Plan a Prehistoric Road Trip Adventure on Alberta’s Dinosaur Trails

Travel back millions of years in dinosaur country

Imagine you found a dinosaur bone or preserved prehistoric footprint. You'd probably feel like you'd found a portal to another world. Excited? Perhaps “pinch me” would be more accurate.

Paleontologists in Alberta have been finding prehistoric treasures for decades – and so have ordinary folks while out on a stroll. Alberta is one of the world's hotbeds for remnants of creatures that roamed the Earth a mind-boggling 70 million years ago, give or take a few millennia.

While you can't take home prehistoric relics, you can take a self-guided walk in the footsteps of all kinds of ancient creatures. Or spend a few hours (or a day) with a paleontologist in one of the province's abundant dino bone beds. Here are three time-travelling road trips from Calgary and Edmonton to take this summer.

Trip 1: One to three days

Alberta's Badlands: 135 kms (83.8 mi) northeast of Calgary

Tip: Summers in the Badlands can be either hot and sunny or rainy and chilly, so dress in layers and bring a hat, sunscreen and plenty of water.

Dinosaur Trail Loop: Head north from Calgary on Highway 2 and then east on Highway 9. You'll breeze by a patchwork of gold canola fields and endless blue sky above. You're headed towards the Badlands, the name alone sounds mysterious and intriguing. 120 km (75 mi) in, you'll feel you've entered another world. Around every bend are hills wrinkled by rain, wind and snow.

Closer to Drumheller: Descend into Dinosaur Valley, and you'll be in Drumheller, the “Dinosaur Capital of the World.” Gaze out at the landscape, and you can easily imagine this was the sub-tropical backyard of the horned triceratops and T-Rex.

Horseshoe Canyon: On Highway 9 near Drumheller, pull over and peer into a stunning moonscape of desert hills and gullies where flying and land-loving beasts once chomped down on lush foliage. The landscape alone is inspiration enough to explore one of the trails.

T-Rex roadside attraction: Before getting on Highway 838, you can't miss the 25 m (82 ft) high toothy T-Rex (about 4.5 times the size of the real creature) looming over the centre of town. Take the 106 steps to the top for awesome pictures and an incredible valley vista.

Royal Tyrrell Museum: Travel back in time 3.9 billion years as you walk into this world-class museum, featuring one of the world's biggest exhibits of prehistoric life. You'll see scary creatures like the Albertosaurus and the classic Camarasaurus. Download the Royal Tyrrell app on your phone for a self-guided tour. Or register for a guided walk in or outside the museum.

Other things to do

Mammoth burger to go: Grab a jumbo road snack at the popular Bernie and the Boyz Bistro in Drumheller. It's known for its Mammoth Burger, milkshakes and poutine.

Shortest ferry ride in Western Canada: At the northwest tip of the route, the Bleriot Ferry can haul up to 15 cars at a time across Red Deer River. It's the only cable-operated ferry in Alberta and the shortest ferry crossing in western Canada. This free ride takes two minutes. Drive off heading southeast and you're back to Drumheller on Highway 575.

Visit a ghost town: No trip to the area is complete without a stop at the Last Chance Saloon in the ghost town of Wayne, population 82. The wooden frame hotel/restaurant, built in 1913, is the perfect resting spot on a summer day. You can grab a meal and a beverage and hang out on the back deck before heading back home.

Trip 2: One to three days

Dinosaur Provincial Park, Brooks, AB: 219 km (236 mi) east of Calgary on Highway 1

Fact: Five per cent of the entire planet's dinosaur bones have been discovered in Alberta's famed Dinosaur Provincial Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

That endless panorama of magical hoodoo formations, often called fairy chimneys, is what you'll be gazing at. But way back in time, it was a lush forest by the sea.

The park – the largest continuous swath of the Badlands in Alberta – is a rich area of dinosaur fossils. Nearly 60 species have been uncovered here.

Camp and go exploring: The park has 120 RV and tenting sites, plus comfort camping options. (Be sure to reserve a site before you go; spots book up fast.)

Start your visit at the park's visitor centre. It has an impressive collection of fossils, enough to get you excited for what you might find or see on the easy hiking trails. There are more than a dozen programs for people of all ages to put on their paleontology hats, including a multi-day excavation dig for explorers 14 years and older. You can also work in a lab or take an interpretive hike.

Other things to do

Brooks is home to Piston Broke Brewing, Alberta's first craft brewery. It has a full menu, is family-friendly and dogs are welcome. Pivot Spirits Distillery is another cool stop, run by two local farmers. They use a pivot sprinkler irrigation system to grow grain in this dry area and turn the product into tasty spirits like rye, vodka and gin.

Trip 3: Three days

Grande Prairie area and Philip J. Currie Museum, Wembley, AB – About 460 km (286 mi) from Edmonton

In the world of paleontology, the Grande Prairie region is a relative newbie to fossil finds. But that first discovery in 1974 by an amateur fossil hunter was a whopper, leading the Pipestone Creek to earn the playful name “River of Death.” A massive destructive flood turned the area into a bonebed for thousands of dinosaur bones of 11 different species.

The Philip J. Currie Museum is the epicentre for discovering the Peace Region's incredible dinosaur bone stash – one of the largest in the world. Visit the museum to see a time capsule of the Cretaceous period. It also offers some cool interactive features, like augmented reality.

If you'd like to be more hands on, sign up for a lab session at the museum. Or, go on a two-and-a-half-hour hike along the River of Death. You'll learn which rocks are most likely to contain a fossil. You can be a paleontologist for an entire day, working in the Pipestone Creek Bonebed, excavating the site along with researchers. It doesn't get more realistic than that.

Camp at Pipestone Creek Campground: Set up camp at the confluence of the creek and the Wapiti River, off Highway 43, just 17 km (11 mi) from the museum.

Other things to do

Pop into Off the Wheaten Path for vegan and gluten-free food, like their Grazing Boards for Two, or a healthy breakfast.

And just think, whatever activity you get up to, there may be sleeping giants just metres below your feet.