Looking for unique experiences this summer? These 23 summer outdoor adventures in Alberta will provide exciting times ahead. There’s so much to do in this province, it just takes a bit of research to do something out of the ordinary. Some adventures take a couple of hours while others could last the entire weekend. A variety of activities are available depending on your interests. Do you want to hike, kayak, backpack, swim, or reach heights on a challenging course with your family or partner? Read on to discover the magic Alberta has to offer.
Table of Contents
1. Athabasca Glacier
Athabasca Glacier Hike is a four-and-a-half-hour drive southwest from Edmonton on Hwy 11 and just a bit north of Saskatchewan Crossing. It’s a phenomenal hike if you’re looking to capture amazing pictures of the Glacier and its surroundings. We went with Rockaboo Mountain Adventures. It costs $175 each. The guide provided us with information regarding how the glacier moves with its surroundings. He made us aware of the crevasses to watch out for and explained how quickly the glacier is melting. Some of our group rappelled into a crevasse with assistance from our guide. I wasn’t brave enough with running water underneath us; it seemed like a nerve-wracking experience. Kris and a friend on the other hand took the opportunity to explore the inside of the crevasse and they did take spectacular pictures. For more details about this hike, be sure to read Athabasca Glacier Hike: What to Expect?
Tip #1: Even though it’s summertime on the glacier, it’s still cold. Make sure to wear layers and bring a hat and mitts to stay warm. Sunglasses are a must to prevent snow blindness.
Tip #2: Make sure that your lunch is easy to eat as you will have it on the glacier while sitting on the ice.
2. Camping
Camping is a great activity to include in your summer outdoor adventures. Unique Camping in Alberta suggests the best campsites to check out in our province. Some campgrounds might be close to where you live while others might be a bit further away. All the campgrounds offer different scenery and adventures to partake in with your family or partner. There shouldn’t be a shortage of things to do especially if you like swimming, hiking, kayaking, boating, rafting and exploring.
3. Pembina River Tubing (Closed this Year)
Pembina River Tubing is a fun activity to do every summer. Unfortunately due to wildfires that destroyed the company buildings and the stairs that lead to the river in May 2023, this company is closed for the summer. The high river due to a large amount of rain in a short period of time has caused it to be really high and unsafe to go tubing at this current time. Hopefully, the company will be up and running by next summer!
4. Pembina River Park
One of the best summer outdoor adventures around Edmonton is to head one-hour west to the Pembina River for a day of relaxing on the beach and floating down the river. Bring your chair, a lunch, and find a place in the shade to set up for the day (knowing that the sun will shift throughout the day). When you get hot, float down the river a few times and reconvene back to your chair when you get hungry and looking for more relaxation and conversation with your family or partner. Outhouses are available at the parking lot. Make sure to follow these 10 Tips to Avoid Sunburn when sitting in the sun for hours on end.
Due to a large volume of water that fell as rain in late June 2023, the Pembina River might still be too high for a day at the beach. Be sure to check the Pembina River Provincial Park website for all your updated information on the park.
5. Lake Isle Kayaking Adventures
Kayaking at Lake Isle is a fantastic way to spend the morning or afternoon. It’s close to the Pembina River but even if the water level rises it will not affect your trip; you’ll still be able to get out and enjoy nature! There are so many gorgeous spots to explore on this lake. Lake Isle Kayaking Adventures: Four Directions to Consider When Kayaking is a detailed read to help you figure out where you should go for a couple of hours. I suggest heading out for two or three hours if you feel confident about that amount of time. With it taking one hour to drive there and another hour to drive back, allocate enough time to relax while kayaking on Lake Isle. Make time to sit in a rented kayak to look at the wildlife. I’ve seen pelicans, a fawn, and a variety of birds while kayaking. There’s so much to see.
Here are 6 Easy Snack Ideas for Kayaking Trips when you get hungry and want to take a break.
6. Mountain Hiking
Our gorgeous mountains offer many beautiful places to go hiking. This picture above is from the Valley of the Five Lakes hike just south of Jasper. Many other beautiful hikes can be found by reading my Jasper Hikes: Best Memories post. The trails vary in length and difficulty but they all provide gorgeous scenery to enjoy with your family or partner.
