This tour packs an amazing diversity of experiences into just a 48-km stretch of the narrow, winding Drumheller Valley. You’ll need at least two days to sample the unique dinosaur and coal-mining museums, narrow bridges, intricately-sculpted hoodoos and sweeping vistas – all nestled in an exquisite badlands setting. The showstopper is the Royal Tyrrell Museum, one of the world’s finest dinosaur museums, where you can cringe beneath the bone-crushing jaws of an enormous Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton, one of hundreds of specimens on display. The nearby Dinosaur Trail takes you on a cable ferry ride across the Red Deer River and leads to stunning viewpoints of badlands formations and the deeply-eroded Drumheller Valley. Heading east of Drumheller, the Hoodoo Trail is no less varied, ranging from a walk across the swinging Rosedale Suspension Bridge to a tour up Canada’s last standing wooden coal tipple. Situated between these two short driving tours, Drumheller boasts the World’s Largest Dinosaur, a popular waterpark, an impressive reptile collection and a whimsical collection of cement dinosaurs.
Dropping steeply into the Drumheller Valley, you suddenly enter a parched, rocky landscape sculpted into strange badland formations and dotted with the odd sagebrush and cactus. Yet this dry valley owes much including its famed dinosaur and coal-mining heritage to water.
Some 70 million years ago, rivers and fl ooding seas deposited sediments in a lush coastal environment that harboured dinosaurs and nurtured luxuriant plants, which over the ages were transformed into coal. Then about 15,000 years ago, the rapid melting of a 1000-metre-thick ice sheet carved a deep valley through those compressed, colourful sediments and exposed rich coal seams and dinosaur bones.
Today, the dinosaurs are long gone and the last of the 139 coal mines that once crowded this valley has closed. But their legacy lives on in museums, ghost towns, mining artifacts and fossilized remains, the latter which continue to be unveiled as this unique landscape slowly washes away.
The attractions of the Drumheller Valley are as densely packed as the rock layers, carrying you back to the days when dinosaurs and, much later, coal mining ruled these lands. Plan to spend two or three days exploring the area, with the better part of a day devoted to each of the two main driving tours described here Dinosaur Trail and Hoodoo Trail. The Royal Tyrrell Museum, along the Dinosaur Trail, can alone captivate you for half a day or more. Make sure to set aside at least a few hours to sample the diverse delights of the burgeoning town of Drumheller.
Visitor Information Centres
Travel Alberta 1-800-ALBERTA travelalberta.com
Drumheller, 60 – 1 Avenue West
1-866-823-8100 traveldrumheller.com
Accommodations
Visit the Alberta Hotel & Lodging Association online at explorealberta. com for approved accommodation or contact 1-800-ALBERTA. Reservations highly recommended.
Camping
There is a campground and a recreational vehicle park in Drumheller and, along Dinosaur Trail, a recreational vehicle resort and a provincial campground (the latter fi rst come, fi rst served). Along the Hoodoo Trail, there are three campgrounds in Rosedale, one in Wayne and one across the river from Cambria. These facilities are often full by early afternoon, and reservations are highly recommended where permitted. Additional campgrounds can be found in surrounding communities such as Rosebud, Dorothy, Delia, Michichi and Morrin.
Distances and Driving Times
Calgary, 138 km, 1 hr 20 min
Edmonton, 279 km, 2 hr 50 min
Red Deer, 165 km, 1 hr 40 min
Lethbridge, 282 km, 2 hr 50 min
Brooks, 139 km, 1 hr 20 min
Medicine Hat, 247 km, 2 hr 30 min
Events
April
East Coulee Spring Festival
June
Beethoven in the Badlands, Drumheller
July
Canada Day, all communities Canadian Badlands Passion Play, Drumheller Richard Cosgrave Memorial Rodeo, Drumheller Badlands Dinosaur (Chuckwagon) Derby, Drumheller
August
Demolition Derby, Drumheller
October
Haunted Atlas Coal Mine
Year-round
Rosebud Theatre, Rosebud Farmers’ Market, Saturdays in Drumheller
Attractions
- World’s Largest Dinosaur 1-866-823-8100, traveldrumheller.com
- Dinosaur Trail 1-866-823-8100, traveldrumheller.com
- Homestead Antique Museum 403-823-2600, virtuallydrumheller.com
- Royal Tyrrell Museum 403-823-7707, tyrrellmuseum.com
- Hoodoo Trail 1-866-823-8100, traveldrumheller.com
- East Coulee School Museum 403-822-3970, ecsmuseum.com
- Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site 403-822-2220, atlascoalmine.ab.ca
- Reptile World 403-823-8623, reptileworld.net
This map is not intended for navigation. Pick up an offi cial Alberta Road Map at a Visitor Information Centre or call 1-800-ALBERTA.
The Canadian Badlands Touring Routes aim to follow good secondary highways and, occasionally, gravel road alternatives. Most attractions are accessible on hard-surfaced roads; some have gravel road access. Please drive carefully and respect private property. Every effort has been made to ensure accurate information at the time of publication. Attraction hours and seasons of operation vary. You are advised to contact each attraction in advance. This publication is for information purposes only. We are unable to accept responsibility for any inconvenience, loss or injury sustained as a result of anyone relying upon this information.
Comments
Kathryn Bohnet says:
The Royal Tyrrell Museum near Drumheller can help. They have information on their website devoted to identifying fossils. The Museum is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year so be sure to check out the new exhibits!
Matt Hollander says:
Hi! My name is Matt. I went to the Badlands about 15 years ago. I was 11 years old at the time. I found something that looked like it could be a fosilized dinosaur egg. How would I know or find out if it was or not?