Didsbury-Carstairs

Didsbury and Carstairs are agricultural communities on the eastern edge of the foothills in Mountain View County in the Central Corridor region of Alberta, Canada.

Understand
Didsbury, population 5,200 (2016), and Carstairs, population 4,000 (2016), are neighbouring towns, midway between Calgary and Red Deer, and about 10 minutes from each other. Didsbury is on a plateau peninsula, surrounded on three sides by the wide Rosebud River Valley (a seasonal stream), and has a quaint, brick main street with many artisan shops and galleries. Carstairs backs onto Alberta wetlands and a waterfowl preserve and is surrounded with lush green hills housing horse ranches and commercial cowboy supply stores.

By plane
The nearest international airport is the Calgary International Airport, an hour and a half away.



By car
Didsbury and Carstairs are on Highway 2 (Queen Elizabeth II Highway), about 45 minutes north of Calgary, Take Highway 2A north (exit 305) or Highway 581 (exit 315) to access Carstairs and Highway 582 (exit 326) to access Didsbury. The two communities are connected by Highway 2A.

Get around
Taxi services are available in Carstairs and Didsbury.

Nearby

 * : in spite of its size, (pop 463), you simply can't miss the village south of Sundre; the highway speed limit abruptly changes from  to  (going downhill with very little warning). It has a single main street, 5 or 6 shops, a gas station and 3 hotels.
 * : looks and feels like the wild-west from a century ago with wood-fronted shops, a saloon and roadhouse. Water Valley is well known for its summer "high end" camping and golfing and holds an annual Celtic Music and Poetry festival.