7. Badland Hiking
Drumheller is a spectacular place to check out. Kris and I love spending our time at this location. It offers such a contrast in scenery compared to the rest of the province. For some awesome hikes in the area, read 4 Spectacular Drumheller Hikes.
8. Picnic
Picnics are a great way to enjoy nature, appreciate the scenery, and eat delicious food while spending time with your family or partner. Hawrelak Park is typically a great place to meet in Edmonton (it is closed for renovations this summer). The picture above shows us ready to have a picnic on Pyramid Island in Jasper National Park. We found a spot just off the path that was secluded to enjoy a date. We got to appreciate this gorgeous view as well, which can’t be beaten for a picnic. This needs to be included in your summer outdoor adventures!
9. Canoe Devon to Edmonton
Devon to Edmonton Canoe is a fun excursion for a day. My brother and I canoed down the river with a rented canoe. More details can be found in my Devon to Edmonton Canoe post. It took us four hours to canoe down the river.
Tip: The current is slow in a few spots so I’d recommend taking a canoe instead of a raft otherwise you might end up on the river for hours.
This river isn’t too technical and is easy to maneuver to get around rocks or banks as long as the person in the bow (front of the canoe) is paying attention to where they’re going and any hazards ahead. It’s easy to have a bite to eat while you’re cruising down the river in the slow spots.
10. Sylvan Lake
Sylvan Lake, one-and-a-half hours southwest of Edmonton is a wonderful lake for swimming during the summer. The water can feel a bit cold when walking in but you’ll quickly feel refreshed once you’re swimming. Many people use inflatable rafts or beds while hanging out on the water. It’s a perfect place to bring your lunch and enjoy the beautiful water and beaches. The beach does get busy in the afternoons.
Tip #1: Be aware that closer to the beach, you’ll need to pay for parking. If you’re looking for unpaid parking you might have to walk a long way to reach the beach.
Tip #2: The bathrooms tend not to be the cleanest so you might want to consider changing in your vehicle or come to the beach wearing your bathing suit.
11. Summer Tubing
Summer tubing is open at Rabbit Hill! They are open from June 28 to September 1: Wednesdays to Fridays from 12:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M., Saturday, Sunday & Holiday Mondays: 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. Tickets must be purchased online in advance. Ticket prices are based on the number of tubing runs you’d like to take. There’s a carpet lift for the short lanes. For the longer lanes, the carpet lift will take you halfway, and then walking a couple of minutes on the switchbacks will be required to get up the rest of the way.
12. Mega Bounce
Mega Bounce is an amazing way to spend one summer day. Yes, it’s a five-kilometre run which I’m not a fan of, but this run includes inflatable obstacles that make it entirely worth it! It’s fun to feel like a kid again. No one was available to join me this summer, but the spirits were high and people were saying hi and smiling while participating in the event. I didn’t feel like I was alone at all. Depending on your fitness level, you can try to push yourself and see how far you can run. I was able to run much further than I was expecting.
Tip: If you run most of the course, the run will be done fast. I walked most of it last year and it was much slower than this year’s outcome. When pushing myself to run more this year making me happy that I could run a far distance, I was also sad that the run was done much sooner. Keep that in consideration when choosing what exercise you’d like to do.
13. Backpacking
Spending a couple of days backpacking is a great way to be in nature, exercise and spend quality time with family. There are a variety of backpacking trails that vary in difficulty and length across Alberta. Choose what best suits you. The picture above shows us Backpacking Poboktan Trail Successfully off Highway 93, just north of Saskatchewan Crossing. It’s a beautiful area to backpack. We set up our tents at Waterfalls campground which provided a gorgeous view for the evening.
14. Pick Berries
Picking berries must be included in your summer outdoor adventures. Blueberries might be hard to find at U-pick farms around our province but if you’re lucky like us, could be found in your garden. You might find wild blueberries in northern Alberta. Strawberries and raspberries will be a more likely fruit to pick in Alberta. You can pick as many as you like to eat for a healthy snack or bake with them. My family often makes jam with the fruits we pick and incorporate them into a variety of desserts. They are so delicious to eat on their own, on breakfast cereal or otherwise. If you end up picking too many (as if that’s even a problem) you can also freeze them for future use.
Tip: Fresh-picked berries taste juicier and have a fresh flavour compared to getting them at the grocery store.
