Each summer I take the opportunity to explore not just in Edmonton but around it too!
Summer day trips make for unforgettable memories, and located just an hour south of Edmonton, in the small and surprising City of Wetaskiwin, you can discover some of the most unexpected and memorable experiences to be had in Alberta!
This Summer 2026, I partnered with the City of Wetaskiwin to try some of those unexpected experiences to share ideas to help plan your itinerary.
Read on for my suggestions for:
- Unique and Unexpected Experiences to try in Wetaskiwin
- Where to Eat and Drink in Wetaskiwin
- More Free & Low-Cost Activities to do in Wetaskiwin
- Check out the City of Wetaskiwin’s Official Recommendations for Things to Do in the City
- I also have a 2020 Wetaskiwin Travel Guide you can read for even more exploration ideas!
Travel Guide: Unexpected Experiences to Discover in Wetaskiwin, Alberta
Where is Wetaskiwin, Alberta?
The City of Wetaskiwin, Alberta is located in north-central Alberta, approximately 70 km south east of Alberta’s capital city of Edmonton and really just on the outer edges of the Metro Edmonton Region. It’s only 30 minutes drive from the cities of Leduc and Beaumont, as well as the Edmonton International Airport (YEG). It’s also just an hour drive north of Red Deer!
Here are a few fun facts about the City of Wetaskiwin:
- Wetaskiwin is one of the smallest and OLDEST cities in Canada.
- The city was incorporated back in 1906!
- The name ‘Wetaskiwin’ comes from the Cree phrase wītaskīwin-ispatinaw, which means “the hills where peace was made.” This name is said to refer to a place where the Cree and Blackfoot peoples ended a long-standing conflict.
- Wetaskiwin is home to a significant transportation-focused attraction, the world-class Reynolds-Alberta Museum (which I go into more detail about below).
- Cars don’t necessarily cost less, here but it feels like whenever anyone in Edmonton brings up Wetaskiwin, the famous old radio jingle “Cars Cost Less in Wetaskiwin” comes to mind!
- The jingle was written in the 1980s after a group of car dealerships in the area decided to advertise together. Incredibly 50 years later, the catchy slogan is still one of the first things that come to mind when someone mentions Wetaskiwin.
- Some signature events you can plan your Wetaskiwin itinerary around, year-round, include:
- Wetaskiwin Multicultural Heritage Festival, which takes place each June.
- NASCAR Week (and the NASCAR Canada NAPA 300), which takes place each July.
- Ride to Reynolds, which takes place each August.
- Wetaskiwin Arts & Music Festival, which takes place each August.
- Taste of Wetaskiwin, which takes place each September.
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What Unique Experiences Can You Do in Wetaskiwin, Alberta?
The City of Wetaskiwin is known for attractions far larger than the city’s size would suggest. You wouldn’t expect that one of Canada’s smallest and oldest cities is home to some seriously bucket list attractions. (I certainly didn’t before experiencing it firsthand!) Below are a few only-in-Wetaskiwin experiences you’ve got to check out this summer (and year-round!)
1. Go sky high over Wetaskiwin on a bi-plane ride with Alberta Biplanes!
In Wetaskiwin, you can go on a bucket list flight in a super cool, historic, open cockpit biplane!
These two-stacked-wing planes were the main airplane used up until the 1920s.
Today, Ted Reynolds of Alberta Biplanes is offering bucket list rides over Wetaskiwin County in his refurbished biplanes. Ted has been a pilot for 16 years but flying since he was a toddler. Aviation runs in the family! You may recognize his last name… Ted’s Great Uncle is Stan Reynolds!
As I write more about below, Stan Reynold’s aviation collection helped create the popular Reynolds-Alberta Museum, which is one of the must-visit attractions in Wetaskiwin. An additional fun fact I really love is that Stan inherited his love of collecting from his father, who was a pilot and collector named… Ted Reynolds! lol. Full circle.
