At Drumheller you can see the world's largest collection of complete dinosaur skeletons
Drumheller, Alberta- Not hard to know when you’ve reached the right town – just look for an 82-foot fiberglass T-Rex on the main street. Paleontologists from around the world gravitate to this region (from Drumheller, 140 kilometers northeast of Calgary, down the Red River Valley to Dinosaur Provincial Park) because it's one of the greatest dinosaur graveyards in the world. 70 million years ago this land was tropical, on the edge of a great sea. As the dinosaurs of the cretaceous period died out, some became buried mud and sediment and fossilized. When the glaciers of the ice age receded 13,000 years ago, the scraping and gouging of the land began to expose the fossils. Six kilometers north of Drumheller is the Royal Tyrrell Museum, a resarch facility with 130,000 specimens, with more than 35 complete skeletons on exhibit. (Historica video).
Where: Drumheller is just a 90-minute drive from Calgary. Dinosaur exhibits at the Royal Tyrrell Museum are the 'must see'. Several do-it-yourself drive tours will help you discover the region's spectacular scenery, including the bizzare sandstone pillars called Hoo Doos, and other attractions in the area, such as theatre, go carting, Canada's largest exhibit of live reptiles, historic sites, golf, canoeing, and a working guest ranch.
In the News: Along with programs ranging form a 2 hr Fossil Safari to a 2 day Excavation, there 's a new Prospecting Program at Dinosaur Provincial Park this year. It allows visitors to prospect for fossils just like the professionals. The $125 all-day excursion involves guided five- to eight-kilometre hiking over rough terrain in the Alberta Badlands, in search of dinosaur bones and other fossil remains. The 2011 season for this program ends Aug 27. Each year The Royal Tyrrell Museum also offers a variety of programs, including science camps for kids and families that include prospecting for fossils.
More News: On March 16th, 2009 Scientists announce a fossil skeleton of the smallest meat-eating dinosaur in North America was unearthed 20 km from Dinosaur Provincial Park. The discovery was orignally made several decades ago, but it was mis-labeled as a juvenile because of its unusually small size. The 75-million-year-old chicken-sized dinosaur known as Hesperonychus would have lived in swamps and forests, was covered in feathers, and likely climbed trees. Read CBC Report.
Lucy Izon
Canada Cool is produced by award-winning Canadian travel writer & speaker Lucy Izon. Her travel stories & reports have appeared in numerous leading North American publications including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Toronto Star, Globe and Mail, and Chicken Soup for the Traveler's Soul. Bio page
Canada’s Coolest:
Welcome to a new feature on Canada Cool. I'll be presenting different 'Coolest' lists with my favorites and I encourage you to nominate suggestions from your own experiences. You can Twitter @CanadaCool or email [email protected]. Let me know what makes your suggestion exceptionally cool. Remember, by contributing your comments you are giving Canada Cool permission to quote you. Only a selection of submissions will be included, but all comments and submissions are greatly appreciated!
The first feature is: Canada's Coolest Single Day Scenic Drives
Here are some of my favorites...
The Icefields Parkway, Jasper National Park, Alberta - This 229 km (142 mi) Rocky Mountain route from Banff/Lake Louise to Jasper passes 100 frozen rivers and nudges the base of the Athabasca Glacier - the most accessible glacier in the world. You can stop and explore it. It spills down from the Columbia Icefield, an area of ice so massive that you could fit the entire population of North America on it with each person getting at least a square metre of space.
The Corridor, Algonquin Park, Ontario – this 56-km stretch of Hwy 60 cuts through the southwest section of Algonquin Park. Less than three hours north of Toronto the park is a nature-lover's paradise with 7,725 km of lakes, rivers, forest, trails, camping, comfortable lodges and 2000 km of canoe routes. Offers hiking trails to stop and enjoy, but what makes it really cool is that it’s one of the best places in North America to spot moose (especially in May and June). And, on Thursday nights in August up to 600 cars will gather to listen to wolves howl.
The Cabot Trail, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia – Driving this 303 km (187 mile) route is like riding a roller-coaster: the road snakes around hairpin turns, rises to heights over 365 metres (1200 ft), weaves around headlands revealing spectacular coastal scenery, and plunges down to sea level taking you into the heart of small fishing communities. The most dramatic scenery is between the Cape Breton Highlands National Park entrance near Cheticamp and Pleasant Bay, so go slow. And, plan some flexibility into your schedule, so you can drive it on a clear day.
And here are some of your nominations for 'Canada's Coolest Single Day Scenic Drives'...
More from Canada’s Coolest
'Canada's Coolest' topics we'll be publishing in the future:
- Golf Course Features
- Haunted Hotels
- Hotel Special Services
Send your suggestions to [email protected]
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