The UNESCO Trail

World Heritage Sites have been established all over the globe by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to protect natural and cultural heritage sites from damage; Alberta has five. This one to two week trip starts in the southwest corner with Waterton Lakes National Park, known for its beautiful glacial lakes and the abrupt meeting of mountains and prairies. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is north on Hwy 6 then east on Hwy 3. It's the largest, oldest and best preserved buffalo jump in North America; a site where 10,000 years ago Indians drove buffalo off the cliff for hunting purposes. Dinosaur Provincial Park is next by following Hwy 3 east to Taber and then north on Hwy 36. Along with land formations like coulees and hoodoos, the park has some of the most extensive dinosaur bone fields in the world. Take Hwy 1 through Calgary to Banff and Jasper National Parks with jagged peaks, glacial streams and lakes, the vast Columbia Icefield and the complex Castle-guard Caves. And finally, going east on Yellowhead highway (Hwy 16) to Edmonton and then north through Peace River country, reach the final site: Wood Buffalo National Park, where over 2,100 bison roam free in the last natural nesting habitat of the rare whooping crane. Distances: Waterton Lakes to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump 125 km (78 mi). Head-Smashed-In to Dinosaur Provincial Park 265 km (166 mi). Dinosaur Provincial Park to Calgary 233 km (146 mi). Calgary to Banff 129 km (81 mi). Banff to Jasper 295 km (184 mi). Jasper to Edmonton 363 km (227 mi). Edmonton to Wood Buffalo National Park 480 km (300 mi).