Present-day Ted Reynolds is also a licensed Canadian Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (M1 & M2) with a US FAA Airframe & Power Plant certificate and has been involved in various aspects of the aviation industry including aircraft restoration, airlines, helicopters, and even toured the world for seven years with the Red Bull Air Race World Championship as a technician until the series was canceled after the 2019 season!
Now during our June 2026 visit with Ted, the particular biplane we flew in was new to Ted’s fleet, but not new of course, lol. The plane was built in the 1940s, later restored in the 90s. This “new” biplane was roomy enough for three: pilot Ted plus two passengers! In our case, my thrillseeking three-year-old Benjimin couldn’t wait to get into the biplane and soar to the skies.
We were so excited and impressed that Benjimin was all in on going for a biplane ride while Mike was very happy to stay grounded for this activity (heights are not for everyone! lol).
With Ted as our trusty pilot, we flew 1,000 ft. above the ground, over Wetaskiwin and nearby Coal Lake. It was such an exhilarating ride! The open air element of this plane certainly adds a heightened level of adrenaline and butterflies, so I wouldn’t say a biplane ride is for the faint of heart or for any folks admittedly scared of heights lol. There were a few moments throughout the ride where my tummy did some tumbles but when I looked over to check if Benjimin felt it too, he was perfectly unphased lol. I’ve been in a few different small plane and flight apparatuses over the years in my tourism line of work and I would say the biplane felt the shakiest. Not in an unsafe way, and of course Ted is a seasoned pro and expert pilot, but as passenger in an open-air small plane, you definitely feel the wind and movements of the plane on this ride (which pilots and some folks love lol).
Overall, a truly incredible memory!
Ted’s Alberta Biplanes aerial tours are offered in two planes.
Choose from:
- A restored 1943 Boeing Stearman biplane, the most iconic WWII training aircraft ever built. This is a 1-passenger ride in the front cockpit alongside the pilot, or you can take the experience a step further with a “You Fly It” booking, where you’ll have the opportunity to take the controls under the guidance of an experienced pilot.
- A beautifully restored 1940 WACO UPF-7, “Miss Emily” embodies the elegance, craftsmanship, and adventure of aviation’s golden era. With side-by-side seating for two passengers you can share the thrill of the wind and the radial engine’s rumble together. This plane is perfect for couples, parent with child, or friends. (This the ride we did!) It’s a better value as well because the price is per ride up to 2 people.
All flights depart from Wetaskiwin Regional Airport (CEX3). An Alberta Biplanes ride is considered one of the most memorable flight experiences you can take in Alberta! The ride lasts about 20 minutes though your experience before and after the ride runs longer, meeting Ted, learning about the plane and safety procedures, taking photos, etc.
2. Test drive a NASCAR Stock Car at Western Canada’s only NASCAR-sanctioned race track Edmonton Int’l Raceway
I didn’t realize until this trip that the City of Wetaskiwin is home to the only NASCAR race track in Western Canada! It’s located at the Edmonton International Raceway (in Wetaskiwin lol) and not only do they offer weekly summer races, you can also book a Race Car Test Drive Experience on their 1/4 mile paved oval racetrack.
On a summer Friday night we met up with instructor Ron who walked the group of test drivers across the oval track. He let us know that we’d each be doing 15 guided laps, 5 test laps, 10 real laps. He shared race stories and things like how drivers tend to naturally lean towards the walls so that’s something to watch for. Edmonton International Raceway has been offering test drivers since 2002. It works out to about 600-800 test drives a year, and Ron said only one time has a car ever been wrecked lol. Safety is an essential part of this experience!
Honestly the guided walk and talk really makes you want to be extra safe and cautious once you actually get into the car but the chances of you going too fast or losing control are not super likely (based on my experience).
Your instructor sets the speed that you go based on how fast he thinks you can safely handle the car (lol so like, mine was pretty slow) because he drives ahead of you during your laps. I think if you really desired to go fast fast, you can chat with your instructor before you go!
