Great Canadian Barn Dance & Campground

Great Canadian Barn Dance & Campground

July 9 through 14, 2007.

We are staying in the campground at The Great Canadian Barn Dance in Hillspring, Alberta. The campground is a PPA park $12.50 weekdays with no discount on weekends thus $25 for 30-amps and water. We located this place 6-years ago and had a good time at the Barn Dance, this time we decided to stay at their campground. These are great people. If you are looking for the Great Canadian Barn Dance and Campground it is located at: N49° 20.635' W113° 36.972' for those of you not into GPS drive 14-miles south of Pincher Creek on PH 6, then turn east on PR 505 and go another 14-miles where you will see the signs for the Great Canadian Barn Dance. Turn north on that road the Great Canadian Barn Dance will be less than 3-miles up that road on the west side.

For those of you that are not familiar with PPA (Pass Port America) it is an organization you can join for less than $50 per-year. Campgrounds that belong to PPA offer 1/2 price discounts. That kind of savings can quickly add up. While participating PPA parks generally have some restrictions on dates the PPA offer is valid, or possibly days of the week the discount is valid, or perhaps the number of days that the PPA discount will be honored the discount is genuine. Many times PPA campgrounds are new campgrounds that need help in getting established. Other times PPA campgrounds may be on the outskirts of town instead of in the "prime" location thus they need to provide an incentive for campers to stay with them. Whatever the reason PPA campgrounds generally provide a much cheaper option. PPA is the only campground organization that I think is worth the cost. PPA does not have a gimic. What you see is what you get. Once you join they send you a directory listing all participating campgrounds. The PPA directory is the FIRST directory we check when trying to locate a place to spend the night. You can join PPA by calling 228-452-9972. If you decide to join PPA, it would be nice if you gave them my number "R-0156251" as the PPA member that told you about PPA. In return PPA will give me a $10 credit toward my next renewal. I will thank you in advance for that kindness. Thank you.

Great Canadian Barn Dance Campground

We continued on PR 810 until reaching PR 505 where we headed west. Ten miles or so west on PR 505 until we see the Great Canadian Barn Dance sign pointing up a gravel road. The road maybe gravel, but the destination is worth the journey. So much fun, friendy folks and great food.

Great Canadian Barn Dance

Joyce spent time walking around the facilities at the Great Canadian Barn Dance taking pictures to document our stay. Note the Canadian Rocky Mountains in the distance.

Sunset over the Canadian Rocky Mountains as viewed from campground at the Great Canadian Barn Dance

Sunsets can be spectacular from out on the prairie.

Facing west the best lighting on the mountains would be early morning when we are sleeping. VBG

These afternoon shots from the campground will have to do.

Rocky Mountains from campground at Great Canadian Barn Dance Campground

View from campground at the Great Canadian Barn Dance Campground

View of Rocky Mountains from Great Canadian Barn Dance Campground

The mountains in this picture happen to be in Waterton National Park, Canada's sister park to Glacer National Park in the US.

Spectacular Sunset from campground at the Great Canadian Barn Dance

Joyce got this effect by focusing on the brightest spot and using a lens that narrowed the view.

Great Canadian Barn Dance Sunset from campground

On this night there are many vacant sites in the campground. Tonight probably had the best color of any sunset while we were here.

Osprey on nest

This pair of osprey had a nest at the corner of the gravel road leading to the Great Canadian Barn Dance. When heading back to the campground on PR 505 we would generally spot this osprey nest before spotting the Great Canadian Barn Dance sign.

Canadian flamingo

On that same corner, in fact directly above the Great Canadian Barn Dance sign was this pink flamingo. Someone has put this plastic flamingo on a power pole, it must be a good conversation piece in this part of the country.

Later in our stay we were talking with some locals that told us "the-story" behind this Pink Flamingo.

It seems that the osprey nesting in the picture above constructed a nest on this pole. When they did --- it would short out the transmission wires. The power company tried a variety of things to discourage the osprey from building their nest on this pole, all to no avail. The "Pink Flamingo" was one of the things they attempted to discourage the osprey, it did not work. Finally the power company put up the pole with the nesting platform on it and moved the nest to that platform complete with that long flowing piece that was also transferred from the power pole. The pink flamingo was left in place as a reminder of one thing that did not work. For us it became a conversation piece.

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