15. Footloose Caboose
Footloose Caboose is a unique place thirty-five minutes east of Edmonton. We had gone in early September and found ourselves faced with a snowstorm. Regardless of the weather, it’s a cool place to check out to have a bite to eat for breakfast or lunch on Sundays from 9 A.M. to 2 P.M. and supper on Fridays, Saturdays or Sundays from 5 P.M. to 8 P.M. After a full stomach, you can walk and explore the property.
16. Snow Valley Aerial Park
The Snow Valley Aerial Park has 2-hour timeslots for reservation. Purchase your online tickets here. Prices range from $32 to $46 depending on the height of the individual. If you’re not afraid of heights, it’s a fun way to get outside and challenge yourself to try something new. It might be an excellent way to get over your fear of heights while spending quality time with your children or family members.
17. Whitewater Rafting
If you like to get wet, whitewater rafting is a fun activity for the whole outdoorsy family. You never know what to expect and how big the rapids will be around the corner. There’s always anticipation for more fun to come on the river. You might just get to see beautiful scenery as well when floating down the easier parts of the river. Remember to wear a life jacket!
18. Biking
Biking can be done around your neighbourhood with your family or partner. It’s an easy way to discover different parts of your city and you’ll be able to go further distances in a shorter amount of time than walking. It’s fun to try various activities. In Edmonton, we have the river valley that connects many trails along the river. Calgary is lucky with Fish Creek Park trails that can take you all over the southern part of the city. Look up trails in your city and get out exercising! Remember to wear a helmet to stay safe!
19. Folk Music Festival
The folk music festival in Canmore, Calgary or Edmonton is a great way to spend some time outside enjoying the outdoors and listening to music. In Edmonton, the festival is located at Gallagher Park and runs the second weekend in August from the 10th to the 13th this year.
20. Rock Climbing
Rock climbing is a fun activity to do around Alberta. If you have friends that have gear you can borrow, it can make it much easier to get outside climbing if you don’t own personal equipment. Join climbing groups on Facebook to find experienced people and head out on an adventure together.
21. Rafting Down the Bow River
One of our favourite summer outdoor adventures is to go rafting down the Bow River in Calgary. We drive one vehicle to the paid parking lot on 8th Street in downtown Calgary where we’ll finish the day. There’s a beach with a ramp close by just before the Peace Bridge where we exit the river. The second vehicle is driven to Bowness Park where we start. It takes three to four hours for the journey. We often stop somewhere along the way to have lunch and enjoy some relaxation time with my family and partner. It’s a great way to have fun and enjoy a sunny day!
22. Swim in Lake Annette
I love swimming and I have been to Jasper countless times hiking but only found out recently that there’s a lake that isn’t freezing cold for swimming! Lake Annette is a fantastic place to include in your summer outdoor adventures. You can swim for hours. It offers a place to sit on the beach if it isn’t too crowded. If you have a floaty, it’s a perfect place to relax on a big enough lake.
Tip: It’s super busy in the summer. There is parking but it’s limited. Plan to park on the side of the road and walk a fair distance to reach the lake when the crowds are plentiful.
23. Lakeside Mini-Golf
Lakeside Mini-Golf is an entertaining way to spend an afternoon in Sylvan Lake (an hour and a half southwest of Edmonton) with your family or partner. Children under four are free, while it costs $8.95 for ages five to twelve, and adults gain entry for $13.95. They offer eighteen holes which provide a nice break from the lake activities. The holes offer multiple levels of difficulty to keep it interesting. The best thing about mini-golf is that it can be played in a variety of weather if swimming conditions are a bit rough.
Final Thoughts
These summer outdoor adventures are sure to bring a smile to your face and provide lots of fun this summer! There’s so much to do. What do you want to do first? Do you want to hike up a glacier, go swimming, hike, or brave the challenging Aerial Park with your family and partner? Alberta offers a wide variety of activities and scenery to make your summer full of excitement. Maybe you want to try a new camping spot that you haven’t yet discovered. Sylvan Lake and Annette Lake are wonderful for swimming. Kayaking on Lake Isle is also fun with kayaks that are available for rent on the Lake Isle Kayaking Adventures property. There’s so much to do! It’s time to start planning and have an amazing summer!
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