After the walk and talk with instructor Ron, we lined up to get suited up in an EIR driver suit and helmet. Then drivers get a NASCAR-branded souvenir photo snapped to commemorate the very cool experience! These are nice, memorable touches.
I should note that kids aren’t necessarily allowed in the race school but they made an exception for us as we were there to capture content for this Travel Guide. Most of the other people test driving that night had brought their families but they were seated up in special stands to watch the action.
We are grateful to the whole pit crew who helped get us strapped in and set up for our test drive. We learned that this is the home track for some amazing racers including Paxton Billingham of Fast Track Racing, a 14-year-old local racer with autism who is proving differences don’t limit potential. There was also another father-son duo (I didn’t catch their names sadly but the dad is pictured in the bright blue shirt in all of my photos) who were so helpful and passionate!
His adult son really wanted to take us out for a ride on the track at proper racecar speeds lol.
This very special Test Drive experience runs June through September. You can choose from Friday Night at 6 p.m., Saturday Morning at 9 a.m., or Sunday at Noon. Participants need to be at least 16 years of age with solid driving experience. All Test Drive cars are automatic transmission so no worries about shifting gears. When you book this experience, you also get two complimentary adult tickets to that same night’s race event, or another night that fits your schedule.
There are other experiences you can book at the Edmonton International Raceway in Wetaskiwin too, like going for a ride on the track driven by an experienced Race Car Driver (that one for sure you would go fast!!) Or you can Bring Your Own Car to ride the track. So fun!
3. Visit the world-class transportation and aviation heritage Reynolds-Alberta Museum and drive a vintage Model T car!
Many people drive out to Wetaskiwin for a very specific reason: to visit the world-renowned, internationally-awarded Reynolds-Alberta Museum dedicated to celebrating machines (automobile, aviation, agriculture). I would say maybe second to the car slogan lol, Wetaskiwin is extremely known for the Reynolds Museum.
This museum offers SO much, and is such a fantastic exploration into Alberta’s mechanical heritage. The four areas of focus are transportation, aviation, agriculture and industry. All of the permanent galleries are really amazing, and the machinery is so cool to look at. So much of the collection is such a blast from the past, very neat to see vintage, historic vehicles and planes and learn about how these machines were built and used in every day life.
The Reynolds Museum opened in 1992, and is named after a man named Stan Reynolds. He was a Wetaskiwin businessman and world-renowned collector, whose donation of his personal collection to open the museum remains the largest donation of its kind in Canadian history (and he continued to donate items until he passed in 2012).
The museum’s collections include more than 500 vehicles, 130 aircraft, 5,000 pieces of agricultural equipment, and 70,000 pieces of trade literature. It’s a fantastic stop for literally all ages. For the kiddos like my toddler son Benjimin, everything is jaw-dropping. Big. Equipment.
Don’t forget to explore the Aviation Display Hangar too!
There’s a lot of fun planes for the kids to sit in including a helicopter, and interactive build + launch an air rocket. Outside the hangar there are some big old planes on display too.
I was surprised to learn that the museum’s collection includes a 1952 Bristol Freighter Type 170 MK. 31, famously known as “The Last Plane Out,” the last fixed-wing aircraft to leave Saigon, Vietnam, during the chaotic evacuations in April 1975 before the city fell during the Fall of the Saigon (a significant global event that led to the mass exodus of Vietnamese including my immigrant parents who ended up in Canada a decade later). This specific plane is also historic as it marked the final flight of any Bristol Type 170 Freighter ever recorded, when it touched down for the last time in Wetaskiwin in 2004. I didn’t realize any of this until researching after our visit and now really regret not taking a photo with / of this historically significant plane! We remember seeing it as we walked towards the Aviation Hanger and our toddler noted how big it was and if we could go in lol.
I found this publicly shared photo (during winter) taken by a man named Peter Ovenell to include.
In addition to the self-guided museum experience, you can also book special tours and get hands-on with some of the historic machines!! In the summer, you can see even more rare, unusual and one-of-a-kind items in the collection with tours of the Warehouse at an additional cost.
