North Edmonton is where a large share of the city actually lives. It is not Edmonton's traditional tourist area, but it offers a different side of the city.

There is no strip of historic storefronts like Old Strathcona, no cluster of arenas and galleries like downtown. What you get instead is river valley parks, a strong food scene built around immigrant communities, family recreation centres, plenty of shopping, and fast access to the highways out of town.

That mix makes it a good choice for some travellers, while others may prefer a more central part of Edmonton. I live near Castle Downs in the northwest, and the thing I notice most is how little time I spend fighting traffic.

I can reach a major shopping centre, a river valley park and the Anthony Henday ring road without ever driving through the core. I have lived in two different parts of the north side over the years and have never wanted to move to another quadrant of the city.

This guide covers the best places to visit, where to eat and where to stay in North Edmonton. For the wider picture, start with the ultimate Edmonton travel guide.

Where Is North Edmonton?

North Edmonton is not an official district with fixed borders. Most people use it loosely for everything north of downtown and the river valley: Blatchford and Griesbach in the middle, Castle Downs and Northgate to the northwest, and Londonderry, Clareview, Hermitage and Beverly to the northeast.

For visitors, a few roads matter more than the neighbourhood names:

Road	Why it matters to visitors
97 Street	The main north-south spine. Runs from downtown straight up through the north side and continues toward CFB Edmonton.
137 Avenue	The main east-west commercial strip. Most of the shopping, hotels and restaurants sit on or near it.
Yellowhead Trail (Highway 16)	Cuts across the south edge of the area. Your route west toward Jasper or east toward Elk Island.
Anthony Henday Drive	The ring road along the north edge. Lets you cross the city without touching downtown.
St. Albert Trail	Runs northwest out of the city into St. Albert.
Manning Drive	The northeast route toward Fort Saskatchewan and the industrial Heartland.

The practical takeaway: if your trip includes St. Albert, Fort Saskatchewan or Elk Island National Park, staying here saves you real driving. If your trip is mostly downtown and Old Strathcona, it does not.

Is North Edmonton Worth Visiting?

North Edmonton is not a major tourist destination on its own, but it can be a convenient place to explore and a good base for the right type of visitor.

It suits travellers with a car, families looking for parks, pools and outdoor recreation, people visiting friends and relatives here, anyone heading out of the city on day trips, and anyone who eats well on a budget.

It may not be the best choice if you want to walk to major attractions or want an evening out beyond your hotel lobby. Those visitors should look at the Downtown Edmonton guide instead, or the Edmonton areas guide to compare five parts of the city.

Best Things to Do in North Edmonton

Alberta Aviation Museum

The Alberta Aviation Museum is one of the most interesting attractions in North Edmonton, and the building is half the reason to go. The museum sits in Hangar 14 on the site of the former Edmonton City Centre Airport, now the Blatchford redevelopment.

The hangar is one of the last surviving "double-double" wooden hangars built for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan during the Second World War, and standing inside it gives you a sense of scale that photos do not.

The collection runs to more than 30 aircraft, from bush planes to military and jet-era machines, with displays on Edmonton's role as the gateway to the North.

Give yourself about an hour and a half, or two if you read every panel or get talking with the volunteers. It works well for older kids and anyone interested in history or machinery, and younger children may run out of patience faster. Check the museum's website for current hours and admission.

Rundle Park

Rundle is the best all-round park on the north side and the one I would send a visitor to first. It sits in the river valley in the northeast, off 118 Avenue, and there is plenty of space even when the park is busy.

In warmer months, you get paved multi-use trails that connect straight into the wider river valley network, an 18-hole disc golf course that is one of the busiest in the city, a short public golf course, beach volleyball, tennis courts, playgrounds and picnic sites, six of which can be booked.

A pedestrian bridge links the park to Gold Bar Park across the river, which makes a good longer walk or ride. The ACT Aquatic and Recreation Centre sits inside the park with an indoor pool and gym, so a wet afternoon does not end the visit.

In winter, the park runs the IceWay, a lit skating trail of roughly two kilometres through the trees, plus a shinny area and toboggan hills. Skating on city ice surfaces is free, and rentals are available on site in season. Check the City of Edmonton's ice surface page first, because a warm spell can close it.

Hermitage Park

Hermitage is quieter than Rundle. It sits further northeast along the river, with natural-surface trails, two large ponds, a big off-leash dog area and a lot of birdlife. American white pelicans turn up here, which surprises people.

The southern pond is stocked with rainbow and brown trout and is free to fish with a valid Alberta licence. Canoes, kayaks and paddleboards are allowed; motors are not. There are picnic tables throughout, and in winter the open ground is used for cross-country skiing.

Hermitage Park is best for visitors who enjoy a quieter outdoor experience. It is a good place to spend an hour or two if you are staying nearby, walking a dog, or looking for somewhere calm to eat lunch outside.

Castle Downs Park

Castle Downs is a community recreation hub rather than a sight. It has one of the largest playgrounds in the city, a free drop-in spray park, a skate park, ball diamonds, sports fields including a cricket pitch, and an outdoor rink and skating oval in winter. The Castle Downs Recreation Centre on site holds an arena and a YMCA.

