your toes in the frigid waters of the Arctic Ocean.  You return to Inuvik later this afternoon. The evening is free to enjoy how you would choose.  [B/L]  (Should weather turn inclement the tour to Tuk may not happen until later in the day)

Day 12 - Inuvik ~ Dawson City, YK                                                    
A morning departure from Inuvik will fly across the Arctic Circle to the ‘gold rush’ city of Dawson City in the Yukon.  In Dawson City a walking tour will acquaint you with this UNESCO Site with its numerous historic buildings and  wooden sidewalks including viewing both the Robert Service and Jack London cabins.  Dawson City is situated where the  Klondike and Yukon Rivers join and where the world’s largest “Gold Rush” took place in 1898, known as “The Klondike Gold Rush”.  You will drive to the “Top of the Dome” later in the day with spectacular views over the area. Perhaps this evening you may want to visit “Diamond Tooth Gerties Casino”, dating back to the gold rush days the first legalized gambling casino in Canada. [B]  

Day 13 - Dawson City ~ Whitehorse, YK                                        
This morning you will tour the area of the gold rush along Bonanza Creek. You will visit the Historic #4 Gold Dredge built in 1912 and operated until 1960 and was one of the two dozen or so dredges that had operated in the area.  #4 is 2/3 the size of a football field and 8 stories high.  Later, transfer to the airport for a flight to the city of Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon Territories and accounts for more than 75% of the territory's population.   The city is located at Mile 918 of the famed Alaska Highway and is the former terminus of the White Pass and Yukon Railroad from Skagway, Alaska.  The city was an important supply and staging center during the Klondike Gold Rush.  Overnight in Whitehorse for a two-night stay.  [B]  

Day 14 - Whitehorse , YK                                                                   
Today ‘s city tour includes the SS Klondike, a replica of the last   working steamboat; Fish Ladders at the Whitehorse Hydro-Dam on the Yukon River; Miles Canyon, once considered the most treacherous part of the journey for the early gold seekers; Beringia Interpretive Center. This center has exhibits and displays that tell the story of the Yukon from 10,000 years ago, when most of the Yukon escaped the ice age and was home to woolly mammoths, saber tooth cats, and other unique and now extinct critters.  The day is topped off with a “Farewell Dinner”. [B/D]

Day 15 - End of Tour ~ Vancouver/Edmonton or Calgary                                              
A morning to enjoy Whitehorse on your own before transferring to the airport for a flight to Vancouver, Edmonton or Calgary.