Ten experiences to enhance your next Parks Canada visit
Make time spent at one of Parks Canada’s national parks or national historic sites even more special by booking one of the hundreds of unique enhanced experiences that are on offer for you to enjoy. Did you know that Parks Canada offers everything from a chance to dress up in authentic historic costume and learn to shoot muskets, to dark sky storytelling hikes and multi-day wilderness adventures?
There are programs to fit all budgets, from audio tours under a fiver to high-end immersive experiences in the heart of nature. No car? No worries! Plenty of Parks Canada’s enhanced programming happens a stone’s throw from the city, book now for an awesome day out.
1. Fort Langley National Historic Site

2. Fort Malden National Historic Site

Get a bang out of Fort Malden! Have you ever wondered what it would be like to fire a Brown Bess musket? Time-travel to 1812 and join the ranks on the Parade Square at Fort Malden, near Amherstburg, Ontario. If you’re 16 years or older, learn to fire a musket! Safety comes first, so you’ll begin with instructions from a uniformed guide on operating and loading the weapons properly. Then it’ll be time to put on your own uniform, take your stand, and fire away!
3. Grasslands National Park

Saddle up and ride back to the days of the Far West on an adventure riding the range with a local rancher. Get in touch with your inner cowboy or cowgirl on an all-inclusive expedition through the Badlands. Reconnect with nature as you sleep under the stars in a cozy bed roll, eat rib-sticker meals from the chuck wagon and let the pace of life slow down from a gallop to a trot.
4. Gros Morne National Park

Take a stroll on the Tablelands with a knowledgeable Parks Canada guide and discover why the ground beneath your feet changed the way that we look at our world. Tectonic plate theory was proved thanks to Gros Morne’s unique geology. See the earth’s mantle revealed after being pushed into place as continents collided almost half a billion years ago.
5. Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site

Sign up to try one of the most delicious Parks Canada programs at Lower Fort Garry with the Heritage Chocolate Workshop. Back in the days of the fur trade in the 1850s, chocolate was a rare treat for the trappers and traders who lived on the western bank of the Red River. Discover its yummy history and learn how to make an authentic heritage hot chocolate recipe surrounded by Canada’s oldest collection of stone fur trade buildings.
6. Elk Island National Park

You’ve heard the roar of the bull bison and marveled at the herds grazing in park pastures. Now get a VIP backstage pass to discover the secrets of how the plains bison was brought back from near extinction and how its continued safety and health are ensured. Get a fresh perspective of these 2,000-pound beasts as park staff lead you through the labyrinth of corrals, catwalks, alleys and gates of the handling facility, demonstrating the techniques behind the successful conservation program. Campfire and light refreshments provided.
7. The Forks National Historic Site

Take a break from hitting up the shops, museums and delicious food outlets at Winnipeg’s Forks market and dive into a fascinating 60-minute journey through 6,000 years of history in the company of a Parks Canada interpreter at The Forks. Stroll in the footsteps of First Nations and fur traders, and hear stories of the colourful characters who’ve met at on this spot for thousands of years. Enjoy the thrill of feeling the past come alive!
8. Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site

Discover the taste and aroma of Fortress™ Rum and the story of this drink made from sugar. Be part of a colonial tradition as rum was one of the most popular drinks of 18th-century Louisbourg. Sample an authentic Rum Punch recipe and learn how sugar cane and its alcoholic offshoot influenced trade, shipping, and slavery in colonial North America. Parks Canada has partnered with Authentic Seacoast Company, who created a signature edition rum that is maturing in oak barrels at the Fortress of Louisbourg. À la santé and cheers! You must be 19 years of age or older.
9. Klondike National Historic Sites

An Escape Room featuring a real murder mystery in the heart of the Klondike goldfields! There’s a saying that the Mounties always get their man! Is it true? Now, you can see if you measure up… see if you can solve a murder that the North West Mounted Police investigated more than one hundred years ago. We lock you and your friends into a room into the Commissioner's Residence. You follow the clues, solve the puzzles and “escape” from the room! You have one hour…
10. Lachine Canal National Historic Site

Make time when you visit Montreal to set sail aboard the Petit Navire, a zero-pollution electric-powered boat which will carry you back through 150 years of history in the heart of the city’s Old Port. Once wealthy merchants plied this route through an intricate system of locks which bypassed the treacherous Lachine rapids. Relax and let the years fall away on a two-hour trip through this historic route.