20 Very Unusual Places You Won’t Believe You Can Visit in Canada

As one of the weirdest lakes in the world, we have to include Spotted Lake, BC in this collection. During the warm summer months, a significant amount of the lake evaporates leaving these bizarre circular mineral deposits. Depending on the composition of minerals, the deposits can have different colours ranging from yellow to blue.

What IS that, you might be wondering. That's a pingo! What's a pingo? Well, it's a mound of ice covered by a layer of soil. Basically an ice hill with a lawn. When they melt, they create bizarre landscapes like this one in Pingo National Park, near Tuktoyaktuk, NT — just one of 20 underrated Canadian towns you should visit.

It's not normal to see a group of Klingons walking down a railroad track in rural Alberta. But the town of Vulcan is anything but ordinary. Thanks to its name, Vulcan has become the Star Trek Capital of Canada, where the annual Vul-Con takes place in July. Vulcan is also one of our nerdy Canadian travel destinations you need to visit.

Quebec's Gaspe Peninsula is a fascinating part of Canada. And one of the more bizarre attractions is called 'The Grand Gathering,' a collection of tide-sensitive wooden statues in the St. Lawrence River. Created by artist Marcel Gagnon, 100-odd figures are continually changing and disappearing due to the weather and the rise and fall of the tide.

The Cheltenham Badlands, near Caledon, Ontario is a dramatic formation of eroded shale. The shale became exposed thanks to soil erosion caused by poor agricultural practices during the Great Depression. The colours are created by Iron oxide deposits. You'll note some similarities here to China's Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park, one of the most colourful destinations in the world.

Lake Manicouagan is a circular lake located in central Quebec, not far from Labrador. The lake was created more than 200 million years ago when a 5 km-wide meteor slammed into the Earth. The lake is best viewed from space, but if you're not an astronaut, you can always drive up to see it in person. It's a terrific place for kayaking.

Crooked Bush is a grove of aspen trees growing northwest of Saskatoon. The twisted trees cover nearly 1.5 hectares, and there's a walking platform to guide you through the creepy thicket. Why do these aspen trees twist and turn instead of reaching for the sky like regular aspens? It's likely for genetic reasons, although some wonder if there is another, more supernatural explanation.

It's not easy to get to Pingualuit Crater Lake. Located in Nunavik in Northern Quebec, the lake is in a crater formed over a million years ago by a meteorite. The lake is part of Pingualuit Provincial Park and is home to some of the purest freshwater on the planet. Camping is popular up here and, because you're in a provincial park, you'll find amenities that include WiFi. By the way, Pingualuit means 'pimple.'

Lost? We're not surprised. At the signpost forest in Watson Lake, Yukon, it can be hard to get your bearings. The collection of signs began to take shape back in 1942 when a soldier working on the Alaska Highway erected a sign showing the distance to his hometown. The idea took off, and now more than 75,000 signs point to every part of the globe. A pilgrimage here is one of the top things to do in every province and territory in Canada.

You'll find Turret Rock in Slingsby Channel, on central BC's Pacific Coast. But Turret Rock is better known as Tremble Island due to its location in the middle of the strongest current in the world: the Nakwakto Rapids. The water here can flow at nearly 30 km/h. So fast, that the island actually trembles from the water rushing by. Not only that, you can tie a rope to the island and water ski on the current!

If you build it, they will come. It worked in Field of Dreams. But will it work for the town of St. Paul, Alberta? St. Paul isn't looking to attract the 1919 Chicago White Sox baseball team. Rather, they've built a landing pad for UFOs. The platform was a centennial project (it opened in June 1967) and the first of its kind on Earth. It was built with stones from every province and features the flags of Canada's provinces and territories. To date, there have been no confirmed arrivals.

If you're into exploring abandoned places and (almost) forgotten things, the paddlewheel graveyard in Dawson City, Yukon will tick all your boxes. Back in the day, paddlewheel riverboats plied the Yukon River delivering people and products. But as overland transport became more popular, the majestic paddlewheel boats were taken out of service and all but forgotten. Today, they're a fascinating history lesson just waiting to be explored. Dawson City is also one of Canada's hidden gems that you must see.

It's more mouthwatering than bizarre. At 7.6 metres tall, the world's largest perogie in Glendon, Alberta towers over the surrounding plains. The giant steel and fibreglass dumpling weighs in at 2,700 kilograms. If it were the real deal, more than 10,000 people could have a filling meal of the ultimate comfort food. The only things missing are jumbo bacon bits and a vat of sour cream.

If you're looking for the real deal, here are 10 spots to satisfy your perogie cravings in Canada.

Located on the North Saskatchewan River, between Banff and Jasper, Alberta's Abraham Lake was formed after the construction of a nearby hydroelectric dam. In the summer, it's just another pretty lake. But in the winter, methane gas seeps up from below, and the bubbles are trapped in the ice as the lake freezes. Needless to say, it attracts a lot of photographers.

Not a fan of snakes? Well, you're probably already cringing just looking at this picture. But the Narcisse snake dens, located about 90 minutes north of Winnipeg, are not only bizarre, they're fascinating. In the spring thousands of red-sided garter snakes begin to emerge from their dens to mate in huge, tangled balls. You've never seen anything like it. It's just another reason why Canada is so cool.

If you think that the only thing gophers can do is dig, think again. The Gopher Hole Museum is filled with dioramas of gophers doing very un-gopher-like things like skating, fishing and even playing music. The museum is located in Torrington, roughly two hours northeast of Calgary.

Looking for destinations with bragging rights? Try these activities you can do in Canada just to say you did.

There are a number of places where you can visit ice caves in Canada. But the ice caves found near Whistler, BC are mindblowing. The Cathedral is one of the best. A helicopter tour is the best way to see the nearby icefields and their grand, ghostly chambers.

With our current efforts to become a greener society, perhaps it isn't surprising to see houses made from recycled bottles. But Edouard Arsenault's Bottle Houses in Wellington, PEI are still pretty spectacular. According to Atlas Obscura, Arsenault built three buildings using 25,000 bottles cemented together. His inspiration came from a postcard his daughter had sent him.

With an elevation of 1,675 metres, Mount Thor towers over Baffin Island in Nunavut. Thor's vertical drop is 1250 metres, which is the highest on earth. It's a magnet for rock climbers, and camping is permitted in several spots. If you've got the skills, you can even climb the peak. And if you have more of a villainous personality, you could make Mount Thor your evil lair!

OK. It's not that bizarre of a destination. And it's not Canada. But it is bizarre to think that you can take a ferry from Fortune, Newfoundland and less than an hour later be in France. French France. Real France. With French food, French wine and French joie de vivre!

There are two main islands, with the smaller Saint-Pierre Island serving as the archipelago's commercial hub. The islands, the only part of New France still controlled by the French, are also served by flights from St. John's, Halifax and Montreal. Mainland France is more than 3,800 kilometres to the east.