Have you ever been to Mars before? We personally haven’t, but we felt like it when we visited Dinosaur Provincial Park earlier this year! This unique area in Alberta is a part of UNESCO World Heritage Site and offers some really cool Canadian badlands landscapes. And as the name suggests – it’s also known as one of the richest dinosaur fossils sites in the world. More than 50 species have been discovered in the park, particularly from the ‘Age of Reptiles’, which dates approximately 75 million years ago! And the best part? It is still possible to find fossils around, especially if you join one of the guided tours, but more about that later. Add amazing sunsets, hiking trails and stargazing opportunities and now you see the reasons why it easily became one of our favourite weekend trips of this year.
Dinosaur Provincial Park is situated in the valley of the Red Deer River, about 220 km east of Calgary which means it could be a great addition to your Canadian Rockies trip. Sure, Rockies do offer endless opportunities for exploring, but if you’d like to see some landscape contrasts, then we can highly recommend adding Dinosaur Provincial Park to your itinerary. How cool is that landscapes so different are situated just a few hours apart?! Now let’s dive into it!
DINOSAUR PROVINCIAL PARK VS DRUMHELLER
Dinosaur Provincial Park is commonly mistaken with Drumheller which is also known as “Dinosaur Capital of the World.” While both of these places are part of the Alberta badlands and are linked by a similar rich history of dinosaur fossils, they are located 2 hours apart from each other! We had a chance to visit both and definitely liked Dinosaur Provincial Park much more for the scale of landscape, its remoteness and far better opportunities to see (and even find) the fossils in the site. However, Drumheller has a better museum!
WHEN TO VISIT DINOSAUR PROVINCIAL PARK
Dinosaur Provincial Park is open year-round, however some seasons may be better than others. We visited Dinosaur Provincial Park in September and found it to be absolutely perfect! It is the warmest and driest subregion in Alberta, so summer temperatures can be extremely hot (and there is pretty much no shade in this type of landscape). On the other hand, winters are still pretty harsh with freezing temperatures. This is Alberta, after all.
Overall, we believe that spring and fall are the best times to visit Dinosaur Provincial Park. This is when you can avoid extreme temperatures as well as the summer crowds. When we travelled here in September, we literally wanted to escape to a warmer weather as Banff was already getting first cold days. And it was just excellent. We had pleasant 20-25°C (68-77°) temperatures during the days and the nights were cool enough for a good sleep in the campground.
HOW TO GET TO DINOSAUR PROVINCIAL PARK
Dinosaur Provincial Park is located approximately 220 km east of Calgary and about 48 km northeast of Brooks, which is the closest town to the park connected by Highway 36. Getting to the park is pretty straightforward – as long as you have a car. While there are connections to Brooks, there is no public transport going to the park and you’d have to arrange a taxi from there. Therefore, the best way to get to and around Dinosaur Provincial Park is by car, whether it’s your own or a rented one. We recommend renting a car in Calgary through Turo – the world’s largest car sharing marketplace. We personally prefer renting through Turo as there are no hidden fees and the online check-in process is much quicker than standing in a queue and going through all paperwork at the rental company’s counter.
HOW MUCH TIME DO YOU NEED FOR VISITING
With its size of nearly 75 square km (7500 ha), Dinosaur Provincial Park is rather small comparing to other provincial or national parks in Alberta. We’d say that 2-3 days is more than enough to explore the park properly, but even 1 full day can cover lots of activities as everything is really close once you’re in the park.
We started driving from Banff on Wednesday morning, arrived around lunch, then spent 2 nights camping in the park and left back to Banff on Friday morning. We basically only had 1 full day, but we felt like we’ve seen a lot as the days were still long during our visit in September. On the other hand, one extra day wouldn’t be any harm.
ADMISSION TO DINOSAUR PROVINCIAL PARK
There are no entrance gates and no admission fees to enjoy Dinosaur Provincial Park!
WHERE TO STAY IN DINOSAUR PROVINCIAL PARK
» Camping
We believe that camping is by far the best accommodation option you can choose when visiting Dinosaur Provincial Park. Why? The campground is located in the heart of the park and many trails start right from the camp which is so convenient. There are over 120 RV and tent-friendly sites and amenities like showers, toilets, fire pits or firewood. Campground stays open year-round, however the amenities are limited from early October to early May. Make sure to book ahead on Alberta Parks website if visiting during the summer months!
» Glamping
If traditional camping isn’t your thing, then there is one more option how to stay inside of the park! Alberta Parks provide so called comfort camping which is basically a more “luxurious” alternative within the same campground. Think canva wall tents furnished with classic bed, small kitchnette and other amenities. There is only 7 tents, so make sure to book ahead of time!
» Accommodations in Brooks
The town of Brooks located 48 km from the park is the closest town and your best option to find hotels and classic accommodations. Search Booking.com to find the one that fits your needs.
