Coming to Edmonton sometime soon, but don’t know how to spend your time outdoors? Edmonton Day Trips has it covered for you. All the trips are within a three-hour drive for the day. You won’t have to drive a lot to have fun! There are trips in every direction. Where do you want to go? North? South? East? West? What do you want to do? You can go canoeing, kayaking, rafting, swimming, hiking, and even have supper on a train if you want to! Keep reading for a detailed description of each adventure.
Table of Contents
West of Edmonton
When heading west of Edmonton, you can do three different activities: Chickakoo, Lake Isle Kayaking Adventures and Pembina River. Chickakoo is for people who love hiking and want to be close to the city while still feeling like they are in the middle of nowhere. Lake Isle Kayaking Adventures offers many kayaking places to explore. Pembina River is for rafting, relaxing by the river or swimming and a picnic with wonderful company.
Chickakoo
Many different lakes surround Chickakoo. It’s located thirty minutes west of Edmonton. It’s super convenient to get to from Highway 16. If you’re interested in completing all the loops, it should be possible in three or four hours. If you’re looking for a more relaxed outing, hike for a couple of hours and then sit by the lake enjoying your lunch.
Different Loops
The trees are gorgeous any time of the year, but the fall colours make for lovely pictures, and you can cross-country ski here in the winter as well.
Chickakoo offers different loop difficulties and lengths depending on how much time you have and how much exercise you can fit into your day. The hikes are relatively easy, compared to the Alberta mountains, but it’s nice to get out of the city and feel like you’re far away from home. The trail map indicates that the yellow marked trails are for beginners, the green and blue trails are for more experienced hikers, and the red trails are for more advanced hikers. They are doable for all levels of hikers. The red trails have more significant uphill and downhills, but you can do it! It just might take longer to hike up or down. Take your time to complete the loops, it’s not a race. The red loop is the longest, taking approximately one hour for an advanced hiker.
Tip: If you aren’t sure if the terrain is appropriate, start with a small loop, and add more if able and confident.
Lake Isle Kayaking Adventures Edmonton Day Trips
Lake Isle Kayaking Adventures is one hour west of Edmonton. For individuals aged twelve and older, Cynthia will greet you to rent her kayaks for $25/hour, $45 for two hours and $65 for three hours. Only cash is accepted. To go kayaking, you can easily leave from this property. Free parking is available. It’s easy to text her at 780-241-5034 to reserve kayaks for your group. If the weather isn’t suitable for kayaking, she’ll contact you to reschedule to a different date that works for you.
The lake is gorgeous for a fun afternoon exploring, looking at varied wildlife along the way (loons, pelicans, deer, and ducks, to name a few), and relaxing. Depending on how long you want to explore, choose one of four directions for a fun kayaking excursion. It’s a fantastic place for some alone time or to spend time with your partner.
Pembina River
Pembina River is a popular place to spend your summer day. It’s located one hour west of Edmonton, very close to Lake Isle Kayaking Adventures. Depending on the type of adventure you want, two options are available. You can go rafting down the river or dunk your feet and body into the water. It’s refreshing.
Rafting
Have an awesome day rafting with your partner. Start the two-hour and fifteen-minute float from the Pembina River Tubing location. Find specific Pembina River rafting details here. Rafting is a relaxing activity with relatively calm waters, allowing you to enjoy conversing with the people around you. Bring snacks, water, sunglasses and sunscreen. The last thing you want after a gorgeous day in the sun is to look like a lobster. Book your shuttle online for $18/person if you want a way back to the parking lot or drive a second vehicle at this location.
Tip: A fantastic idea is to wear sandals or water shoes while rafting in case you need to navigate shallow waters with rocks. They can be slippery with slime or jagged, you don’t want to deal with them barefoot.
Swim and Picnic Edmonton Day Trips
Pembina River Provincial Park has a big parking lot for swimmers, rafters, and tubers. A playground for children is available beside the green space. Four outhouses (two for females and two for males) are located to the left beside the parking lot; they are often clean.
Tip: The parking lot doesn’t fill up on a gorgeous weekday, come whenever you like. On the weekends, however, the top parking lot tends to be full by 10 a.m. Arrive by then if you want to spend the day at Pembina River.
Walk to the end of the parking lot to a set of stairs that lead to picnic tables in the shade. It’s an awesome place to have a picnic.
Continue down the gradual path to the water. It’s wide enough to carry your raft.
A large gravel beach can be seen on both the left and the right side of the path to set up chairs and towels.
Tip: Bring an umbrella or tent to use for shade, as most of the beach will be in the sun all day.
Swim and float down the river as many times as you want throughout the day. Have a picnic when you get hungry and enjoy each other’s company.
Tip: Wear sandals or water shoes on your feet when swimming. There are many rocks at different levels in the river. It’s better to be prepared with your sandals up in front of you while floating down the river to caution you if something lies ahead. Otherwise, stubbing a toe, injuring your foot on a sharp rock or slipping on one while getting out of the river could be a possibility.
North of Edmonton Day Trips
North of Edmonton, you’ll find a beautiful river pathway in St. Albert city, where I like to go for walks. It’s a ten-minute drive north of Edmonton, making it a super convenient place to explore. Big Lake is also situated to the left of Riel Recreation Park (where I park). If you have a kayak, canoe or raft, it’s a wonderful lake for water sports.
St. Albert
The approximately sixteen-kilometres-long pathway requires the same path to be taken in both directions. If you want to take a different route, you’ll have to do the return journey in a neighbourhood. The path switches between shaded and open areas in the sun.
