Bar U Ranch National Historic Site

The Bar U Ranch National Historic Site should be a place on everyone’s bucket list. There is so much to learn here about Alberta’s early ranching history.The old buildings are all open and available for you to walk through. Some have lots of signage, whereas others are lacking signage. It would be neat to see more signage and have some more information on some of the people who lived and worked on the ranch over the years. A discussion of the E. P. Ranch would also probably be a valuable inclusion.Overall, the Bar U Ranch is a great place to stop and spend a few hours to learn about Alberta’s ranching history.

It's a beautiful and historic site, but lacking customer service mainly due to the govt. Cutbacks

Love this place always. When it's busy or quiet, shine or rain...Will give you a peaceful moment. Jump to old western village!

I visited Bar U Ranch early in the morning, before the operating hours. The ranch appeared to hold a promise of interesting exhibits and activities. A future visit to Bar U Ranch while in the Calgary area is definitely on my agenda.

Visit the only ranch preservation site and national historic site in Canada. Free entry with a year round Canada Parks pass. The staff are super friendly and informative - thank you for preserving our history. Take a walk amongst century old ranch buildings and see (and pet) the draft horses. There's a wagon ride, too. Perfect for a day in the beautiful foothills along Cowboy Trail.

Loved the experience! Staff were super friendly and had some great conversations about the history and surrounding areas. Free entry with a National Park pass, wagon ride and super cute replicas of the homes, teepees and Alberta times. Spacious parking, water fountain for refilling your water bottle and clean washrooms, gift shop and more. Prepare to walk around the park, learn and take photos.

They have a restored house that has lots of interesting retro packaging and items. You can go for a wagon ride to see more of the property. There's someone there that gives a talk about the history of the ranch. Very informative and worth the visit.

Worth the drive from calgary. The presentations are great ; the interior of the buildings are meticulously well ‘staged’ and add life to an already authentic decor. Just enough to read on the boards; lots of photos and illustrations. English only though. Nice for kids. We had 1 staff person only but she graciously did 2 presentations : the campsite and the lasso throwing. We also did the horse carriage tour (15min around the ranch). The outdoor parts of site get very hot in summer: bring hat and sunscreen. Buildings are shaded and cool.

A wonderful place to learn about the rich history of ranching history in Western Canada. The staff's stories and history of the area make the place!

We got married at the Ranch October 1, 2022 and it was just AMAZING! The staff felt like family and went above and beyond to make our day one of a kind and a perfect unforgettable experience. We planned our wedding in 10 weeks, had 100 people, and they helped pull of this magical day with us with ease and you could have thought it took a year or more to plan. They worked with us to create a menu in our budget and the food was delicious and plenty. There are so many photo opportunities that we didn’t even get to use every idea and still had plenty of captures that were just spectacular and captured our vision perfectly. This location is a hidden gem and in my eyes underrated , while other Venues had a 2 year wait list and that are WAY more expensive, this location was available during 2022 and on short notice ( one of the busiest years for weddings yet according to records) . I can’t say enough good things about this venue, if you are looking for any sort of country themed wedding , you can’t go wrong with this gem. I am still in shock of how affordable it was and I literally had a wedding of my dreams that even included a horse drawn carriage that I arrived in and we used for pictures and that my guests got to ride in as well. The whole event “grand total” for the whole day didn’t even total the “minimum “ for some other venues that are comparable to this one. Hands down recommend and hands down would chose this location over and over again. I will definitely be a regular visitor here as it holds such special memories for us and to us will always be Magical.