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RV Showcases Alberta Movie MakingCopyright © 2007-2008 Travel Alberta, All Rights ReservedWritten by: Travel Alberta RV rentals and Canadian road trips are rolling as the movie RV (the top comedy in North America when it debuted in theatres) showcases the diversity of Alberta's pristine, mountain-and-prairies scenery. During the spring and summer, travellers seek solace in campgrounds that run the gamut from luxurious to rustic. Recreational vehicles get outfitted for prime road trip areas such as southern Alberta and the Canadian Rocky Mountains. While parts of Alberta doubled for Utah and Colorado in the movie RV, the scenery is vibrantly real. You can visit it in your own RV or one that you can easily rent in Calgary, Canada (international gateway city to the Canadian Rockies) or elsewhere in the province. Aside from an overview in this story of the movie and the Alberta scenery in it, you'll find a scenic road trip akin to the ones highlighted in the movie. Experience Ultimate RV Road Trip The ultimate RV road trip movie, RV is the story of Bob Munro (played by Robin Williams), who decides to take his family on an RV trip to Colorado, as he secretly plans to make good on a company meeting. The film makes the RV road trip a journey of discovery for the family. It reveals new destinations for travellers, as well as the often tangled roots of family relationships. At an RV camp, the Munros meet another family, the Gornickes, led by father Travis (Jeff Daniels). The Gornickes become a hilarious foil on the Munros' trek into a brave new world. Mark Voyce, location manager and second unit manager for the film during the 28 days of shooting in Alberta, says it's the diversity of terrain in Alberta that draws film makers to the province, aside from those seeking remarkable RV road trips. The shoot was based in Vancouver, B.C. "The reasons that entice film companies to come to Calgary (and Alberta) are the same reason a tourist wants to come here," he says. "A short drive east or west brings a great diversity of landscape: go west and you're into mountain parks. Go south and you're into foothills. Go east and you see remarkable hoodoos and into southern Alberta, you've got unusual landscapes. Head north and you've got country forests, lakes and fishing." Enjoy the Diverse Scenery For a rollicking scene where you'll see the Munros seemingly pursued by the Gornickes, Highway 3 in southern Alberta showcases both prairies and mountains. It's a classic Canada road trip getting a cameo in the film. "We come out of flatlands into rolling green hills and have a great view of the mountains in the distance as we head west," says Voyce. "We shut down a section of the Crowsnest Pass highway and the director picked it because in the distance is supposed to be the mountains of Colorado. Everyone was extremely happy." You'll see southern Alberta highways and towns featured along with mountain and prairies country in the movie. Both Lethbridge and Fort Macleod are among the sunniest cities in Canada, providing easy access to prairies, the Canadian Rocky Mountains and attractions such as Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, an archaeological preserve that protects the largest concentration of native rock paintings and carvings on the North American Plains. Milk River even made Robin Williams, who enjoyed getting out and meeting the public, mayor for a day. Just a 90 minute drive east of Calgary, the Canadian Badlands are home to some of the world's most famous dinosaur bone beds and parks. Perfect for RV rentals and tours. RV also shot in the Kananaskis area, a recreational playground just an hour's drive west of Calgary (you'll see a scene where the RV submerges in a lake; that's Upper Kananaskis Lake). Discover Full Service RV Resorts Throughout Alberta, there are full-service, state of the art RV rentals and resorts with power, water and sewer hookups. Some even include telephone and satellite TV services. There are more than 615 campgrounds listed, covering more than 225 locations throughout the province. That's at least 44,200 sites available yearly. You can find everything you need, including locations by riverside, creek, lakeside, mountainside, and even adjacent to a golf course. Follow Brokeback on eBay RV follows on the heels of the remarkable success of Brokeback Mountain (which won three Oscars), as filmed-in-Alberta movies attract interest from theatre goers and travellers. And Kananaskis is a link between the two movies. Brokeback Mountain was filmed largely in Kananaskis Country, a spectacular mountains-and-prairies recreation area, just an hour's drive west of Calgary, which is the international gateway city to the Canadian Rockies. In Brokeback Mountain, parts of Alberta doubled as Wyoming, attracting travelers who want to experience some of the scenery they saw in the movie by touring the province themselves. You can find some of