If you are in the northwest with young kids, this is where you take them for an afternoon. It is mainly worth visiting for families with young children.

Griesbach

Griesbach is worth exploring if you enjoy walking through an attractive Edmonton neighbourhood. It was built on the site of the former CFB Griesbach army base, which Canada Lands Company acquired in 2003 and redeveloped over the following fifteen years.

The result does not look like the rest of north Edmonton. It is laid out around a central park, four small lakes that double as stormwater ponds, walking paths and a community garden, with front porches, back lanes and mature trees kept from the base. Street names and memorials keep the military history visible.

Griesbach is my old neighbourhood, so I am biased. What I would tell a visitor is that it is the one part of north Edmonton where walking is genuinely the point. The paths connect, the lakes break up the sightlines, and you are never far from a bench.

Treat it as a thirty to forty minute stroll with a coffee, not an attraction. There are no formal attractions or visitor facilities, which is part of why I recommend simply enjoying it as a walk.

Parks and Outdoor Activities in North Edmonton

If you only have time for one outdoor stop, here is how I would choose between them.

• Young kids: Castle Downs Park. Playground, spray park and washrooms in one place.
• Walking or cycling: Rundle Park, then across the footbridge into Gold Bar. The paved trails link straight into Edmonton's river valley network, the largest urban park system in Canada.
• Winter: the Rundle IceWay for skating and tobogganing, or Castle Downs for the outdoor rink.
• A quiet afternoon, dogs, or fishing: Hermitage Park.

Rundle is the one I keep going back to, in every season. Hermitage I have been to and enjoyed, but it offers a quieter and more relaxed experience, and I would not send someone across the city for it.

Check conditions before you drive out. Trails flood, ice melts, and spray parks shut down. The City of Edmonton posts current status for parks and ice surfaces.

Shopping in North Edmonton

North Edmonton is convenient for shopping without being a major shopping destination. If you are staying on the north side, you will find most of what you need within a short drive, usually with free parking.

The main shopping areas include:

• 97 Street and 137 Avenue. Northgate Centre is an enclosed mall with more than 70 stores and services, along with many medical offices. North Town Centre sits across the intersection, with big-box stores and a T&T Supermarket for Asian groceries.
• 66 Street and 137 Avenue. Londonderry Mall is the largest enclosed mall in the area. It has been recently renovated and includes Simons, Winners, H&M, a grocery store, a library branch and a Service Canada office.
• Kingsway area. Kingsway Mall is close to the Alberta Aviation Museum and is a convenient place to shop or grab something to eat before or after visiting the museum. It offers a larger selection of stores and restaurants than most neighbourhood shopping centres.
• Northeast Edmonton and St. Albert Trail. Manning Town Centre, Clareview and the shopping areas along St. Albert Trail cover much of the big-box shopping in and around North Edmonton.

Londonderry and Northgate are where I do most of my own shopping, which is probably the most honest measure of them: they are practical places where I can easily find what I need for everyday life. Kingsway Mall is a useful option when I am closer to the Alberta Aviation Museum or the Kingsway area.

Where to Eat in North Edmonton

One of the things I enjoy most about North Edmonton is its diverse food scene. Decades of immigration have filled 97 Street, 137 Avenue, 118 Avenue and the northeast with family-run restaurants that serve excellent food in locations that visitors might easily overlook. Prices are low, portions are large, and most places are family-friendly.

Some starting points:

Middle Eastern. Jerusalem Shawarma on 137 Avenue is one of the busiest shawarma spots in the city. Alhuda Pita Bakery and Abu Nawras, both on 97 Street, do fresh pita, manakish, falafel and grilled plates. Ali Baba Turkish Grill further north on 97 Street is the pick for kebab platters.

Filipino. Edmonton has a large Filipino community and the north side is its centre of gravity. Manila Grill Express on 140 Avenue and Kuya Allan's Lechon Pinoy on 97 Street both do the classics. The Filipino food counters at Northgate Centre are also worth considering for a quick and affordable meal.

Vietnamese. The 118 Avenue corridor, known locally as the Avenue of Nations, is the place to look. Dang Good near 133 Street is a long-standing favourite with an unusually good vegan menu alongside the regular one.

Indian and South Asian. Savoy's South Indian Kitchen in Clareview covers dosa and biryani. Spicebros in Griesbach does Indian street food and stays open late, which is rare on this side of the city.

Coffee and dessert. Mokha Coffee House and Parama Cafe, near Griesbach and 137 Avenue, are Middle Eastern-style cafés that stay open into the night.

If you want something familiar, when I go out for a proper sit-down dinner on the north side, it is usually Earls Kitchen + Bar on 50 Street near 137 Avenue, or the Keg Steakhouse at Skyview on the west end of 137 Avenue. Neither is a local discovery. But both are close to the north-side hotels, both take reservations, and both work when you are travelling with people who want a predictable meal and a table they can sit at for two hours. The Keg is the pricier of the two.

