Every road trip through the Canadian Badlands should include Hanna, Alberta. This is, after all, the hometown of Nickleback. According to several internet sites, Nickleback is the highest-selling foreign band in the USA this decade – second only to the Beatles, who are decidedly not this decade.
Hanna’s biggest event of the year is the indoor rodeo (September 23-25, 2011) which is always held the third weekend in September. It is the last pro-rodeo before the Canadian Finals in Edmonton in November. If you’re lucky, you might see a High Noon Gunfight on Main Street. Do you suppose rodeo organizers are Gary Cooper fans? Cooper starred in the Hollywood classic High Noon, a 1952 Western that many think is the best Western ever filmed.
For contact information and a listing of activities during the rodeo weekend, visit the Hanna Indoor Rodeo Association website. For tickets call 403-854-4631. Additional rodeo information, events and performances can be found on the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association website.
There are some neat places to stay in the Hanna area. Check out the Alberta Bed & Breakfast Association website (south region) for some good ideas. A colleague of mine stayed at That Country Place and has fond memories of sipping her morning coffee while looking at the prairie view. We had the AB Cottage Rest Awhile, a six hundred and forty acre ranch, all to ourselves one time. Located about twenty minutes north of Hanna, this 1947 farmhouse was ahead of its time when it was built for a CPR man and his wife. Breakfast was delivered piping hot by the owner who lives on a nearby cattle ranch with her husband. She cooks everything from scratch using many of her mom’s recipes. For camping, Prairie Oasis Park off of Highway 36 is popular. The campground has treed sites, a nice beach, showers, hiking trails and even a wireless high-speed Internet hotspot.
If you go, Hanna is 240 kilometres or a three-hour drive northwest of Medicine Hat.
The Hanna Museum and Pioneer Village is open in September from 1-5 pm by appointment. 403-854-4244
Hanna Doll Palace & Tearoom: Open March to December, Wednesday through Sunday. Arrive early (11:30am) if you plan to have lunch here. 403-854-2756
The yard at the old roundhouse in Hanna has some interesting artifacts laying about
Places to stay in Hanna:
That Country Place: 403-854-2572
AB Stay Awhile B&B: 403-854-2354
Prairie Oasis Park: 403-779-2155 Thirty kilometres south of Hanna. Open to the public until October 1.
More visitor information can be found at the Town of Hanna website.
The 1913 CNR roundhouse in Hanna is a great spot if you have an interest in railway history in the Canadian Badlands.
Here is another post about Hanna, Alberta.