A few summers ago I planned a road trip with a friend that had us driving from Calgary to Lac la Biche, Alberta. We began planning our route north by searching for “World’s Largest” items we could find in the province and added in a few odd tourist attractions along the way to make for an epic drive towards our final destination. The next few blog posts will cover highlights from that trip and hopefully inspire you to seek out your own wacky road side stops.
A major highlight of the trip for me was stop #3 on the tour, The Torrington Gopher Hole Museum in Torrington, Alberta. (Shout out to stop #1 in Irricana, AB and #2 in Beiseker, AB pictured below). Located just an hour outside of Calgary this quirky town of just over 100 residents makes for a great day trip from the city or a pit stop along an adventure.
Irricana, AB (Miller 2018) Beiseker, AB (Miller, 2018)
Being keen to get on the road we arrived in Torrington prior to the opening of the museum (their daily hours are 10:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.). This gave us the time to walk through the hamlet (all five or six streets) and see just how real the gopher obsessions was.
Our first stop on the walk was the town mascot Clem T. GoFur. A lovable character complete with his own poem written by a Torrington local that boasts of the friendless of the small town and invites visitors to join in the community. Feeling welcome right away we started making our way up and down the streets and were delighted to see all the fire hydrants painted with smiling gopher faces.
Clem T. GoFur (Miller, 2018) Gopher Fire Hydrant (Miller, 2018)
Having killed enough time we found ourselves back at the museum where we had parked the car and were delighted to be the first guests into the museum for the day. Entrance to this tourist treat will only set you back $2.00 (CAD) and $0.50 (CAD) if you are traveling with children under 14. We were welcomed into the space with big smiles and a dose of local history as the employee on shift pointed on the fuss that the Gopher Museum had caused with a little global organization known as PETA. PETA was determined to have this tiny museum shut down but all the media attention just ended up sky-rocketing tourist business at the museum as the story went international. (Check out an article from The Spokesman-Review in Washington here https://bit.ly/38O5JAQ). For those of you still concerned about how the gophers come to end up in the museum the staff are more than happy to explain to visitors how they come by their collection and discuss the pest control issue the gophers present to the local farming community. The PETA news story is just one of many clippings and shout-outs the owners have collected in regards to the Gopher Hole that you can browse while visiting.
After chatting we started to make our way through the exhibit to observe the forty plus quirky dioramas filled with taxidermy gophers positioned doing everyday activities. You can’t help but smile and giggle as you see gophers dressed up in human clothes robbing banks, getting married and gossiping at the beauty parlour. The stories reflect the local culture of rural Alberta and include stories of adventure (make sure to check out the gopher that made it all the way to the Vancouver Olympics!).
Gopher Dioramas (Miller, 2018)
This charming town attraction has a small social media presence but you can find out more details about the museum via the un-official fan page here http://gopherholemuseum.ca/. They also survive by word of mouth advertising so tell your friends and share your pictures to any curious pals you have that would be in to spending a morning in a school house portable filled with stuffed gophers. You can also support the museum by purchasing items in their gift shop. If Torrington happens to be where you need to spend the night on your road trip the Torrington Campground is located right near the Gopher Hole Museum, find out more details here https://www.kneehillcounty.com/2261/Torrington-Campground. It is important to note that the museum is a seasonal attraction so plan accordingly. Keep it weird wanderers.
The Curious Day Tripper 