Dinosaurs and Hoodoos: Alberta, Canada
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23 July 2024 - 3 days for £1,599
A compact yet immersive introduction into the fascinating prehistoric past of southern Alberta, Canada. During this three-day adventure, visit the the multi-hued canyons and wind-sculpted hoodoos of the iconic Alberta Badlands, named by early French explorers as “bad lands to cross”. Check out one of the world’s premier dinosaur museums and circumnavigate a World Heritage Site with outstanding dinosaur fossils.
Beginning in Calgary, head east for an introduction to the otherworldly Badlands region, which includes amazing finds from the age of the dinosaurs, first noted by Joseph Tyrrell in 1884. From here, explore one of the world’s best and most-celebrated dinosaur museums, the Royal Tyrrell Museum at Drumheller, and enjoy a fascinating talk from a fossil preparation expert. Your final day will be spent walking the bone beds of Dinosaur Provincial Park, visiting areas normally off-limits to the general public.
You will be accompanied throughout by working palaeontologist Jon Noad, who will develop the stories told by the rocks, tales that include past oceans, swamps, rivers and deserts, the rise and fall of the dinosaurs and, more recently, ice sheets that covered Alberta and carved out spectacular landscapes.
In partnership with GeoCultura World.
DAY 1: ARRIVE INTO CALGARY AND TRAVEL TO DRUMHELLER: THE BADLANDS
You will meet with Jon and the group in central Calgary to board your coach for the trip east to the Badlands. En route, the tour expert will introduce the geology of southern Alberta.
Your first stop will be Horseshoe Canyon, whose stunning scenery has been used as a backdrop for a variety of films and TV shows. The U-shaped canyon provides an ideal site to survey the beauty and mystery of the region, and the maroon-striped canyon walls reveal the layers of time down to the Cretaceous Period, when dinosaurs roamed a lush sub-tropical habitat. The exposed deposits lie just beneath the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, which marks the end of the reign of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.
Continue on to Drumheller, once Western Canada’s largest coal-mining town, but which is now better known as the dinosaur capital of Canada. It grew with the arrival of the railway network in the early 1900s and is still the largest town by land area in Alberta, despite having a population of fewer than 10,000 people.
After settling into your hotel, head south for dinner in the old coal-mining town of Wayne. Your restaurant dates back to 1913 and looks like something straight out of the Wild West. It used to be the watering hole for miners, and with that history comes quite a few tall tales and local legends. You will overnight in Drumheller.
DAY 2: DRUMHELLER: DINOSAURS, EXTINCTION AND HOODOOS
The focus of the second day will be the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, home to one of the world's premier collections of dinosaur fossils. Among the highlights are the Dinosaur Hall (30 mounted dinosaur skeletons, including the T. Rex Black Beauty), the Burgess Shale exhibit, Triassic Giants (including the world’s largest marine reptile) and the Fossil Preparation Lab. Enjoy lunch at the museum café, and then hear a talk on fossil preparation.
Later in the afternoon, you will make several outdoor stops: at Hoodoos, to see impressive spires of rock, world-class sedimentary structures formed by the sideways migration of ancient river channels, and at Willow Creek and East Coulee to see evidence of ancient shorelines, some awesome giant fossil tree stumps and preserved burrows formed by bivalves in the wood.
A short final journey takes you back to Drumheller, where you are free to explore the town and select a spot for dinner. You will then spend the night in Drumheller.
DAY 3: DINOSAUR PROVISIONAL PARK AND RETURN TO CALGARY.
On the third day, you will drive and walk through the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Dinosaur Provincial Park. It contains some of the most important fossil discoveries ever made from the "Age of Reptiles". In particular, about 35 species of dinosaur dating back some 75 million years. Enjoy a 6-kilometre (4-mile) walking trail that isn't usually open to the public, allowing you to immerse yourself in the setting. A full packed lunch will be provided.
You will also visit the Hadrosaur House, home to a sub-complete dinosaur skeleton featuring skin impressions, as well as visiting ancient river channel deposits, whose fossils tell a tragic tale of flash flooding and its impact on Cretaceous fauna. One of Alberta’s most extensive groves of cottonwoods, flanking the Red Deer river, provides a fitting backdrop.
Return to Calgary, taking around 3 hours, where you are free to return home or to continue exploring Alberta.
Note: this provisional itinerary is subject to change as specific locations and accommodations release more information regarding access for the coming year.