» Private rentals
There are also few AirBnB options around Brooks.
BEST THINGS TO DO IN DINOSAUR PROVINCIAL PARK
Now that we’ve covered all practical details, let’s talk about the fun part! There is plentiful exciting guided tours as well as activities that you can do on your own in Dinosaur Provincial Park:
» Hiking
There are couple of guided hikes & walks that you can sign for as well as interpretive trails that you can hike on your own – Badlands trail (1.3 km), Cottonwood Flats trail (1.4 km), Prairie trail (0.3 km), Trail of the Fossil Hunters (0.9 km) and Coulee Viewpoint trail (1.3 km). As you can see all of them are really short and we easily hiked them all during our 2 nights visit. Our favourites were the Badlands trail for the best landscape formations and Cottonwood Flats trail for amazing lush riverside views.
» Visit Dinosaur Visitor Centre & Exhibit Gallery
Dinosaur Provincial Park’s Visitor Centre is open year-round (though it’s by appointment only during some winter months) and it is a great place to stop by and get some information about area, book one of the interpretive tour programs or check the exhibit gallery where you can learn more about the area and its dinosaur history.
» Drive or bike the Public Scenic Loop Road
This is a short 3.5 km long one-way drive that takes you through beautiful park landscapes. In fact, three of the intepretive trails start from this road, so you can easily combine the drive with hiking. The loop starts right from the campground and you’ll reach two shelters with fossil displays about half-way through.
» Climb the hoodoos
It is allowed to climb hoodoos around the campground and withing the public scenic loop road circle. You can check this map to see the restricted areas. We climbed one of the hoodoos near campground to watch the sunset and it was just beautiful!
» Participate in an authentic dinosaur dig
Experience the thrill of finding new fossils that have never been seen by human eyes before! Guided excavation tours start at the Visitor Centre and are led by an experienced palaeontological technician. This is a learning opportunity like no other.
» Visit John Ware cabin
This cabin located between the park’s café and campground, was a home to Alberta’s famous cowboy John Ware. Discover his legacy during a self-directed visit that is available from June to September.
» Paddle the Red Deer River
This can be such a beautiful and different perspective to see the park! Make sure to read more information about river access points on Alberta Parks website. There are no rentals available, so you’ll have to bring your own gear.
» Go stargazing
Did we mention how amazing the night sky in Dinosaur Provincial Park is? With its remoteness and dark skies, it is one of the best places to go stargazing in Alberta! Just take a stroll outside of the campground lights and enjoy the show! And if you’re really lucky, you might even catch the aurora borealis!
» Stop at the entrance sign viewpoint
There is a small parking lot beside the entrance sign to the park and it offers amazing views of the entire region. Definitely worth a stop before you descend down to the park.
» Catch the sunrise or sunset
Sunrises and sunsets in the prairies are often spectacular. You can climb one of the hoodoos near the campground to have a good view!
WHERE TO EAT IN DINOSAUR PROVINCIAL PARK
The only place to grab something to eat inside of the Dinosaur Provincial Park is Cretaceous Café, but their menu offers options for breakfast, lunch and dinner, so if you don’t bring anything with you, they have you covered. We also found it really affordable (but we live in Banff so everywhere is cheaper for us haha). The same café is also a campground check-in booth, small grocery and camping items store and entrance to the showers and laundromat area. Note that it is only open from May to October, so make sure to have enough groceries if visiting outside of these months. You can stop in Brooks which has multiple grocery stores.
OTHER THINGS TO KNOW BEFORE VISITING
Things you should keep in mind before visiting Dinosaur Provincial Park:
» Bugs and mosquitos can be really bad during the summer months, so make sure to pack a repellent or Thermacell repellent device (shop on Amazon Canada or Amazon US) for hanging out in the camp.
» Beware of the wildlife living in the park. If you see a rattlesnake, black widow spider or scorpion, do not touch or approach it. Just give it room to move away from you.
» Summer temperatures can reach 35°C (95°F) and there is barely any shade outside of the campground, so make sure protect yourself from sunburn, drink plenty of water, wear hat and pack sunscreen.
» Always wear closed-toe walking shoes (not sandals) while hiking. As we mentioned, it is a home of rattlesnakes, scorpions, spiders and cacti plants. We honestly wore sandals on some trails, because we simply didn’t realize these things! Thankfully nothing happened, but we’d definitely only wear closed shoes next time.
FINAL THOUGHTS
We hope that this ultimate guide helps you with planning your own trip to Dinosaur Provincial Park. It is truly a unique part of Alberta that won’t disappoint you. Are there questions we haven’t answered? Leave us a comment below and we’ll do our best to help! Looking for more travel inspiration? Head to our travel guides category.
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