Bar U Ranch

The Bar U ran from 1882 and was for a time one of the largest ranching operations in Canada, with tens of thousands of cattle and a Percheron horse herd that reached around a thousand head, the biggest on the continent. Harry Longabaugh, later known as the Sundance Kid, worked here breaking horses in 1891 before his career went the other way. George Lane, one of the founders of the Calgary Stampede, owned it. Thirty-five buildings survive on the original site, and Parks Canada runs it as a working demonstration ranch with Percherons, cattle and staff doing the daily work rather than performing it.

What you actually see

• The thirty-five buildings - original ranch structures on their own site.
• The Percheron horses - the breed the ranch was known for, still kept.
• The Sundance Kid connection - the outlaw's stint as a Bar U horse breaker.
• The working demonstrations - roping, blacksmithing and stock work in season.

When to go

May to September for staffed operation; the site closes for winter. The Highway 22 drive through the foothills is worth the trip on its own.

Honest expectations

Closed roughly October to May. The site is spread out with a shuttle wagon or a walk between buildings. Demonstrations depend on staffing and weather.

Nearby

The Cowboy Trail runs past; Kananaskis lies west.