Drumheller Things to Do

Straight up, this is the top site in Drumheller. You can tell it's a great museum because it has the title of 'Royal' in the title and that isn't just given away to any place. This is an excellent museum for all ages. Opened September 25th, 1985 and named after Joseph Burr Tyrrell. It's a large building of 11,200 square metres with 4,400 of them dedicated to exhibits. This is the only place in Canada solely dedicated to palaeontology.

I found the museum well laid out. It had an easy to follow path that takes you through various periods of history. Most of the exhibits are origianl fossils while some are casts. One of my favourite ones is of the wooly mammoth skeleton with the sabertooth tiger skeleton jumping off a cliff onto the wooly mammoth. Besides the exhibits there is a window that allows you to view the preparation lab where the carefully prepare the fossils.

Besides the exhibits, there is a really excellent gift shop that is fairly fun to wonder around in. There is ample parking here as it can get busy at times. For me it was $10 to get in which is well worth the price. Look at the website for more info.

If you're in Drumheller, you need to make a stop to see that big dinosaur. You won't miss anything if you don't go up to its head, except perhaps the view (and for a buck or two, it might be worth it).

Situated in the spectacular badlands of the Red Deer River Valley, the Royal Tyrrell Museum near Drumheller is a major research and exhibition centre and one of the largest palaeontological museums in the world. Every year, almost 400,000 people come to the Museum to explore Alberta's prehistory. Featuring more than 35 dinosaur skeletons and life-like models, you can come face to face with some of the most fascinating creatures Earth has ever known.

If you are into Dinosaurs and all things related, stop by at the internationally recognized Royal Tyrell (Palaeontology) Museum in Drumheller.
World's largest display of complete dinosaur skeletons.

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Just across the way from the Royal Tyrrell Museum is a 1 km walk through the badlands. Following a clearly marked path, you can see this unique landscape from closeup.

The lighting gets really interesting at sunset.

Rosedale, and its Suspension Bridge, we came across when following the Hoodoo trail to the Hoodoo's.
The Bridge is historic, and you can walk across it, which we did.
It was once used by miners but is now used for fishing and to accessing more interesting area's of the Badlands.

Hoodoos, I just love looking at all the amazing shapes that have taken form over millions of years. They are so interesting, and great fun to explore!

The name "Hoodoo" comes from the word "voodoo" and was given to these geological formations by the Europeans.

In the Blackfoot and Cree traditions, the Hoodoos are believed to be petrified giants who come alive at night to hurl rocks at intruder's.

These sandstone pillar's rest on a thick base of shale, and are capped by a large stone. Hoodoos are very fragile and can erode completely if their capstone is dislodged, so heed the signs, and keep to the tracks. As you can see in my photo, they are quite tall.
This is a good area to view the hoodoo's close up, but you will find hoodoos everywhere!

The drive along Highway 10 South is known as Hoodoo Trail for that very reason!

Horseshoe Canyon, located in the Red Deer Badlands, was the 1st that we saw when heading to Drumheller
The car park area was busy, probably because this Canyon is located near Highway 9, which runs between Calgary and Drumheller, and also, there was an Oversea's film crew there doing a documentary.
This is also the spot for canyon helicopter tours and many hiking trails, I imagine they would be very interesting, we just didn't have enough time. The scenery is very different from the usual Alberta mountain hikes. To reach the bottom of the Canyon, you have to descend 60 metres.
Horseshoe Canyon is shaped like a horseshoe and that's where it gets its name, and its approx 3 kms long.

If you can choose a time for a visit, go at sunrise because the view can be spectacular.