Or U-Drive A Model T!!
The Model T we drove during our visit was 99 years old! A 1927 Canadian-built Ford Model T.
The experience includes an orientation on how to drive the Model T by an instructor (ours was a lovely man named Ryan). There was a driving demonstration, walk-through of the controls, some Model T fun facts, then the actual drive along the Museum’s test track. Plus plenty of photo opportunities with this seriously cool car you would not see anymore.
We learned that the model we drove was Canadian-built because it had working doors on both sides of the vehicle. Apparently back in 1927 not all vehicles had doors that opened on either side. Back then though in Canada, all provinces didn’t drive on the same side of the road, and Ford also exported to Britain so there were a bunch of Model Ts that were built to accommodate both left and right-hand driving. Oddly the button that starts the car is on the floor, which you have to hit with your foot lol. There’s a throttle and a spark advance you need to pull levers for to get the vehicle going. It’s also not super comfortable to ride in the rain (open air vehicle lol) so we were actively watching the weather.
I know history buffs, automotive enthusiasts, anyone whose ever driven a car, will LOVE this!
Not many people alive today can say they’ve driven a century-old Model T vehicle that’s for sure.
The U-Drive experience is an extra cost ($25) and you need to be age 18+ to drive.
Please also keep scrolling down to read about the AMAZING Museum Restaurant (Dirty Water Dogs) that you don’t even need museum admission to access and personally is a huge recommend and must-stop food-wise for a visit to Wetaskiwin!
Where Should You Eat and Drink in Wetaskiwin, Alberta?
During our Summer 2026 day trip to Wetaskiwin, we stopped for excellent:
- Breakfast at Graze Breakfast Co. by Graze Restaurant Group in Downtown Wetaskiwin
- Lunch at Dirty Water Dogs inside the Reynolds-Alberta Museum
- Early Dinner and Drinks at Trackside Distillery on the south east end of the city
I’ll share about each of those experiences below, as well as a few others suggestions for food & drink stops based on my previous visits to the city!
Graze Breakfast Co. (in Downtown Wetaskiwin)
Along the very cute main street of Downtown Wetaskiwin, you’ll find Graze Breakfast Co.
It hadn’t been open long when we visited, but the owners are no stranger to the restaurant business. Graze Breakfast Co. is part of Graze Restaurant Group, who also operate the local Graze Food Truck, the soon-to-open (as of writing this post) Graze Burger Co., and The Glens Grill at Wetaskiwin’s Montgomery Glen Golf & Country Club. So, you could say they know how to deliver fantastic food.
Here you’ll find a menu full of locally-sourced, nearby farm-to-table, Alberta ingredients. Their bison is their signature item, and you can find it as a brisket, eggs benny, breakfast sausage, or beef dip. They also have a highly recommended boar breakfast hash.
Here we ordered the Bison Eggs Benedict with housemade hollandaise and biscuit, the Alberta Wild Boar Chorizo Farmer’s Hash with poached eggs, basil pesto and fingerling potato, and the Ham & Gruyere baked fresh today Croissant.
We LOVED our breakfast at Graze. It felt elevated and also super filling and flavourful. Like this is the type of restaurant, quality of food and care of local ingredients and in-house preparation that you would expect at a fine dining restaurant, high-end hotel, hot spot tourist destination maybe in the Canadian Rockies. Lucky for us you can experience Graze Breakfast Co., in charming Downtown Wetaskiwin. Certainly an unexpected culinary experience we were so thrilled to find here!
It was also so nice to meet and chat with Graze Restaurant Group and Graze Breakfast Co. Chef/Owner Jesse Chambers. It actually makes a lot of sense why the food here is so good because Jesse is so talented, with such a repertoire of restaurants, hotels and experiences under his belt.
Wetaskiwin is so lucky to have him and his growing family of restaurants!! You must stop here for breakfast or lunch while in Wetaskiwin, or simply driving through.
