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Travel to Alberta |
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Source: About this guidebook
Tips for Travel to Canada |
Badlands stretch along many river valleys throughout the North American plains, and some of the most spectacular sights are in 7,330-hectare (18,000-acre) Dinosaur Provincial Park, 200 kilometers (124 miles) east of Calgary. But the park is best known for being one of the most important dinosaur fossil beds in the world. Thirty-five species of dinosaurs--from every known family of the Cretaceous period--have been unearthed here, along with the skeletal remains of crocodiles, turtles, fish, lizards, frogs, and flying reptiles. Not only is the diversity of specimens great, but so is the sheer volume; more than 300 museum-quality specimens have been removed and are exhibited in museums around the world.
Seventy-five million years ago during Cretaceous times, the area was a low-lying marsh at the mouth of a river flowing into the Bearpaw Sea. The Bearpaw was the last in a succession of vast seas that covered the interior plains for 30 million years. Swamp grasses and reeds grew in the wetlands, whereas on higher ground, giant redwoods and palms towered over a dense forest. Dinosaurs flourished in this subtropical environment. More than millions of years ago, great quantities of silt and mud were flushed downriver, building up a delta at the edge of the sea. In time, this delta hardened, and the countless layers formed sedimentary rock. Soon after, great pressures beneath the earth's surface pushed the crust upward, forming a jagged mountain range that we know today as the Rocky Mountains. This event dramatically changed the climate of the plains region from tropical to temperate, probably killing off the dinosaurs approximately 64 million years ago. From then until one million years ago, the climate changed many times until the first of many sheets of ice covered the plains. As the final sheet receded, approximately 15,000 years ago, millions of liters of sediment-laden meltwater scoured the relatively soft bedrock into an area we know as the badlands. The erosion process continues to this day, no longer by the action of glacial meltwater but by rain and wind. The carving action has created a dramatic landscape of hoodoos, pinnacles, mesas, and gorges in the sandstone here, which is 100 times softer than that of the Rockies. The hills are tiered with layers of rock in browns, reds, grays, and whites. Many are rounded, some are steep, others are ruddy and cracked, but they all have one thing in common--they are laden with dinosaur bones. As the Red Deer River curves through the park, it cuts deeply into the ancient river delta, exposing the layers of sedimentary rock and revealing the once-buried fossil treasures.
Each summer, paleontologists from around the world converge on the park for an intense period of digging that starts in late June and lasts for approximately 10 weeks. The earliest dinosaur hunters simply excavated whole or partial skeletons for museum display. Although the basic excavation methods haven't changed, the types of excavation have. "Bonebeds" of up to one hectare are painstakingly excavated over multiple summers. Access to much of the park is restricted in order to protect the fossil beds. Digging takes place within the restricted areas. Work is often continued from the previous season, or new sites are commenced, but there's never a lack of bones. New finds are often discovered with little digging, having been exposed by wind and rain since the previous season. Excavating the bones is an extremely tedious procedure; therefore, only a few sites are worked on at a time, with preference given to particularly important finds such as a new species. Getting the bones out of the ground is only the beginning of a long process that culminates with their scientific analysis and display by experts at museums around the world.
Much of the park is protected as a Natural Preserve and is off-limits to unguided visitors because current excavations are taking place. The Natural Preserve protects the bonebeds and the valley's fragile environment. It also keeps visitors from becoming disoriented in the uniform landscape and ending up spending the night among the bobcats and rattlesnakes. The area is well marked and should not be entered except on a guided tour. One other important rule: Surface collecting and digging for bones anywhere within the park is prohibited.
Interpretive Programs and Tours The Badlands Bus Tour takes you on a two-hour ride around the public loop road with an interpretive guide who will point out the park's landforms and talk about its prehistoric inhabitants. The Centrosaurus Bone Bed Hike takes visitors on a 2.5-hour guided hike into a restricted area where more than 300 centrosaurus skeletons have been identified. The Camel's End Coulee Hike is an easy 2.5-kilometer (1.5-mile) guided walk to discover the unique flora and fauna of the badlands. Finally, a tour of the Field Station Laboratory is offered daily at 1:30 p.m. Space on all of these tours is limited. The laboratory tour is $2. Each of the other tours costs $6.50. The tours are very popular, and this is reflected in the procedure for purchasing tickets. Tour tickets go on sale May 1 and must be picked up 30 minutes before the departure time. To reserve a seat, call 403/310-0000 May-Aug. Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Some tickets are reserved for the day of the tour and sold as "rush" tickets (be at the Field Station when it opens at 8:30 a.m. to ensure that you get a ticket). Finally, if seats become available through no-shows, you make snag a seat at the last minute. Documentaries are shown at the Field Station in the evenings, and special events are often staged somewhere in the park. The entire interpretive program operates in summer only, with certain tours offered in late May and September.
On Your Own
The Badlands Trail is a
1.3-kilometer (0.8-mile) loop that starts just east of the campground and
passes into the restricted area. The Coulee Viewpoint Trail, which
begins behind the Field Station, climbs steadily for 500 meters (1,650 feet)
to a high ridge above Little Sandhill Creek. This one-km (0.6-mile) trail
takes 20 minutes. It's easy to ignore the nearby floodplains, but the large
stands of cottonwoods you'll see were a contributing factor to the park
being designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Cottonwood Flats
Trail starts 1.4 kilometers (0.9 miles) along the loop road, leading
through the trees and into old river channels that lend themselves to good
Accommodations and
Camping Aside from the regular motels in Brooks, old-time accommodations are provided at the Patricia Hotel (16 km/10 miles southwest from the park, 403/378-4647). Known for its Western atmosphere, the hotel has basic rooms with shared and private baths from $40 s, $45 d. In the downstairs bar, many of the cattle brands on the walls date back more than 50 years. Choose from buffalo burgers or steaks at the nightly cook-your-own barbecue.
Services and Information |
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Originally established in 1955 to
protect the fossil bonebeds, the park's environment is extremely complex and
is unique within the surrounding prairie ecosystem. Stands of cottonwoods, a
variety of animal life, and, most important, the extensive bonebeds, were
instrumental in UNESCO's designation of the park as a World Heritage Site in
1979. In 1985, the opening of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, 100
kilometers (62 miles) upstream in Drumheller, meant that bones that had
previously been shipped to museums throughout the world for scientific
analysis and display could now remain within the province. The Royal Tyrrell
Museum operates a field station in the park, where many of the bones are
cataloged and stored. The displays, films, and interpretive programs offered
at the center will best prepare you to begin your visit to the park.
bird-watching. Allow 30 minutes roundtrip.