those routes here. In a new twist, Albertan Rob Freeman purchased the black pickup truck made famous in the movie and auctioned a one-time summer tour package of the film's locations, which the lucky winner can see from the cab of the pickup. Proceeds from the winning bid for the three-day trip will go to charity. Bidding opened at $2,500 US on eBay. Jesse James On the Way Meanwhile, arguably the biggest star in the world, Brad Pitt stars in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which was shot throughout Alberta. The movie is headed for a September release and features footage from historic sections of Calgary (the international gateway city to the Canadian Rocky Mountains) and Edmonton (the international gateway city to the North), among many other locations. It can be another classic Canadian road trip, but with a cowboy slant. Stay tuned for holiday routes that match scenes in the movie. Meanwhile, you can see the teaser movie trailer here. RV Scenic Drives in Alberta Here's a scenic drive that mimics part of what you can see in the movie RV: follow The Crowsnest Highway 3 East to West. The oldest inter-provincial highway in Alberta, the Crowsnest Trail follows historic roadways and features numerous heritage sites. Tour Distances - Points of Interest Take a 45-minute drive southeast of Medicine Hat for a visit to the Cypress Hills. Rising from the surrounding prairie, the hills are one of the few areas in western Canada unaltered by the last glacial period. The area boasts 14 varieties of orchids and over 200 species of birds as well as wild turkey, moose and deer. From Medicine Hat, head west along the Crowsnest through several of the region's agricultural towns such as Bow Island, the first town in Alberta to operate its own natural gas well. The town of Taber is famous for its produce, and fresh Taber corn is popular throughout Western Canada. Lethbridge, built on coal in the 1870s, was originally named Coalbanks. Today it is the primary service centre for southern Alberta. On the way through town don't miss the Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens. These authentic gardens of meditation were created in 1967 as a symbol of friendship between the peoples of Japan and Canada. Travel about 90 minutes southeast of Lethbridge for a visit to Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park, just outside the community of Milk River. Tour the rare petroglyphs and pictographs in the archaeological preserve, camp at the base of sandstone hoodoos and canoe on the Milk River. Fort Macleod is southern Alberta's oldest settlement, and its downtown core has been declared Alberta's first Provincial Historic Area. The area contains 30 historically and architecturally rich structures including a variety of wood frame buildings dating from the late 1890s and many brick and sandstone structures from the early 1900s. Take a fascinating side trip northwest of Fort Macleod to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Interpretive Centre. Used for 5,600 years by Native people to drive buffalo to their deaths, providing food and materials for shelter and clothing, Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1981 and is one of the largest, oldest and best preserved buffalo jumps in the world. An interpretive centre chronicles the saga of the Native culture from ancient times to the arrival of the Europeans. The top of the cliff provides an unparalleled view of the surrounding prairies to the east and the Rocky Mountains to the southwest. The Highway passes by the town of Pincher Creek and heads into the Canadian Rockies. Stop and watch the Crowsnest River plunge over 12 m (39 ft.) into the canyon below at Lundbreck Falls. Visit the site of the Frank Slide. In 1903, 91 million tonnes (92 million tons) of rock crashed down Turtle Mountain covering a part of the coal mining town of Frank, killing 70 people. Visit the Interpretive Centre where displays on the tragic Frank Slide, coal mining methods and the social life of the Pass offer a glimpse into the area's past. Tour the Leitch Collieries, founded in 1907. Twelve km (7.5 mi) east of the British Columbia/Alberta border take a look at the volcanic rocks. These outcroppings, about 100 million years old, are older than the Rockies themselves and are the only evidence of volcanic activity in Alberta. Tour Distances Total Distance: 327 km/204 mi Day 1 - Medicine Hat Day 2 - Medicine Hat to Lethbridge - 168 km/105 mi Day 3 - Lethbridge to Crowsnest Pass - 159 km/99 mi About The Author:
*** Digital Reprint Rights *** *** Author Notification *** We ask that you notify the author of publication of his or her work. Travel Alberta can be reached at: travelalberta@raremethod.com *** Print Publication Reprint Rights *** If you desire to publish this article in a PRINT publication, you must contact the author directly for Print Permission at: travelalberta@raremethod.com
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