Experience Grande Prairie's many attractions year-round

Learn more about what Northern Alberta has in store for you this winter visiting our #SkiNorthAB page, where more stories and videos will be coming out all season long.

By DOC POW for #SkiNorthAB

Grande Prairie, AB – What does a kick-ass winter adventure park, water slides, dinosaurs and creative culture all have in common?

It’s what you will find the next time you head into Grande Prairie. You might say – what? Grande Prairie, why would I go there? Please read on.

Looking to get the most out of your visit to Grande Prairie? Make sure to check out Grande Prairie's official website

Watch Experience Grande Prairie's many attractions year-round #SkiNorthAB on YouTube.

Tucked in the north west corner of the province, SnowSeekers' recent #SkiNorthAB tour scored us an inside look at just what this destination has to offer locals and visitors alike. 

Nitehawk Year-Round Adventure Park

Nitehawk Grande Prairie
Photo: Nancy Shields

Per my “Light up your life” story, Nitehawk has built itself into a year-round adventure park and over the past 12 years, has expanded its operations six-fold. For any family who is looking to learn the art of skiing or snowboarding, or who perhaps, are looking for an economical option to mountain-based resorts, Nitehawk is the answer.

I was surprised at just how much terrain there is to play in at the year-round adventure park, but also the diversity of the operations.

“Their Sunday brunch is delicious,” said mom, Jodie Funk, “which pairs really well with a day off from our intense Monday to Saturday family routine of sports practices, school and work.”

Philip J Currie Museum

Phillip J Currie
Photo: Nancy Shields

Where else can you go head into a lab and prep dinosaur fossils for Après?

It may have only been open for three years, but the Philip J Currie Museum is making lifetime memories. Dan Ackroyd (yes Ghostbusters) helped launched this museum, located in the town of Wembley and only 15 minutes from Grande Prairie. It's also only 15 minutes from the planet’s most concentrated dinosaur graveyard.

In shooting the embedded video that includes a SnowSeekers look at the region’s top attractions, the youngest member of the Pillay family, Ethan, says “My favourite stop was the dinosaur museum, cause we got to go behind the scenes and scrape bones.”

Check out the array of programming the Currie Museum offers, whether it’s the dinosaur fossil preparation experience or during the summer, heading out for the day with a paleontologist to uncover history dating back millions of years.

The Grande Prairie Art Gallery

Grande Prairie Art
Photo: Nancy Shields

The interactivity options in Grande Prairie’s entertainment scene doesn’t stop. Consider the Grande Prairie Art Gallery, one of Western Canada’s largest FREE galleries, that doesn’t just allow you to appreciate the art, but actually make some while you are at it.

Look and then engage in the Carl Carlstrom Family Green Space where any visitor can make the art they were just looking at. "Both the visual and the literal experience of art expression, where our visitors can hen craft what they see,” says Jeff Erbach, director of the gallery.

Grande Prairie Live Theatre

Grande Prairie Live Theatre
Photo: Nancy Shields

Keeping the creative culture alive and well in one of Canada’s most northernly cities, the Grande Prairie Live Theatre offers up the chance to sit back, relax and take in a slew of live theatre options. Over its now 55-year run, the theatre company has produced and hosted over 304 productions and well over 100 concerts, rounding out cultural options here in the region.

Eastlink Centre

Eastlink Centre
Photo: Nancy Shields

This $110 MILLION-dollar facility is a wonderland for any sports enthusiast – just wait until you get a load of the dinosaur-themed water/amusement park. This part of the world is filled with dinosaurs waiting to still be unearthed, and the city has taken this potential to heart with the development of its signature sports centre.

Whether it's charging down the waterslide, experiencing the wave-enhanced lazy river or going for a rip on the “Flow rider” surf machine – I can guarantee you will be blown away by the experience that is waiting for you and your crew.

Grande Prairie gets very attractive when you bundle these amenities into your weekend itinerary. Choose somewhere new, get out to #SkiNorthAB and uncover what makes this northern city worth the visit.

The friends at Grande Prairie Tourism will help get you there – start here.

Learn more about what Northern Alberta has in store for you this winter visiting our #SkiNorthAB page, where more stories and videos will be coming out all season long.

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