Cardston

Cardston is a town of about 3,600 people (2016) in the foothills of Southern Alberta. It was founded by a number of Mormon families from Utah and their temple was the first built outside of the United States. The main attraction of the town is its carriage museum, which is well worth the visit.

Understand
Cardston was settled in 1887 by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) from Utah Territory who travelled via the Macleod-Benton Trail to Alberta in one of the century's last wagon migrations. The official founder of the town is Charles Ora Card, after whom the town is named. The combined church and school was completed by January 29 the following year after their arrival.

Primary industries are education, health care, entrepreneurship, agriculture, and tourism. Cardston is one of the few communities in Canada where alcohol cannot be sold or purchased.

Cardston has a humid continental climate. Along with the rest of southern Alberta, Cardston is subject to chinooks, which occasionally brings temperatures in mid-winter soaring to 20 °C (68 °F). This same pattern results in more than 200 days of wind a year.

Get in
Cardston is at the junction of Highways 2 and 5. While a wagon train would be the most stylish way of getting to Cardston, those with a car can make the 80-km trip south from Lethbridge in about an hour via Highway 5.

Cardston is about 2½ hours south of Calgary on Highway 2.

No buses or trains reach Cardston.

Drink
This is a dry community, no alcohol is served in the town. The nearest liquor store is the Mountain Spirits Liquor Store 46 min west along Highway 5 in Waterton Lakes National Park.

Go next

 * Waterton Lakes National Park is half an hour away and offers many outdoor recreation options and beautiful scenery.
 * Frank Slide Interpretive Centre: In 1903, the mining town of Frank, Alberta, was devastated by 82 million tonnes of limestone crashing down from Turtle Mountain. The Frank Slide Interpretative Centre in the Crowsnest Pass, 130 km (81 mi) northwest of Cardston, tells of one of the greatest natural disasters in Canadian history.