Field Trips (No Park Access)

Field Trips at Fort Edmonton Park (Off-Season Programs)

Bring history to life for your students with a guided field trip at Fort Edmonton Park. 

From the fur trade and pioneer eras to early Edmonton communities and children’s daily lives, our programs offer meaningful ways for students to connect with the stories, cultures, and people who shaped this place.

Booking Details (for all programs)

  • Maximum 30 students per class (separate booking required for multiple classes)
  • Teachers and up to 8 adult volunteers included in program cost
  • Additional adults may attend for an added fee
  • Payment is due at the time of booking

Availability:

  • October 14, 2025 – April 24, 2026 (Monday–Friday)
  • May 25 – June 16, 2026 (Monday & Tuesday only)
  • These are guided programs only and do not include General Admission to Fort Edmonton Park (the Park is closed to the public during these dates).

1846 Fort Programs

Grades 4 & up | 2 hours | $315 (+GST)

Step inside 1846 at the Hudson’s Bay Company Fort and Cree Encampment. Students will explore the fur trade economy, daily life in amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton), and the diverse communities shaping the region. Each program includes interactive tours and hands-on activities.

Program Options
1. Life in 1846 Beaver Hills House
Become fur traders preparing the year’s biggest shipment to York Factory. Students explore the Fort and Cree Encampment, take on different roles in the fur trade, and discover where they would have fit into 1846 life.


2. Traplines and Traders: The Fur Trade at Fort Edmonton
Hunt for furs, build a travois, make trades, and map routes! Students follow the journey of a pelt from Fort Edmonton to York Factory, learning the story of the fur trade through hands-on activities.

Curricular links: Social Studies (4.1, 4.2, 5.1, 5.2), English Language Arts (1.1).

Book your Fort Program

Pioneer Programs

Grades 3 & up | 2 hours | $315 (+GST)

Step into early Edmonton and experience the challenges and choices of pioneer life. Students explore history through hands-on activities that highlight imagination, problem solving, and connection to their own lives.

Program Options
1. Surveys and Settlements (Grades 4+)
Students act as Edmonton’s town council, planning the city’s future and comparing their decisions to real historical outcomes.


2. Pioneer Pursuit (Grades 3+)
Experience life as an early Edmonton settler through chores, school lessons, and entertainment, then decide: Could I make it here?

Curricular links: Social Studies (3.1, 4.1, 4.2).

Book your Pioneer program

Around Edmonton

Grades 3 and up | 2 hours | $305 (+GST)

Take your class on a journey through all four eras of Fort Edmonton Park—from the fur trade to post-World War I. Students engage with stories from Edmonton’s history and from time immemorial, making connections between their own lives and those in the past.

Book your Around Edmonton program

Our Past, My Story

Pre-K – Grade 3 | 1.5 hours | $290 (+GST)

What did your community look like 100 years ago? Through interactive activities, students explore the daily lives of children in Edmonton’s past—what they ate, how they played, and how families lived. Indigenous narratives are woven throughout the program.

Book your Our Past, My Story program

Traplines and Traders 

Grade 4 & up

Social Studies

4.1 Alberta: A Sense of the Land 

4.1.1 Value Alberta's Physical Geography and Natural Environment 

Appreciate how Land sustaining community and quality of life

Demonstrate care and concern for environment through their choices and actions

Appreciate the environmental significance of national and provincial parks and protected areas in Alberta

4.2 The Stories, Histories and People of Alberta

4.2.1 Appreciate how an understanding of Alberta's history, peoples and stories contributes to their own sense of belonging and identity 

Recognize how stories of people and events provide multiple perspectives on past and present events

Recognize oral traditions, narratives, and stories as valid sources of knowledge about the land, culture and history

Demonstrate respect for places and objects of historical significance

4.2.2 Assess, Critically, how the cultural and Linguistic heritage and diversity of Alberta has evolved over time

Which First Nations originally inhabited the different areas of the province??

What do the stories of Aboriginal peoples tell us about their beliefs regarding the relationship between people and the land?

4.S Skills and Processes

4.S.3 Develop Skills of Geographic Thinking

Use historical maps to make meaning of historical events and issues

5.1 Physical Geography of Canada

5.1.1 Value Canada's Physical Geography and Natural Environment 

Appreciate how the land sustains communities and the diverse ways that people have of living with the land

Appreciate the influence of the natural environment on the growth and development of Canada

5.1.3 Analyze how people in Canada interact with the environment

In what ways do natural resources and the physical geography of a region determine the establishment of communities

How are natural resources used, exchanged and conserved in Canada

5.2 Histories and Stories of Ways of Life in Canada 

 5.2.1 Appreciate the complexity of identity in the Canadian context 

Recognize how an understanding of Canadian history and the stories of its people contributes to their sense of identity 

Acknowledge oral traditions, narratives, and stories as valid sources of knowledge about the land and diverse Aboriginal cultures and histories

Acknowledge British influence and presence in Canada

5.2.2 Examine, critically, the ways of life of Indigenous peoples in Canada

What do the stories of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples tell us about their beliefs regarding the relationship between people and the land?

