Welcome to Utah!
Just kidding!
Welcome to Drumheller!
Drumheller is an area roughly an hour and a half drive from Calgary and when I first laid eyes on the landscape here, I felt as though I had been transported to the Grand Canyon.
The Drumheller Valley is a pretty spectacular place with an impressive history.
It is renowned for being the Dinosaur capital of the world. An abundance of fossils have been found here and I am sure that there are many more waiting to be discovered.
Midland Provincial Park
This area often gets called the Canadian Badlands, a name coined by French explorers due to the terrain being extremely difficult to cross.
This was once the site of a coal mine and has been preserved ever since as it holds great significance in Alberta's Coal Mining history.
The area was so fascinating to explore, walking around the winding paths and taking in the landscape which was once a subtropical home to the Dinosaurs-crazy right?
It was also fascinating to see all the different colours on the rocks, each colour stripe is a representation of different historical eras. This really brings home how much time has passed in Mother Earths' lifetime.
The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
I wasn't expecting the museum to be the treasure trove that it was, but I am so glad we stopped by.
Located within the Midland Provincial Park, it was truly amazing to see all the fossils that had been so carefully preserved, and what was more impressive was that most of these fossils were originals.
There were some casts too that were taken from broken fragments to represent what the original fossil would have looked like.
The picture above was the original fossil which was mind-blowing to witness. How incredible that this humungous fossil had been preserved so perfectly, especially as the process of fossilization is incredibly rare.
Hoodoos
Hoodoos are a group of sandstone pillars with a large rock sitting on top. There are plenty of them dotted around Alberta, however, seeing them in Drumheller felt like witnessing the mother load.
Hoodoos take millions of years to form and are actually a lot more fragile than they look however the harder rock on top prevents the pillar from eroding quickly.
Hoodoos hold a spiritual meaning, the word Hoodoo was taken from the Hausa language, derived from West Africa, and means 'to arouse resentment and to practice retribution.'
There is a belief amongst Indigenous Blackfoot and Cree people that Hoodoos protect the land and are giants that awake at night to keep intruders at bay.
Largest Dinosaur In The World
It only seems appropriate that the Dinosaur capital of the world would also be home to the biggest Dinosaur statue in the world.
Usually, you are able to walk up and catch a great view from the big old Dinos jaws, but sadly it was closed off when we visited.
It's so wild to think that driving out of one side of Calgary will lead you to the Rockies, boasting grand mountains, luscious pine trees, and serene lakes.
Then driving out on the other side will whisk you away to an almost desert-type landscape.
What is even wilder is walking in places where Dinosaurs once roamed 75 million years ago. I truly felt an ancient energy in the air as we explored Drumheller, it felt like being in a whole other world.
Keeping with my travel goals to explore more of Canada and venture into unfamiliar terrains I think this was a pretty great place to tick off both of these intentions.
It had everything I loved, nature, fascinating history, and a further appreciation of our beautiful Mother Earth.
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