Hours change often at the independent restaurants, and some close on their own schedule rather than a posted one. Call or check before you drive out. For a wider list across the city, see the Edmonton restaurants guide.

Where to Stay in North Edmonton

Most north-side hotels sit near 137 Avenue or along the Yellowhead. Their locations are convenient for travellers driving in and out of the city rather than visitors who want to walk to attractions.

• Fairfield by Marriott Inn & Suites Edmonton North, on Griesbach Parade. The best family choice, with a pool and waterslide, beside the 137 Avenue restaurants and shops.
• Holiday Inn Express & Suites Edmonton North, at 50 Street and 137 Avenue. Handy if your plans point northeast toward Fort Saskatchewan or Elk Island.
• Chateau Nova Yellowhead, on Yellowhead Trail. Good if you are driving west afterward toward Jasper.
• Rosslyn Inn & Suites, at 97 Street and 137 Avenue. Older and plainer, but cheap and central.

Rates change constantly, so check pricing directly. Parking is usually free, which is a real difference from downtown.

Staying in North Edmonton involves a few trade-offs. You get easier driving, cheaper rooms and a faster exit toward St. Albert, Fort Saskatchewan and Elk Island National Park.

Getting Around North Edmonton

By car

Having a car makes exploring North Edmonton much easier. Distances are long, and the attractions are spread across roughly fifteen kilometres. Use the roads in the table above, and note that Yellowhead Trail carries heavy truck traffic sometimes, and has been under construction in sections for years.

Parking is free at nearly every park, mall and hotel on the north side.

By public transit

Transit works, but not everywhere equally.

The Capital Line LRT runs from Clareview in the northeast through Belvedere and Coliseum, into downtown and south to Century Park. If you are staying near Clareview, that is a genuine car-free option for reaching downtown. The Metro Line runs northwest from downtown to NAIT/Blatchford Market station, which puts you close to the Alberta Aviation Museum.

Everything else is buses, routed through transit centres at Northgate, Castle Downs, Eaux Claires and Clareview. Service is generally better along the main corridors than in residential areas between them. Getting from a north-side hotel to a north-side park by bus is slower than it looks on the map.

Fares and the Arc payment system change, so check Edmonton Transit Service before you travel.

Visiting North Edmonton in Winter

Edmonton winters are long and cold, and locals do not spend them hiding indoors. We plan around the day rather than the season. A minus five day with sun is a good day to be outside. A minus twenty-eight day with wind is a day for a museum and a pool.

Winter options on the north side:

• Skating the Rundle Park IceWay, then warming up at a fire pit along the trail
• Tobogganing at Rundle or on the hill at Castle Downs
• Indoor swimming at the ACT Aquatic and Recreation Centre or the Castle Downs YMCA
• The Alberta Aviation Museum, which is heated but is still a hangar, so wear a jacket
• Cross-country skiing at Hermitage Park

Driving in North Edmonton during winter requires a little extra preparation. Clear the entire windshield before setting off; leave extra following distance because some side streets can stay covered with packed snow for weeks. Plug in the block heater overnight during deep cold temperatures if your vehicle has one.

Visiting North Edmonton in Summer

Summer is my favourite time to explore North Edmonton. The days are long, with daylight lasting well past 10 p.m.

This is when I think North Edmonton's parks are at their best. Rundle and Hermitage are great for walking and spending time outdoors, spray parks are open, the disc golf course is busy, and the river valley trail network is ideal for cycling.

Summer also brings one of Edmonton's biggest annual summer festivals to North Edmonton. K-Days, held at the Edmonton EXPO Centre and surrounding grounds, brings midway rides, food, entertainment and other events to the area each July. If you are visiting during the festival, I recommend checking the current schedule and planning your visit ahead.

Is North Edmonton a Good Place to Stay?

Stay here if:

• You have a car
• You are visiting family or friends on the north side
• You are travelling with kids and want space, pools and parks
• You want easier parking and lower room rates
• Your trip includes St. Albert, Fort Saskatchewan or Elk Island
• You would rather be in a quiet residential area than a busy core

Stay somewhere else if:

• You want to walk to attractions
• You want restaurants, bars or live music near your hotel at night
• You plan to spend most of your time downtown or in Old Strathcona
• You are not renting a car

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

North Edmonton may not be the first part of Edmonton that visitors think about, but it offers a more local side of the city. This is where many Edmontonians live, shop, eat and spend time outdoors.

For visitors, its strengths are its parks, diverse restaurants, family recreation, convenient shopping and easy access to major roads. I have lived in different parts of North Edmonton over the years, and one of the things I appreciate most is how easy it is to get around without having to drive through the city centre.

North Edmonton is a particularly good choice for visitors with a car, families, and people visiting friends or relatives on the north side. If you want a highly walkable area with major attractions, nightlife and restaurants outside your hotel, Downtown Edmonton or Old Strathcona may be a better fit.

But if you want to experience a different and more residential side of Edmonton, North Edmonton is well worth exploring.