Fourth Time’s a Charm
It wasn’t until my fourth visit to Dinosaur Provincial Park that I finally booked a guided hike. The Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it is packed with dinosaur fossils. Most of it is off limits without a guide. There are a couple of cool but short walking paths through the hoodoos, and a decent 3 kilometer interpretive loop, but that’s about it.
If you really want to have an adventure here, the guided hikes are a good way to go. These outings take you into the heart of the park and give you the advantage of a super smart guide to tell you what you are looking at.
You might also end up with some random participant who wants to interrupt the trained and educated female naturalist, and mansplain approximately half of what she says. Feel free to roll your eyes in his direction. Don’t forget to make a couple of remarks under your breath about how we’ve all read that issue of National Geographic, and how wearing expensive outdoor gear and having a penis isn’t the same as six years of post-secondary education.
Choosing a Hike Filled with Fossils
We went on the Great Badlands Hike, a challenging 6 kilometer hike through rich beds of dinosaur fossils. I chose this one because there was an age minimum of 10 years old (they’re probably all in the PEN-15 club by now, so they shouldn’t be too startled by your word choice). If you have younger kids, there are several tours that cater to that age group. There are a few wheelchair accessible bus tours as well.
If you are really into paleontology, or all thirteen Land Before Time movies, they also offer 1-3 day excavation trips. On these, participants get to work with scientists to uncover new fossils as a party of the Royal Tyrrell Museum’s ongoing research.
Seriously. How cool is that?
Booking the Hike
We did this hike during a three day camping trip to Dinosaur Provincial Park. There were also several people in our group who had driven from Calgary for the day (including the interrupting man genius). So, you don’t necessarily need to stay overnight to make the trip worthwhile.
The cost for this hike was $29 for adults, and $19 for youth. To me, this felt like a bargain considering the ride into the park, the time and expertise of our guide, and all of the cool things we got to see along the way.
Make sure you book a few weeks before your trip, as these tours are very popular. The best time to go is spring or fall. The weather is hot and the bugs are fierce in July and August!
Proof that this Hike is Worthy of Your Bucket List
If you have any interest in natural history, paleontology, or places that are pretty, this is a legit must-do. It really is a once in a lifetime type of hike.
Here are some photographic highlights from our hike:
