Beyond the Day Trip: An Overnight Guide to the Travel Lakeland Region

Many people plan Open Farm Days as a day trip – but visiting Lakeland  is a whole weekend adventure, and well worth the drive. Northeast Alberta runs from Smoky Lake through Lac La Biche, Bonnyville/Cold Lake, and Elk Point, is full of farms, attractions and unique accommodations. The boreal forest and lake country, laced together by Alberta’s Iron Horse Trail, Canada’s longest rail trail is an adventure you have been waiting for! 

A Region Stitched Together by an Old Rail Line

The Iron Horse Trail runs nearly 300 kilometres along a former CN rail bed, connecting small towns that used to exist because of the trains and now exist because of what’s grown up around them: farms, honey houses, campgrounds, and a scattering of genuinely unique roadside stops. Starting at Waskatenau, it runs east through Vilna, Spedden, Ashmont, and Mallaig before splitting into two branches, one heading north to Bonnyville and Cold Lake, the other dropping south to St. Paul and Elk Point. It’s walkable, rideable, and quadable in sections, and the old Beaver River Trestle Bridge near Cold Lake (6km from the city) is worth the stop on its own, a long wooden crossing with river views on both sides.

That trail is the spine of this guide, with one worthwhile detour off it.

Smoky Lake and Métis Crossing

Smoky Lake is a natural entry point if you’re coming from Edmonton, and Métis Crossing is an anchor destination for this trip, both as a farm stop and as a place to stay the night. As a Métis cultural gathering place, it includes a new lodge and geodesic sky-view domes for overnight stays, and a protected bison herd. During Open Farm Days there is extra programming in addition to the historical exhibits and art installations, including buffalo camp teachings, Métis games, plant walks and a special buffalo-focused menu at the on-site bistro. It sits on the North Saskatchewan River next to Victoria Settlement Provincial Historic Site, one of the oldest standing building sites in Alberta, so a night at Métis Crossing pairs naturally with an afternoon walking Victoria Settlement’s grounds. If you are planning for an overnight stay at a campground in the area, dropping into Serben Farms is a great way to fill your cooler with a wide selection of meats, sausage, meat pies, eggs, cream, & vegetables- or even a visit to their ice cream stand.

A Detour North: Lac La Biche and Kikino Métis Settlement

Before picking the trail back up, it’s worth heading north off-route to Lac La Biche, and this detour doubles as another cluster of overnight options. Sir Winston Churchill Cabins & Tipi’s sits inside this stunning provincial park right on Lac La Biche Lake itself.  Serviced tipis and cabins right on the water are part of the provincial comfort camping, or tent and RV sites a little further down the road in the group camping area. Just south is the  Kikino Métis Settlement and Hideaway Adventure Grounds This overnight experience offers a different kind of stay entirely, a Métis-run, land-based retreat with wall tents and micro cabins, bushcraft workshops, and open-fire cooking. A short drive away, Kikino Silver Birch Resort is the more classic family option with lakeside cabins and campsites with a beach, boat access, and a rodeo weekend August 16th that draws crowds every year.

Two Open Farm Days hosts round out the Lac La Biche stops including  Christy Creek Honey, and new to 2026 Foggy Pond Farms. Christy Creek was named this year’s Agritourism Alberta Farm of the Year, and runs one of the more memorable bee tours we have come across. Visitors can visit the demonstration hive or get suited up and walk right into an active bee yard, with a heated dome on site for cooler days so the tour runs regardless of weather. The Wickers, who run the operation are both former educators, so they have this down to an art!  You can walk through the full life of the hive: the queen laying eggs, drones, how the colony is structured, and how the honey actually gets from the hive to the jar, with plenty of time for questions along the way. There’s a small gift shop on site after, and the tour works well for a wide range of ages, families with young kids and retirees alike have made the trip. Foggy Pond Farm is smaller and quieter by comparison, a working family farm that concentrates on raising its own animals and produce in their gardens. There’s a large pond for nature watching and forested areas good for a slow walk. The farm’s newest addition, a licensed kitchen, turns what they harvest into baked goods, meals, and canning demonstrations for visitors. Open Farm Days brings farm animal interactions with learning opportunities, a stop at the kitchen for a treat and a canning demonstration, and a guided nature walk where visitors collect greenery and flowers for a led nature craft. The log barn also hosts a small farm market with produce and handmade wares for sale.

Further down the trail toward Iron River, Providence Acres Flower Farm is a colourful addition to your itinerary if flowers are your thing. The Thiessen family has been growing cut flowers  since 2019, with a horticultural background, this husband and wife team are brightening up the community with their beautiful bouquets.  Learn about their subscription program, local markets, and u-picks or join for a free farm tour offered at 10:30 am, 12:30 pm, and 2:30 pm. If you want to take part in the U-Pick, you may want to bring your own vase-access for building your bouquet is $40 a person purchasing a vase onsite is an additional $5) Free cinnamon buns and coffee (while quantities last)  while you’re there and a chance to try your hand at soil-blocking.

Choose Your Branch: The Trail Splits

Past Mallaig, the Iron Horse Trail forks. Pick one branch for the rest of your weekend, or split it across two days.

