EDMONTON, AB

In 1795, the Hudson's Bay Company established Fort Edmonton, a trading post where the Cree and the Blackfoot brought their much-coveted furs for barter. Over the course of some 200 years, Edmonton has evolved from this desolate outpost into a proud provincial capital. Thanks to the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1800s, the building of the Alaska Highway in the 1940s, and the discovery, also in the 1940s, of phenomenal amounts of crude oil within a 40-kilometer (25-mile) radius of the city, it has earned a status as a transportation hub, supply center and industrial capital. But, beneath this business façade, there is much more to this small city, dubbed the "Gateway to the North."

The City's Playground The North Saskatchewan River snakes its way through Edmonton, from southwest to northeast, cutting the city in half. The river valley parkland - the largest stretch of urban parkland in North America - is a playground for all seasons. More than 100 kilometers (62 miles) of multi-use trails, which accommodate walking, jogging, in-line skating, cycling, and cross-country skiing wind through a green... more