5.2.4 Examine, critically, ways of life of the Fur Traders

How are the stories of the Métis people, their culture and heritage rooted in the fur trade? 

How do stories about ways of life in fur trade forts reflect the British influence in Canada? 

What were the main languages spoken by fur traders and their families in the fur trade forts?

6.S Skills and Processes

6.S.3 Develop Skills of Geographic Thinking 

Construct and interpret various types of maps to broaden understanding of topics being studied

7.1 Toward Confederation 

7.1.1 Appreciate the influence of diverse Indigenous, French, and British peoples on events leading to Confederation

7.1.2 Appreciate the challenges of coexistence among peoples

7.1.3 Compare and contrast diverse social and economic structures within the societies of Aboriginal, French, and British peoples in pre-Confederation Canada

What were the social and economic actors of European imperialism?

In what ways did European imperialism impact the social and economic structures of Aboriginal societies? 

7.1.4 Assess, critically, the economic competition related to the control of the North American fur trade

How did the First Nations, French, British, and Métis peoples interact with each other as participants in the fur trade? 

How did the fur trade contribute to the foundations of the economy in North

Life in 1846 Beaver Hills House

Grade 4 & up

Social Studies

4.1 Alberta: A Sense of the Land 

4.1.1 Value Alberta's Physical Geography and Natural Environment 

Appreciate how Land sustaining community and quality of life

Demonstrate care and concern for environment through their choices and actions

Appreciate the environmental significance of national and provincial parks and protected areas in Alberta

4.2 The Stories, Histories and People of Alberta

4.2.1 Appreciate how an understanding of Alberta's history, peoples and stories contributes to their own sense of belonging and identity 

Recognize how stories of people and events provide multiple perspectives on past and present events

Recognize oral traditions, narratives, and stories as valid sources of knowledge about the land, culture and history

Demonstrate respect for places and objects of historical significance

4.2.2 Assess, Critically, how the cultural and Linguistic heritage and diversity of Alberta has evolved over time

Which First Nations originally inhabited the different areas of the province??

What do the stories of Aboriginal peoples tell us about their beliefs regarding the relationship between people and the land?

5.1 Physical Geography of Canada

5.1.1 Value Canada's Physical Geography and Natural Environment 

Appreciate how the land sustains communities and the diverse ways that people have of living with the land

Appreciate the influence of the natural environment on the growth and development of Canada

5.1.3 Analyze how people in Canada interact with the environment

In what ways do natural resources and the physical geography of a region determine the establishment of communities

How are natural resources used, exchanged and conserved in Canada

5.2 Histories and Stories of Ways of Life in Canada 

 5.2.1 Appreciate the complexity of identity in the Canadian context 

Recognize how an understanding of Canadian history and the stories of its people contributes to their sense of identity 

Acknowledge oral traditions, narratives, and stories as valid sources of knowledge about the land and diverse Aboriginal cultures and histories

Acknowledge British influence and presence in Canada

5.2.4 Examine, Critically, Ways of life of the Fur Traders

How are the stories of the Métis people, their culture and heritage rooted in the fur trade? 

How do stories about ways of life in fur trade forts reflect the British influence in Canada? 

What were the main languages spoken by fur traders and their families in the fur trade forts? 

6.S Skills and Processes

6.S.3 Develop Skills of Geographic Thinking 

Construct and interpret various types of maps to broaden understanding of topics being studied

7.1 Toward Confederation 

7.1.2 Appreciate the challenges of coexistence among peoples

7.1.3 Compare and Contrast diverse social and economic structures within the societies of Aboriginal, French and British peoples in pre-Confederation Canada by exploring and reflecting upon the following questions and issues 

In what ways did European imperialism impact the social and economic structures of Aboriginal societies?

What role did the British government play in the settlement of North America?

English Language Arts

1.1 Discover and Explore 

Express ideas and develop understanding 

Compare new ideas, information and experiences to prior knowledge and experiences in oral, print and other media texts

Experiment with language and forms

Discuss and compare the ways similar topics are developed in different forms of oral, print and other media texts

Surveys and Settlements

Grade 4

4.2 The Stories, Histories and Peoples of Alberta

  • 4.2.1: appreciate how an understanding of Alberta’s history, peoples and stories contributes to their own sense of belonging and identity

  • 4.2.2: assess, critically, how the cultural and linguistic heritage and diversity of Alberta has evolved over time 

Pioneer Pursuit

Grade 3:

  • Time and Place: Students relate diversity to Alberta’s western identity.
  • Knowledge: Early settlers emigrated from various countries with distinct languages and cultures to establish communities in the land now known as Alberta.

Social Studies

4.1 Alberta: A Sense of the Land 

4.2 The Stories, Histories and People of Alberta

Grade 3

  • Time and Place: Students relate diversity to Alberta’s western identity  
    • Skills and Procedures: Explore stories about early settlers in the land now known as Alberta.