North to Bonnyville and Cold Lake. Charlotte Lake Farms is  a long time fan favourite, and this year offers a 45 minute wagon tour and your opportunity to meet the cow & calf operation. A great chance to learn more about this year’s theme and how grazing works. Hosts Guy and Leona Bonneau are marking 115 years of the family farm  this year, and the tour reflects it. Riding right out into the working pastures you have the opportunity to see how they manage the herd through rotational grazing, how they decide when to move cattle, how weather impacts the grass, and what the herd eats as the seasons change. Tours are offered three times a day both on Saturday and Sunday (10:30 am, 12:30 pm, and 2:30 pm) and are free to join but make sure to register as they will fill up.  You may want to mark your calendar to come back for their fall pumpkin patch, and remember to bring a cooler if you’re planning to pick up beef after the tour. Not far away is Rocky Meadows County Get-Away, in Bonnyville.  This is a ticketed Open Farm Days event if you fancy a round of mini golf or are looking the camp overnight. Further southeast in Elk Point, K-Cow Ranch  who are joining Open Farm Days for the first time this year, so take this opportunity to learn about Hereford, Charolais, and Black Angus cattle.  This experience offers an exclusive farm tour through a working cattle and bull operation, with a reputation locally for quality beef.

Cold Lake If you took the northern branch, Cold Lake makes a good place to end the weekend. The Cold Lake Agricultural Society hosts a vibrant Farmers’ Market featuring local vendors, fresh products, and handcrafted goods, running from 10 am to 4 pm on the Saturday. Meet friendly farm animals, including Highland cattle and chickens, watch engaging agricultural demonstrations, and let the kids burn off energy in the bouncy house, a solid last stop before heading home.

South to St. Paul. St. Paul sits right on the trail and home to the town’s UFO Landing Pad, built in 1967 as a Centennial project, the kind of odd, genuinely fun stop that breaks up a driving day well. St. Paul also has its own cluster of Open Farm Days programming worth exploring.  If you are arriving near lunch or dinner-a stop at Twisted Fork is a foodie stop you won’t want to miss!  The restaurant’s dedication to local  food is unmatched – so you can visit over 30 regional farms showcased on the plate in just one sitting (if you are hungry)!  While you are there take in one of their Jam making classes ($)  or join for the free jam tasting offered throughout the day.

Dipsy Doodle Further South

Mannville Just off the southern stretch near Elk Point, Kross Farm is a good stop for anyone curious about what regenerative growing actually looks like in practice. Kim Ross farms on her family’s centennial land near Mannville — she’s fifth generation here — and has built her operation entirely around no-till methods: no herbicides, no synthetic fertilizers, less watering, and noticeably less time spent fighting weeds. Kim is a horticulture instructor by trade, holding a Prairie Horticulture Certificate along with master gardener and master composter designations, and she teaches what she practices, running in-person classes, demo days, and an online community on topics like no-till growing, passive solar greenhouse design, and seed starting. Visitors can also pick up her insect netting and shade cloth, made to help home gardeners grow chemical-free. It’s a working farm rather than a set-up-for-tourists stop, so visits run by appointment, making it a nice quieter counterpoint to some of the bigger draws on the trail.

 

Vermilion A short drive south of St. Paul, Old School Cheesery is worth building an extra hour into your route for. Owner Patrick Dupuis opened the operation in 2016 after 25 years in the military, training as a cheese maker and earning his pasteurizing license before turning the dream into a business; his daughter Valerie joined the following year and now runs the plant alongside him. As Alberta’s first Economusée, the cheesery opens its production space to visitors, walking guests through the full process from pasteurized local milk to finished wheel. Their lineup includes fresh daily cheese curds in flavours like dill, garlic, and chipotle, a rotating cast of flavoured cheddars, and specialty cheeses such as Le Bourdon, a hard cheese aged in honey from a local producer. The Vermilion location also houses a boutique of locally sourced goods and a small restaurant with a wine and craft beer list, patio seating, and charcuterie built around their own cheese. Keen-eyed readers will recognize the name from Twisted Fork back in St. Paul — their curds and cheddars show up on the menu there too.

The Takeaway

You could drive through Lakeland   in a day and see a handful of farms. But between the Iron Horse Trail, a night at Métis Crossing or out at Lac La Biche, and stops that range from a working bee yard to a UFO landing pad, this is a region that rewards slowing down. Pick a branch of the trail, pick a place to sleep, and give it the weekend it’s asking for.

August 15 and 16. Free to attend, some on-farm activities may have a cost. Check individual farm profile pages for hours and RSVP details.

Accommodations at a Glance

• Métis Crossing (Smoky Lake) — New lodge and geodesic sky-view domes for overnight stays at this Métis cultural gathering place, next to Victoria Settlement Provincial Historic Site.
• Sir Winston Churchill Cabins & Tipis (Lac La Biche Provincial Park) — Serviced tipis and cabins on Lac La Biche Lake, plus tent and RV sites in the group camping area.
• Hideaway Adventure Grounds (Kikino Métis Settlement) — Métis-run, land-based retreat with wall tents and micro cabins, bushcraft workshops, and open-fire cooking.
• Kikino Silver Birch Resort (near Kikino/Lac La Biche) — Lakeside cabins and campsites with a beach and boat access; hosts a rodeo weekend on August 16th.
• Rocky Meadows County Get-Away (Bonnyville) — Ticketed Open Farm Days stop with mini golf and overnight camping.