Culture and history

The Bar U Ranch is the only Parks Canada-administered National Historic Site that commemorates the importance of ranching to Canada.

Founded in 1882 as the Northwest Cattle Company, the Bar U was one of the first and most enduring of the large corporate ranches established in southern Alberta.

Three key personalities guided the ranch through seven decades of change up to 1950: Fred Stimson set the foundation and infrastructure for the Bar U Ranch, which under George Lane achieved international repute as a centre of breeding excellence for cattle and purebred Percheron horses. Patrick Burns and his company modernized the ranch by replacing horses with tractors and streamlined operations which took the Bar U though the depression and World War II.

Explore one of the largest collections of original buildings in Canada. Treasures include the blacksmith shop, harness repair shop, roundup camp and saddlehorse barn. Taste the freshly-baked cookies at the cookhouse, hear the clattering hooves of our Percheron team and smell the cowboy coffee roasting over an open fire. Experience life on the ranch from 100 years ago.

On the doorstep of the Rocky Mountains, the Bar U Ranch National Historic Site is only an hour’s drive from Calgary.