Giants of the Prairies
The Giants of the Prairies are a group of "world's biggest" roadside attractions found in Western Canada, especially in small towns populated mostly by Ukrainian Canadians.
List
| Attraction | Community | Image |
|---|---|---|
| World's Largest Badminton Racket | St. Albert, Alberta | |
| World's Largest Beaver | Beaverlodge, Alberta |  Beaverlodge beaver |
| World's Largest Bee | Falher, Alberta[1] | .png.webp){kind=small} Falher bee |
| World's Largest Honey Bee | Tisdale, Saskatchewan[2] | |
| World's Largest Blue Heron | Barrhead, Alberta | |
| World's Largest Border Markers | Lloydminster | |
| World's Largest Bucking Saddle Bronc and Rider, "The Legacy" | Ponoka, Alberta | |
| World's Largest bunnock | Macklin, Saskatchewan |  Giant Bunnock (horse's leg bone) in Macklin SK. Summer 2004 |
| World's Largest Curling Rock | Arborg, Manitoba[3] | |
| World's Largest Coke Can | Portage la Prairie, Manitoba |  Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, is home to the world's largest Coke can, formerly a water tower. |
| World's Largest Chuckwagon | Dewberry, Alberta | |
| World's Largest Dinosaur | Drumheller, Alberta |  Drumheller T-rex |
| World's Largest Fire Hydrant | Elm Creek, Manitoba[4] | |
| World's Largest Animated Grizzly Bear | Innisfail, Alberta[5] | |
| World's Largest Geese | Hanna, Alberta | |
| World's Largest Golf Tee | Trochu, Alberta[6] | |
| World's Largest kubasa | Mundare, Alberta |  Mundare kubasa |
| World's Largest Mallard Duck | Andrew, Alberta |  Mallard duck sculpture in Andrew, Alberta : 23 Foot (7.2 Metre) Wingspan. Weighs 1 tonne. |
| World's Largest Mosquito | Komarno, Manitoba | |
| World's Largest Mushroom | Vilna, Alberta |  World's Largest Mushrooms in Vilna, Alberta, Canada, 20 feet high and 5 feet in diameter |
| World's Largest Oil Can | Rocanville, Saskatchewan[7] |  closeup of "World's Largest Oilcan" in Rocanville, SK. Summer 2004 |
| World's Largest Oil Derrick | Redwater, Alberta | |
| World's Largest Oil Lamp | Donalda, Alberta |  Lamp in Donalda, Alberta |
| World's Largest painting on an easel (reproduction of Van Gogh's Sunflowers) | Altona, Manitoba | |
| World's Largest Piggy Bank | Coleman, Alberta | |
| World's Largest Putter | Bow Island, Alberta | |
| World's Largest Softball, "Susie" | Chauvin, Alberta | |
| World's Largest Railroad Spike | Hines Creek, Alberta[8] | |
| World's Largest Sundial | Lloydminster | |
| World's Tallest Teepee | Medicine Hat, Alberta |  Medicine Hat Saamis |
| World's Largest Wagon Wheel and Pick | Fort Assiniboine, Alberta | |
| World's Largest Western Boot | Edmonton, Alberta | |
| Giant Horse | Irricana, Alberta | |
| David Thompson Monument | Lac La Biche, Alberta | |
| Giant Pumpkin | Smoky Lake, Alberta | |
| World's First UFO Landing Pad | St. Paul, Alberta |  UFO Landing Pad in St. Paul, Alberta. Opened on June 3, 1967. |
| Giant perogy | Glendon, Alberta |  World's Largest Perogy. Glendon, Alberta, Canada. 27 ft. tall (8.2296 meters), built in 1991. |
| Giant Vegreville egg (Pysanka) | Vegreville, Alberta |  Vegerville pysanka |
| Giant potatoes | Vauxhall, Alberta |  Vauxhall potatoes |
| Giant replica of the Star Trek starship USS Enterprise | Vulcan, Alberta |
 Enterprise replica in Vulcan |
| Giant gopher | Torrington, Alberta | |
| The Happy Rock | Gladstone, Manitoba | |
| Canada's Largest Baseball Bat | Battleford, Saskatchewan[9] | |
| Canada's Largest Baseball Glove | Heisler, Alberta[10] | |
| Canada's Largest Buffalo | Wainwright, Alberta | |
| Canada's Largest Dragonfly | Wabamun, Alberta[11] |  Dragonfly Sculpture in Wabamun, Alberta |
| World's Largest Moose, "Mac the Moose" | Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan |  Mac the Moose in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan |
| Battle between Bear and Swan | Swan Hills, Alberta | |
| Giant Skunk, "Squirt" | Beiseker, Alberta | |
| Canada's Largest Baseball Glove | Heisler, Alberta | |
| Alberta's Largest Northern Pike | Rochon Sands, Alberta | |
| World’s Largest Fishing Lure | Lacombe, Alberta |
In popular culture
These attractions are referenced in the Kubasonics song "Giants of the Prairies".
The phenomenon was parodied in the sixth episode of the first season of Corner Gas, "World's Biggest Thing". Wherein one of the characters proposes the construction of the "world's biggest hoe" to draw in tourism to the town of Dog River, leaving some citizens unaware of the double entendre the name elicits.[12]
References
- "World's Largest Bee". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- "World's Largest Honey Bee". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- "World's Largest Curling Rock". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- "World's Largest Fire Hydrant". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- "World's Largest Animated Grizzly Bear". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- "World's Largest Golf Tee". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- "World's Largest Oil Can". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- "World's Largest Railroad Spike". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- "Canada's biggest baseball bat arrives home in Battleford | CBC News".
- "Alberta's Premier Village: Village of Heisler".
- "World's Largest Dragonfly". roadsideattractions.ca. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- Paquet, Laura Byrne (1 January 2007). Wanderlust: A Social History of Travel. Goose Lane Editions. p. 264. ISBN 978-0-86492-606-7. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
But perhaps the most outrageous roadside statue ever proposed was never actually built. In probably my favourite episode of the sitcom Corner Gas, a small group of civic-minded souls in fictitious Dog river, Saskatchewan, are sitting in the local diner brainstorming ideas for a new roadside attraction that will inspire drivers to stop in the little town. What's unique about Dog river? they ask each other. Well, it's a rural community, so they decide their "world's biggest thing" should be a farm implement. they discuss various options and finally settle on a hoe. But it shouldn't be a shiny, new-looking hoe, someone says. Dog river is a hardworking town, after all. It should have clumps of earth on it and look as though it's been well used. What the town needs, the mayor's grandmother concludes, is "a big dirty cracked hoe."
- Travel Alberta. "Unusual Attractions". Archived from the original on 2007-08-05. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
- Big Things
- Alberta Big Tour
- World's Largest and Large Things, Google map
- Canada's Largest Baseball Glove
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