Bar U Ranch National Historic Site

Situated in the heart of the historic ranch headquarters, the "belly of the Bar U” was at the centre of operations. This is where cowboys ate, slept and relaxed. It was a first stop for ranch visitors, where a meal and a cup of coffee was always waiting.

Discover the cookhouse as it was in the last decade of corporate operation. It was the first time a woman was in charge of the day-to-day in the cookhouse.

Visit the kitchen and sample the wood-fired baking, prepared by an interpreter. Head upstairs to explore the ranch employees sleeping quarters.

Don’t forget to visit the nearby garden, storehouses and the root cellar and explore how food was produced and preserved before modern-day refrigeration.

The Bar U has the largest collection of historical ranch buildings in Canada and many of them are still operational.

Watch the blacksmith prepare horseshoes or the saddle-maker repair a rein; pop into the stables, the post office and of course the cookhouse and smell fresh baking. As you visit, you'll hear the stories of the men and the women who made the Bar U famous.

When the great bison herds faded into memory, ranches like the Bar U were able to use the native rough fescue grass to sustain herds of cattle, and the horses needed to handle them. The Bar U Ranch became a self-sustaining community and the amount of livestock grew.

Today at the Bar U Ranch, connect with and learn about a variety of animals.

Visit the teams of Percheron horses that provide the daily wagon ride, or take a walk along the Pekisko Creek trail and to see cows, their calves, and maybe even a bison!

Drop by the dairy barn to experience the heart of the milk operation. Keep your eyes out for other animals like chickens, pigs and turkeys throughout the site.

Hear about the characters that made this ranch famous: the ranchers, poets, politicians, royalty and even outlaws including the infamous Sundance Kid.

Meet the people of the west: cowboys, saddle-makers, blacksmiths and camp cooks. Hear cowboy poetry, songs and legends around the campfire.

Stop by the Bar U Ranch Café and order from our picnic menu before exploring the site.

Choose from a delicious variety of sandwiches, sides and sweets. Pick up your prepared meal from the Cookhouse and head to one of our scenic picnic locations scattered throughout the site.

Seek out the shade of the cottonwoods along the banks of Pekisko Creek, or look out over the historic ranch site from near the Visitor Centre.

The Bar U Ranch was renowned as the world’s largest Percheron breeding in the early 1900s. The Bar U has seven Percheron horses: Licorice, Smudge, Daisy, Dolly, Poca, Terra and Hawkeye.

Meet us at Roundup Camp for an introduction to these magnificent creatures. Wagon rides travel two different routes, lasting 30 minutes each. Get a personal introduction to these magnificent creatures - the "gentle giants of ranching" - by taking a horse-drawn wagon ride and hearing the stories of George Lane and his amazing herd of Percheron draft horses.

Pick up the basics of a cowboy’s number one skill - roping. Learn to cast a rope loop over a replica steer's horn with some simple instructions, then challenge your friends.

Caution - it's addictive! You’ll want to take a lariat home with you.

Take a walk over the Pekisko Creek bridge and into the shade of the cottonwood trees. Head back in time to the days before ranching operations built fences, a time when a chuckwagon was home on the range.

Explore how cowboys lived and worked away from the ranch headquarters for months at a time.

Sip on fresh-brewed cowboy coffee as the smoke from the campfire curls lazily into the air. Listen as hsitoric interpreters tell the tales of ranching in the Canadian west.

Nestled along the banks of Pekisko Creek, explore the Stoney Nakoda encampment. Step inside the camp’s tipi and hear Indigenous interpreters share traditional stories. Discover the important contributions of Indigenous peoples to the area and the ranching industry in western Canada.

Bar U Ranch lies within traditional Indigenous territory. The lands and waters have been used since time immemorial by Indigenous communities for sustenance, ceremony, trade and travel.

The Bar U Ranch has marked walking trails for you to wander and explore.

The Viewpoint Trail starts in front of the Visitor Centre and follows a ridge past a picnic area and ends high above Pekisko Creek, with views of the prairies to the east and Rocky Mountains to the west. It merges in to our brand new Pekisko Creek trail, 3.2 kilometres that you can hike or bike to discover the Bar U rangelands.

The Riparian Trail starts near Roundup Camp and follows a loop through old cottonwood stands by Pekisko Creek. It circles around our Stoney Nakoda Camp and makes its way back to Roundup Camp and ends overlooking the creek where you will find two of our Red Chairs.