Grade 5

5.1 Physical Geography of Canada

5.1.3 analyze how people in Canada interact with the environment by exploring and reflecting upon the following questions and issues: 

  • In what ways do natural resources and the physical geography of a region determine the establishment of communities? (ER, LPP) 

5.2 Histories and Stories of Ways of Life in Canada 

5.2.1 appreciate the complexity of identity in the Canadian context: 

  • recognize how an understanding of Canadian history and the stories of its peoples contributes to their sense of identity (I, TCC)
  • Acknowledge British influence and presence in Canada

5.2.4 Examine, critically, ways of life of the fur traders

  • How do stories about ways of life in fur trade forts reflect the British influence in Canada? 
  • What were the main languages spoken by fur traders and their families in the fur trade forts? 

5.2.8 Examine, critically, ways of life of non-European immigrants

How do stories of Chinese immigrants (i.e., railway workers) contribute to an understanding of the development of Canada?

5.2.9 Examine, critically, how European immigrants shaped ways of life in western Canada

What do stories of immigrants from Ukraine, Poland, Russia and Germany tell us about their history and presence in western Canada?


Grade 6

6.S Skills and Processes

6.S.2 Develop Skills of Historical thinking

Use Historical and community resources to understand and organize the sequence of historical events

Use examples of events to describe cause and effect and change over time

Grade 7 

7.1 Towards Confederation

7.1.1 Appreciate the influence of diverse Aboriginal, French, and British peoples on events leading to Confederation

7.1.2 Appreciate the challenges of coexistence among peoples 

7.1.3 Compare and contrast diverse social and economic structures within the societies of Aboriginal, French, and British peoples in Pre-Confederation Canada

What were the social and economic factors of European Imperialism?

In what ways did European imperialism impact the social and economic structures of Aboriginal societies 

7.2 Following Confederation: Canadian Expansions

7.2.1 Recognize the positive and negative aspects of immigration and migration

7.2.3 Appreciate the challenges that individuals and communities face when confronted with rapid change

7.2.5 Evaluate the impact of Confederation and of Subsequent immigration on Canada from 1867 to the First World War

In what ways did the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway affect the growth of Canada?

What strategies were used by the government to encourage immigration from Europe?

What impact did immigration have on Aboriginal peoples and on communities in Canada? 

How did immigrants from Eastern Europe contribute to the development of western Canada (i.e., health, education, churches, commerce, politics, jounalism, agriculture)?

7.2.6 Assess, critically, the impacts of social and political changes on individual and collective identities in Canada since 1918

What are the social and economic effects of the changing roles and images of women in Canadian society (i.e., right to vote, working conditions, changing family structures)? 

7.2.7 Assess, critically, the impact of urbanization and of technology on individual and collective identities in Canada 

In what ways did technological advances contribute to the development of Canada (e.g., aviation, farming equipment, radio transmissions, electronics, multimedia)?

Grade 8

8.2.2 Demonstrate a willingness to consider differing beliefs, values and worldviews

8.3.1 Appreciate how a society’s worldview influences the society’s choices, decisions and interactions with other societies




Grade 4

Social Studies

4.1 Alberta: A Sense of the Land 

4.1.4 analyze how Albertans interact with their environment by exploring and reflecting upon the following questions and issues: 

  • In what ways do the physical geography and natural resources of a region determine the establishment of communities? (LPP) 

4.2 The Stories, Histories and People of Alberta

4.2.1 appreciate how an understanding of Alberta’s history, peoples and stories contributes to their own sense of belonging and identity:

4.2.2 assess, critically, how the cultural and linguistic heritage and diversity of Alberta has evolved over time by exploring and reflecting upon the following questions and issues:

4.3 Alberta: Celebrations and Challenges 

4.3.3 examine, critically, Alberta’s changing cultural and social dynamics by exploring and reflecting upon the following questions and issues: 

  •  In what ways has Alberta changed demographically since 1905 (i.e., population distribution in rural and urban areas, arrival of diverse ethnic groups, languages spoken)? (CC, I, LPP, TCC) 

English Language Arts

1.1 - Express ideas and develop understanding / Experiment with language and forms

Kindergarten:

  • Time and Place: Children explore expressions of traditions, cultures, and histories.
  • Skills and procedures: Recognize familiar places in the local community.

Grade 1:

  • Time and Place: Students explore cultures of diverse communities
  • Knowledge: People can learn about one another by sharing information about cultures, traditions, and histories (origins). 

Grade 2:

  • Time and Place: Students relate traditions to Canada’s heritage.
  • Understanding: Heritage reflects traditions of people and communities.

Grade 3: 

  • Time and Place: Students relate diversity to Alberta’s western identity 
  • Skills and Procedures: Explore stories about early settlers in the land now known as Alberta.

Looking to visit the Park with your class during our General Admission Season?

You now have the option to book field trips at the Park from May 22 to June 20, 2025 (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) when Fort Edmonton Park is OPEN to the General Public. 

Field Trips with Park Access

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