Canada Guide
Alberta and the Rockies
Dinosaur Provincial Park
Drivers can feasibly fit in a trip to Dinosaur Provincial Park (daily: mid-May to mid-Sept 9am–6pm; mid-Sept to mid-May 10am–5pm; free; 
403/378-4342), 174km southeast of Drumheller, on the same day as the Tyrrell Museum, and still be able to head back to Calgary on the Trans-Canada Highway, which runs just south of the park. The nearest town is BROOKS, 48km west of the Royal Tyrrell Museum Field Station (mid-May to early Sept daily 8.30am–9pm; rest of year Mon– Fri 9am–4pm; $2.50; 403/378-4344), the park's obvious hub. The excellent Dinosaur Provincial Park campsite in the park beside Little Sandhill Creek is open year-round, but only serviced from May to September ($15) – book on 403/378-3700.
Nestled among some of the baddest of the badlands, the region's landscape is not only one of the most other-worldly in Canada, but also one of the world's richest fossil beds, a superb medley of prairie habitats and ecosystems and a UN World Heritage Site. Over 300 complete skeletons have been found and dispatched to museums across the world, representing 35 (or ten percent) of all known dinosaur species. The field station has five self-guided trails, the Badlands Trail and Cottonwood Flats Trail being the most worthwhile, and giving a good taste of this extraordinary region. The centre also has a small museum that goes over the same ground as its parent in Drumheller, leaving the real meat of the visit to the Badlands Bus Tour, an excellent ninety-minute guided tour of the otherwise out-of-bounds dinosaur dig near the centre of the park (late May to Oct Mon– Fri 3 or more tours daily; Sat & Sun 7 tours daily; $4.50). A few exposed skeletons have been left in situ, with panels giving background information. The station also organizes two-hour guided hikes, most notably the Centrosaurus Bone Bed Hike (Tues, Thurs, Sat & Sun 9.15am; $4.50), which visits a restricted area where some 300 centrosaurus skeletons have been uncovered. All tours fill up quickly, so it's worth trying to book ahead. Reservations for both hiking and bus tours are highly recommended, call 404/378-4342.