Vegreville, AB to Vermilion Country in Alberta

Travel to this Rural Edmonton Area, East of the City, in Canada

Jun 11, 2009

Explore this east of Edmonton area from Vegreville to Vermilion, Alberta. Part of Kalyna Country, this is a rural road trip vacation in Canada with a Pysanka and ranches.

Fly into Edmonton, Alberta and travel east into Kalyna Country. Here, find the largest Ukrainian Easter egg, rural ranches and friendly people from Vegreville to Vermilion country, AB.

From Edmonton, drive east along highway 16 for 105 km (about 75 minutes). Vegreville is located right on the highway. Make a left turn at Highway 857 and go north for 20.9 km, take a right for 4.2 km and a left for 1.6 km. Highland Feeders will come into sight, which is a ranch that produces Spring Creek Alberta beef (780-768-2466).

Spring Creek Alberta Beef

The Kotelko family has been running Highland Feeders ranch since 1947. From a small cattle and mixed grain farm, the ranch has grown into one of the largest grain farms in the area, as well as raising purebred cattle. Their premium Alberta beef can be found in Safeway stores under the name Spring Creek Ranch Premium Beef.

Call ahead of time to arrange a tour of the ranch and watch as the almost 36,000 cattle are fed carefully selected barley. No hormones or antibiotics are used on this sustainable ranch.

Giant Ukrainian Easter Egg

Get back to highway 16 and turn east. On the left hand side of the road, an enormous Ukrainian Easter egg (pysanka) will come into plain view. This is the largest one in the world and a popular photo op. A small park surrounds the Ukrainian egg, so bring a picnic or just take a stroll along the water.

The giant Ukrainian Easter egg itself looms large and begs for travellers to get underneath it and take pictures.

Red Feather Ridge in Vermilion

Continue east along highway 16, passing the town of Manville, until hitting Red Ridge 80 (before Vermilion). Turn right and drive south for 9.7 km (six miles), then make a left on Township Road 494 and follow the sign 2.4 km (1.5 miles) to Red Feather Ridge (780-763-2385).

This dining room, conference centre and future retreat caters meals and is a great place to stop for dinner in a group (make sure to reserve at least three days ahead to give them time to prepare and customize a meal). Doug and Cheryl Livingstone, along with the rest of their family, give a warm welcome to those looking for a tasty meal and rural Albertan hospitality.

Check in with them for on-going workshops (think birding, nature retreats or quilting), special events bookings like weddings and even business conferences. Log cabins are in the works to provide a full service atmosphere with the possibility of hosting yoga, wellness and other types of retreats.

Until they’re ready for overnight guests, the Super 8 Hotel in Vermilion (5108 47 Avenue, 1-800-800-8000 / 780-853-4741) is comfortable, clean and convenient.

Alberta Travel

For assistance planning this road trip vacation, contact Travel Alberta (1-800-ALBERTA).

Next up, discover Buffalo Adventures and their tours to an archaeology dig, POW camp and bison ranch.

The copyright of the article Vegreville, AB to Vermilion Country in Alberta in Alberta Travel is owned by Lori Henry. Permission to republish Vegreville, AB to Vermilion Country in Alberta in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.