If you want to reach the north side pathways, many bridges are available to cross once you get to the rail bridge, which is closer to downtown St. Albert.
The river is gorgeous to walk along.
It feels more secluded on the west and east ends of the trail and is busier in the middle commercial section of the walk. Benches are set up along the way, allowing a break or to stop for lunch or eat a snack. It’s easy to get exercise while exploring a new location.
South of Edmonton Day Trips
Edmonton Day Trips to the south include canoeing from Devon to Edmonton and going swimming at Sylvan Lake. Canoeing is a fun activity that takes approximately four hours on the water, depending on the currents. It could take longer, five to six hours, if you have a different type of inflatable, such as a raft. Swimming in Sylvan Lake is a one-and-a-half-hour drive from Edmonton. Decide how long you want to spend at this location, relaxing, swimming and having a picnic before heading back.
Canoe From Devon to Edmonton
Canoeing from Devon to Edmonton is a fun way to spend the afternoon. The water current is fairly easy to deal with, so that my brother and I were mostly able to relax, have lunch and enjoy our conversations.
You have two driving options to make this trip happen. Bring your own canoe or rent one from Totem and drive a vehicle to both ends: Devon and a different vehicle to Laurier Park. You will have to retrieve your vehicle from Devon once you’ve completed the day.
If you don’t want to drive to both locations, park one vehicle at Laurier Park and take a shuttle (only available Saturdays) with your rented canoe to the starting Devon location. Once you arrive at Laurier Park, you will be able to drive home.
Sylvan Lake
The Edmonton Day Trips include swimming at Sylvan Lake. There are two locations.
The main beach has bathrooms close by with changing stalls, but sometimes they aren’t the cleanest. The sandy beach is gorgeous for swimming, however. The water is generally cold enough that you won’t see algae.
Ten minutes south of the beach, they have a free parking lot if you don’t mind walking a bit with your stuff. It beats fighting heavy traffic for a parking spot close to the beach due to the popularity of this place to hang out in the summer. Plus, the parking spots closer to the beach are paid parking.
It’s a bit cooler to get used to initially, but it’s a nice refreshing swim once you get in. The lake has a rope for a dedicated swimming area; don’t worry about boats running you over. The lake gets deep quickly. You’ll be able to enjoy a deep swim without going halfway across the lake.
There is plenty of space for throwing a frisbee or a football with family members or your partner. Around the main beach, there is a lot of green space as well if you want to set up lawn chairs and have a BBQ.
Second Beach Location
The second location (Petro Beach Day Use Park) is closer to the north side of town. It has limited parking, which could result in street parking depending on the time you arrive. It has one outhouse, but it’s generally clean. There is limited green space, but it offers a place to sit in the sun (or in the shade if you bring an umbrella), and you will most likely be spending most of your time in the water. There is more beach space on the south side if you want to put your chairs in the water or close to it.
The beach initially is a bit mucky and weedy, but it’s less crowded in the water in this area. The further out you go, the less weedy it gets and the nicer the water becomes. Most of the people who park in that area head paddle boarding, kayaking or relaxing on an inflatable in the water and don’t stay close to shore and occupy space.
East of Edmonton Day Trips
These day trips involve hiking and a fun trip, eating and sleeping on a train! Cooking-Lake Blackfoot is a gorgeous area with lakes, many kilometres of trails and plenty of new space to discover. Footloose Caboose is a different type of experience for the train enthusiast or a fun couple’s adventure. Both are located thirty minutes east of Edmonton.
Cooking-Lake Blackfoot
Cooking-Lake Blackfoot has a variety of different loop lengths that range in difficulty. It’s easy to add additional loops as they tend to be shorter distances. When you have a bit more energy, it can be nice to only add a couple more kilometres.
There are approximately forty kilometres available for your exercise pleasure. They have outhouses (usually stocked with toilet paper) at the trailheads and periodically along the trail, which is fantastic.
When cross-country skiing here, you and your partner can take different loops of varying difficulty and meet up again. It’s nice to have some flexibility and do different loops without travelling far from each other.
Footloose Caboose Edmonton Day Trips
Footloose Caboose is such a fun experience. We stayed in one of the cabooses and enjoyed a delicious supper and breakfast the next morning for our anniversary. We had gone in September, not expecting the snow, but we made the best of it. It’s possible to walk around the property and view the displays.
The kitchen is located in a different caboose, but nice and close to the restaurant. It was pleasant to have a glass of wine and relax knowing our accommodation was next door and we didn’t have to drive. The restaurant and accommodation is perfect for couples. The staff are super friendly and welcoming. It was a unique experience that I look forward to repeating soon.
The caboose to sleep a couple was a bit chilly with the colder temperatures, but it’s all part of the fun.
Final Thoughts
There are so many different Edmonton Day Trips to experience. The most you’ll have to drive in a day is three hours. Where do you want to go? What do you want to see? What type of activity do you want to do as a couple? Pembina River Provincial Park is an awesome place for spending time in the outdoors while swimming or rafting down the river. Chickakoo is wonderful for walks. There are plenty of options aimed at water activities. Try a unique adventure like eating on a train for supper at Footloose Caboose with your partner. Whatever you decide to do, go have fun!
Additional Links
- Discover River Valley and Surrounding Trails in Edmonton
- Easy Hiking Near Me
- City to Wilderness Hiking: Where to Start?
- Kayaking Desolation Sound: 11 Tips for the Best Trip Ever
- Where Can I Find Spectacular Waterton Fall Hikes?
- 7 Gorgeous Hikes Near Banff
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