Big Valley is an historic village in central Alberta southeast of Red Deer. It is located 32 km south of Stettler and 64 km north of Drumheller on Highway 56 in the County of Stettler No. 6. The 2016 census lists the village's population at 346.
Big Valley is a small place with a big history. In 1911 Canadian Northern Railway (CNR) laid track through Big Valley. In 1912 Big Valley built a thriving terminal with a big roundhouse, stockyards, rail yards, water tower, coal-dock, general railway maintenance and repair facilities. The grain trains have stopped running through here long ago but Alberta Prairie Steam Tours (a Stettler-based group) rents the use of the track for their steam train excursions. These steam train tours bring hundreds of tourists in to the small village every day throughout the summer months. Big Valley also hosts one of the few remaining grain elevators in Alberta, which has been preserved as an historic resource.
It was quite an interesting experience exploring this historic little village on an early spring day.