Dirty Water Dogs (inside Reynolds-Alberta Museum)
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I am not being dramatic when I say that Dirty Water Dogs makes one of the best pickles I’ve ever had in my life. Also, incredibly delicious smashburgers and, what their business is named after, “dirty water dogs” (hot dogs lol).
This family-owned eatery can be found insie the Reynolds-Alberta Museum (no museum admission required to access!) The father and two sons-owned and operated restaurant began in 2020 actually initially as a small gourmet cookie bakery and serving hot dogs.
When the opportunity to run the museum restaurant came up, Mackenzie, Paxton and their dad Byron took the chance. Their menu has evolved over the years and now they’re very well-known for their smash burgers and housemade pickles, honestly, so good.
Actually all of the museum staff we met during our museum visit recommended we have lunch at the museum restaurant and we saw SO many staff members dining here. It would be very dangerous for me to work at this museum because I too would be eating up their food on the daily lol.
The prices are also incredibly reasonable here. Burgers range from $8.50-$14 depending on the type. Hot dogs range from $5-$7.50. Make it a meal for a few more dollars. There’s also kids items. Ice cream. And those incredible pickles.
In fact there’s a generous condiment station for your burgers and hot dogs and I won’t lie, I took about six ish strips of pickles just to eat on their own. Truly what a delightful, delicious and totally filling meal! It was really nice to meet the brothers during our visit. Lovely hospitality.
Damn this food is so good! Is the museum your excuse to stop into the restaurant or is the restaurant the reason to stop into the museum?! Either way, if you stop here, you win. lol. They also encourage stops if you’re headed out or coming back home from a road trip. Would definitely do that too!
Truly discovering the unexpected experiences in Wetaskiwin, even through our restaurant stops!
Trackside Distillery (Wetaskiwin’s Only Distillery)
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We were excited to check out Trackside Distillery near the end of our Wetaskiwin adventure.
This is the city’s first and ONLY distillery, open since October 2025 by husband and wife Frank and Diana, their son Conrad Luebke, with Master Distiller Arwid, and more passionate friends and co-founders, Trackside is named after the railway that brought people together, fostered trade, and built the community of Wetaskiwin that still thrives to this day.
During our visit, we got a tour of the distillery form Arwid, who has been distilling since he was 16 (his grandpa owned a distillery back in Europe). In fact, a 2,000-litre still at Trackside is named after Arwid’s grandfather Joseph.
Here the team is creating gin and vodka made with Alberta grains and products. The distillery is actually a partner to country singer Gord Bamford, having developed a gin vodka seltzer line for the star, called ‘Drinking Buddy’ (named after his Platinum-certified hit country song), along with their own “The Conductor” seltzer series.
Loved hearing Arwid talk about making premium craft spirits. You can always tell how passionate someone is about what they do based on how they talk to you about that thing and Arwid lit up showing me different stills and talking about their “dirt to glass” process.
I’m told that Wetaskiwin didn’t have a tap room before Trackside Distillery opened, and the plan is to enter the brewery market next. It’s a great room, big windows, bright light, and I love that they have a decent hot food menu as well (I get so sad when I pop into a taproom with no real food lol). We loved the chicken wings and corn ribs! And enjoyed a bunch of their seltzers (they go down real easy). Pineapple is Frank and Diana’s favourite. My favourite was the raspberry hibiscus! You can also order different cocktails, martinis, beers, and some non-alcoholic drinks at Trackside too.
I’m told that Wetaskiwin didn’t have a tap room before Trackside Distillery opened, and the plan is to enter the brewery market next. It’s a great room, big windows, bright light, and I love that they have a decent hot food menu as well (I get so sad when I pop into a taproom with no real food lol). We loved the chicken wings and corn ribs! And enjoyed a bunch of their seltzers (they go down real easy). Pineapple is Frank and Diana’s favourite. My favourite was the raspberry hibiscus! You can also order different cocktails, martinis, beers, and some non-alcoholic drinks at Trackside too.
Frank and Diana actually own and are name/sponsors for quite a few Wetaskiwin businesses and organizations and I really love that they are fully invested in their community!
