Ponoka Travel Guide

Welcome to Ponoka!

Named from the Blackfoot ponokaii, which means elk, Ponoka turned 100 years old in 2004, commemorated by the town's Centennial Park and its hard-to-miss centrepiece, The Legacy, the world's largest statue of a cowboy breaking a wild horse. The town's Fort Ostell Museum, Glen Crandall Antique Collection and Cowboy Museum all house artifacts from Alberta's wild west, and the Ponoka Stampede, the city's premiere event, welcomes livestock displays, rodeo competitors and exhibitions and displays from around the world for several event-filled days in the summer.

Alberta’s first sanitarium was founded in the town in 1912, guaranteeing its residents need not rely solely on the sometimes unreliable industries of agriculture and ranching. Through comprehensive, careful planning, Ponoka has become a progressive community of more than 6,000 people whose residents enjoy a high standard of living, relaxed rural lifestyle and scenic surroundings, including the Battle River Valley. Laced through by the Wolf Creek Trail, activity is encouraged with hiking paths, ball diamonds and picnic tables, indicative of a town where family comes first.