Dinosaur Provincial Park is about a 6 hours drive from Moosejaw.
I can see for miles, and miles, and miles.. oh ya
Another long driving day and we are off to visit Dinosaur Provincial Park, near Brooks AB, which is a UNESCO World heritage site. It is part of the Alberta badlands and is known for being one of the richest dinosaur fossil locations in the world with 58 known species.
The drive from the Saskatchewan prairies is of endless views as far to the horizon as you can see, with gently rolling hills, and quite a bit of open space which makes makes for a bit of headwinds occasionally knocking us around. The only trees in sight are those surrounding the farm houses which were either left standing for shelter from the wind and snow, or planted by the farmers. They stand out in the landscape like an oasis. As well, along the route are lakes with what we thought was white sand or limestone. I look it up and it turns out that Saskatchewan has a lot of inland saline or alkaline lakes which they mine for sodium sulphate – the lakes are commonly called the Salt Flats.
As we leave Saskatchewan behind, we stop at the Alberta border for a bite to eat. The rest area bathroom is the worst I have ever seen, a metal toilet seat (WTF?) and dirty. Not a good welcome to Alberta.
And then, just after the border we come across a very seriously official sign saying “all vehicles carrying or towing watercraft report to inspection station”. That’s a new one for us! We pull over for our canoe to be inspected. The concern is Zebra mussels. Our canoe, having been recently restored and not in Ontario water’s for over year, is given a quick inspection and a certificate to clear it. We were told to expect many more inspection stations into BC as well, and to take them seriously since we have Ontario plates.
Continuing on through Alberts, the headwinds make driving a bit of work depending on the direction, with the canoe acting like a sail on top of the truck.
Dinosaur Provincial Park – A Unesco World heritage site 
Kim looking at the vast expanse of badlands 
At the visitor centre while we go on a tour 
A glimpse of the Red Deer river runs through the Alberta badlands 
Over 50 dinosaur species have been found here
We arrive at Dinosaur Provincial Park and check in. There are limited sites available and we are told to find an empty one and go back to pay (weird way to do things). We set up at a site and go back to find that it is only available for one night so we are told to find a new site or move tomorrow. We did a quick drive around to find a new site, but we find the sites are crowded and small, as well the washroom facilities very old and primitive. They do not even have a sink to wash your hands. Clearly this is just a money making machine of a campground. We decide to stay just one night.
We had pre-booked a tour for the next morning, so we pack up and park the trailer in the visitor area and check in for the tour. Good thing we pre-booked. It’s a popular tour even in Mid Sept. We hop on a bus and are taken into an area of the badlands where only tour operators and scientists are allowed. The hike is easy walking and our guide is very informative. We learn about the terrain that sustained the dinosaurs, how it developed and changed, and the theories of how ‘bone beds’ came to be.
The tour ends at a bone bed which has a man-made cover to keep it preserved from the elements. There are tons of fossils just lying around. And the view is endless. The park owns 48 sq. KM of this badlands area, and it stretches beyond even the parkland. It is vast and the rock formations are really neat.