Notable: No minors allowed here. I did ask about it as most other distilleries and breweries do allow kids up to a certain time but they had a vision for what they wanted for atmosphere at Trackside Distillery so no minors is the decision they made to maintain that vision and vibe and I respect that!
Where else should you eat in Wetaskiwin?
In addition to Graze Breakfast Co., Dirty Water Dogs, and Trackside Distillery, some tried and true options for dining in Wetaskiwin include:
All of which I delightfully visited and wrote about in my 2020 Travel Guide (love that they’re all still open and operating many years later!)
On this June 2026 trip I wanted to pop into the new-ish Unicorn Cafe, which looked like it had some awesome drinks (bubble tea, matchas), and some Asian-inspired food, but we just ran out of time.
The Wetaskiwin Farmers’ Market, operating since 1937, is also open year-round, Wednesdays from 3-6 p.m. at the Rodeo Grounds.
What Else Should You Do in Wetaskiwin, Alberta? (Free, Low-Cost)
Now I know those Unique and Unexpected Experiences in Wetaskiwin I’ve shared about all cost money, so I also wanted to round out this Guide with a few free, low-cost activities you could also consider for your Wetaskiwin trip!
A few more ideas for activities to do in Wetaskiwin include:
- Visiting the very old Wetaskiwin City Hall (which was once a courthouse and prison).
- Checking out the city’s iconic, landmark Water Tower (Canada’s oldest working water tower that stands 42-metres high first built in 1909).
- Stopping at the Peace Cairn, a Municipal Historic Resource that commemorates the historic friendship and peace vows made between Blackfoot and Cree tribes on the lands that Wetaskiwin sits.
- Exploring the Wetaskiwin & District Heritage Museum, which has been collecting, preserving and sharing stories about the community for 40 years.
- Take photos of and at Wetaskiwin’s Instagrammable Walls (Murals)
- Spend some time at By-The-Lake Park, a 17-acre constructed lake surrounded by 2.5 km paved trail, picnic area, playground and public washroom.
- Walking and shopping charming Main Street. You can find more details about downtown (and beyond)’s many dining and retail stores here.
Shout out to the Wetaskiwin Multi-Cultural Heritage Festival!
I also wanted to shout out to the organizers of the Wetaskiwin Multi-Cultural Heritage Festival, which takes place annually each June.
This year 2026, there were 10 cultures represented through diverse stage performances, food, and craft vendors, and the festival also includes a summer midway!
During our visit, we got the sweetest performance preview outside Wetaskiwin City Hall with members of the Wetaskiwin Filipino Community Foundation-Canada, who shared a “Salakot” (hat) Philippines Folk Dance. 🎶 I also got to meet Marlon Pinaso, the main organizer behind the heritage festival, who has done so much for the community! Marlon arrived in Canada back in 2009 as a temporary foreign worker, who was granted permanent residency and later brought his family over to live in the city in 2015. He founded the Wetaskiwin Multicultural Heritage Festival in 2023 to help bring community together while raising funds to support Wetaskiwin Literacy & Wellness Services.
Marlon’s story is such a beautiful example of the impact that people, including and especially immigrants, can have on their communities!! That feels extra important to say these days.
Obviously you can visit Wetaskiwin year-round, it’s so close to Edmonton, but you should especially plan a trip out in June to participate in the growing Wetaskiwin Multi-Cultural Heritage Festival.
Wetaskiwin is really so close to Edmonton! It’s such an easy day trip and there’s plenty of unexpected bucket list and super memorable experiences you just would not expect from a small city.
If you’re local to the area, do my favourite thing which is be a tourist in your town! Maybe there are some attractions, restaurants or recommendations of things to do in this post that you haven’t done or haven’t done in awhile that you might want to do now.
I hope this Travel Guide helps you plan your memorable visit to Wetaskiwin!
Thanks to the City of Wetaskiwin for inviting me to discover the unexpected in your wonderful city!
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