Hi. looking for recommendation on where to find northern light around Calgary / Edmonton in December??

This should be interesting
!!!!

Fort Mcmurray ... every clear night ....

Go to iceland. Sorry terrible answer to you question... but...

I just went to iceland n back. 19 days of rain. god must not like me a lot.

Depends on the night but you can see them from various places in alberta ! I would try to go further north though , check out jasper maybe ??

Jasper is considered north? Im wondering if there is a nice lodge in the middle of nowhere that I can stay in. like a farm house / shed in the forest...

Cos i cant really stay in a forest n have to risk driving in the dark through forests into these remote places. Would be nice if there is a forest lodge to stay in..

This site offers aurora predictions and viewing advice for the Edmonton area: http://www.aurorawatch.ca/

Thanks a lot. I know it's more like a rare thing. Just havent figured out if it's worth it getting a tour packages.

After living in Calgary for 21 years, there has been only ONE time that I saw the aurora from in the city...back in 1997 or 1998, I believe. It's rare with more southern latitude, and city lights. One year we travelled to Yellowknife, Northwest Territory, and we were thrilled to see the aurora 4 out of 5 nights. Of course, there are no guarantees. If skies are cloudy, you won't see anything. Good luck.

Hey what's a cheap way to get there yellow knife I mean.

I wouldn't say it's cheap. About $370 CAD to fly return Calgary-Yellowknife on westjet, if you pick good dates in January...other dates are higher. Of course driving is cheaper - but that's a lot of time, and stressful if winter driving conditions are bad.

Air North also flys Calgary to Yellowknife - I flew them to Whitehorse and they were good.

Oh air north. Haven't come across this airline before.
Btw is it just me or are the Canadian domestic flights just ridiculously expensive...

Canadian domestic flights ARE ridiculously expensive. Not just you
You can fly around the world for less than you can fly across Canada

Chu Air North is an excellent airline - have used them many times!

Cathy Hey thanks. I just checked the airline. not cheap either. for a 2 hour flight, $300-400+

Chu You are so right, it's really expensive to fly domestically within Canada. Over the past year, I have needed to fly Calgary-London, UK several times, and I have consistently found this to be cheaper than fares I have previously booked Calgary-Toronto. Of course it's crazy that a 9-hour international flight overseas should be cheaper than a 4-hour domestic flight, but this is "normal" in Canada...

thats really gonna cost a lot for a family. thanks anyway. i thought locals have found a way to get around this situation.

Yellowknife is a great aurora viewing place! It has a robust tourist industry set up for viewing the lights. It sees quite a few visitors from Japan, in particular. In the winter, you can drive out onto frozen Great Slave Lake for beautiful, unobstructed views.
If you prefer to avoid winter, the lights are often quite good at the end of August. If you time it right, you might even catch some of the Perseid meteor shower too.
Also, if you go in August, you could drive quite easily. However, if you are renting a car, make sure you are allowed to take it into the North, and on gravel highways. Not all companies permit it. You're looking at about 15 hours from Edmonton International Airport.

There is an app to forcast better days for northern lights. And locations. It will notify you in advance. Then you just need to get away from lighted areas.
Northern lights are way stronger in certain solar events. An hour north of calgary, I've seen amazing lights. An heard them crackle and hum!

OMG. so cool. I wanna see them crackle n hum too!! but its really a chance event. I just want to stay in the outskirts if possible inside the national parks so im ready for it.

Yes. But its not chance. The app explains when they are strong. And why. .

I leave north of grande Prairie an hour and a half and they are amazing here.

Hey there are lights there?

Heres the app i like. But there are lots.

There is an aroura map on spaceweather. Lots of other good stuff. The main thing is to go outside and look. I saw the northern lights a lot when I lived in Vancouver. I have seen them as far south as Arizona. Go out now, there is a G1 class magnetic storm so this is the time.
http://www.spaceweather.com/

Witnessed them traveling north of Edmonton towards Rainbow Lake, as well as near Caroline a couple summers ago, beautiful!

Check out the Facebook group Alberta Aurora Chasers. They have a pinned post there with a tonne of great viewing locations from everywhere from Drumheller to Canmore, Banff and in between!

Thanks!!!