Milk River

Milk River is a town of 800 people (2021) in Southern Alberta.

Understand

Grain elevator

The Milk River area was first settled around the beginning of the 20th century. Milk River was incorporated as a village on July 31, 1916, and then a town on March 15, 1956.

Milk River's town motto is "Under Eight Flags" and refers to the area having been under the eight flags of seven governments: the Hudson's Bay Company's flag (1818–1869), the eight flags are France (1682–1762), the Spanish Empire (1762–1800), the French Republic (1800–1803), the United States (1803–1818), the British Empire (1869–1945), the Canadian Red Ensign (1945–1965), and the current Canadian Maple Leaf (1965–present).

Tourist information

• 1 Travel Alberta Milk River Visitor Information Centre (Hwy 4 and south Milk River access), ☏ +1 403-647-3938. This Visitor Information Centre is a great place to stop and get great information on the local area and on the province of Alberta. Offers a free WiFi lounge, interpretive centre and plenty of parking. (updated Apr 2020)

Get in

The town is connected to two highways: Highway 4, which heads south to Interstate 15 and north to Lethbridge, and Highway 501, which heads west to Cardston and east to Saskatchewan.

• 1 Milk River Airport (3 km SW of town). No commercial service. (updated Apr 2020)

Get around

There are many roads, so you can drive, but since it is a small town, you can walk around too.

See

• 1 Devil's Coulee Dinosaur Heritage Museum, 300A County Road, Warner (18 km north of Milk River on Hwy 4), ☏ +1 403-642-2118. A key historic site. In 1997, ten fossilized dinosaur eggs, believed to have come from a Hadrosaur, specifically a Hypacrosaurus, were found at Devil's Coulee site. (updated Apr 2020)
• 2 Warner's Elevator Row, Warner (18 km north of Milk River on Hwy 4). A group of four historic wood-cribbed grain elevators standing in a row from south to north alongside the Canadian Pacific Railway line. (updated Apr 2020)

Do

Recreation venues in Milk River include a nine-hole golf course, curling rink, swimming pool, and skateboard park.

• Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park (42 km east of the town on Route 500 and 501), ☏ + 403-647-2364. Range Road 130A. Take the trail through the many hoodoos (tall, thin spires of rock that protrude from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland). A 2-hour guided tour takes you to the protected and enclosed archaeological preserve featuring remarkable petroglyphs. There is also a campground. (updated Apr 2020)
• Milk River Golf Course, 208 1st Avenue South East, ☏ +1 403-647-2502. A 9-hole course at the south end of town. (updated Apr 2020)

Eat

• Yummy Inn, 117 Main Street, ☏ +1 403-647-2050. Tu-Su 11AM-8:30PM. Chinese and Canadian. (updated Apr 2020)
• Sandstone Lounge & Eatery, 212-8th Ave NW, ☏ +1 403-647-2891. M-Sa 6:30AM-midnght, Su 6:30AM-11PM. Pub and restaurant. (updated Apr 2020)

Sleep

• 8 Flags Campground, 213, 205 Railway St (just off Highway 4), ☏ +1 403-647-4488. While camping at the 8 Flags Campground, you can golf for $1 per hole. Open year round with new (as of 2019) showers and washroom facility. Free Wi-fi. May-Sep: full service sites $30, water/power sites $25, tenting/dry sites $20; Oct-Apr: site (power only) $25, site (no service) $20. (updated Apr 2020)
• There are campsites available at Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park (see "Do" above.)
• Sandstone Motel, 212 8th Ave NW, ☏ +1 403-647-2211. Kitchenettes and breakfast available. From $119. (updated Apr 2020)

Stay safe

• Milk River Health Centre, 517 Centre Avenue, ☏ +1 403-647-3500. This facility provides a range of healthcare services including a 24/7 emergency department. (updated Apr 2020)

Go next

Routes through Milk River

Calgary via ← Lethbridge ← Jct N ←	N  S	→ → becomes → Sweet Grass → Great Falls
Ends at ← Cardston ←	W  E	→ Jct S → becomes → Shaunavon