Drumheller: 24 Hours in Canada’s Dinosaur Capital

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As a self-professed dinosaur geek, a visit to Drumheller has been on my list for longer than I can remember. I was the kid who knew the names of all the dinosaurs at eight years old. My favorite movie is Jurassic Park, and I remember going to see it at the movies when I was 10. Since my Dad and I were obsessed with anything dinosaur-related, he took me to see the movie when it was released. I even had to keep quiet about how gory it turned out to be so my Mum wouldn’t get mad at him.

So Drumheller and the Royal Tyrrell Museum were always going to be a place I needed to visit. I moved to Canada 8 years ago and my Dad has often asked when we should go. This year they were visiting from the UK and I’d planned a Canadian Rockies trip, so this seemed like the perfect detour.

Where is Drumheller, Canada?

Drumheller is like Mecca for anything dinosaur related, but it is in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nothing but flat land. Unless you’re driving through Canada, it doesn’t seem really on the way to anything.

From Calgary it’s about an hour and half drive. We picked up a rental car from the Calgary airport at 11am and were in Drumheller by 1pm after a brief stop at the edge of town for a bite to eat. I will admit that I’ve rarely seen roads so long and straight that you can’t see the next turn. We passed fields that were flat with very little vegetation. Trees were rare, animals even rarer. If you’re looking for a scenic drive, this ain’t it.

But then as soon as you get close to Drumheller you start to descend into this valley area. All around us rocks sprouted up as if from nowhere, and it was like we were in another world. Almost instantly we started spotting dinosaurs at every turn. It appeared we’d arrived at the dinosaur capital of the world, Drumheller.

Where to stay in Drumheller

I’m not going to lie to you, Drumheller accommodation is pretty slim pickings. There are a few budget hotels and the rest are mostly independent motels and inns, with a smattering of Bed & Breakfasts.

If it we had been staying in Calgary, I think we would have treated Drumheller as more of a day trip. But since we would be driving 2 and half hours to get to Banff after this, we thought it best to spend the night in Drumheller.

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We checked into the Badlands Motel. I know, sounds terrible doesn’t it? Expecting a Norman Bates type situation, I was a little cautious. But we were there only one night and trying to keep on a budget ready for the expensive Rockies. I was traveling with my parents so we got a family suite with separate bedroom because, well I’m 36 and I don’t need to sleep 2 feet from my Mum and Dad on vacation.

The room was basic, but clean witha kitchen area and plenty of space. It was just off the highway and busy enough. Other than it being a little cold in there at night, it was comfortable enough for what we wanted and overall pretty nice. There were other bigger brand accommodations around like Quality Inn and Ramada so if you wanted somewhere more like that you could probably find it.

Dining in Drumheller

Granted we were only there one night, but we did pass a number of decent looking places to eat in Drumheller. I’ve been to small towns before where the choices were not great and I honestly expected a repeat of that, but was pleasantly surprised. That being said, I am a vegetarian traveling through Alberta, the land of beef. We struggled to find a place where the vegetarian option wasn’t a side salad. But eventually came across a nice looking Irish pub called O’Sheas. Can’t go wrong with an Irish pub at least. Good, hearty food and a cold beer.

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Once we sat down we found out two of the vegetarian options were ‘not available’ which was unfortunate. My choices were getting slimmer, but I did get a good quesadilla. Talk about good Irish food, right?! My dad had a lovely looking Jambalaya, and my Mum had a Shepherd’s pie that was HUGE!

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The best part though was the dessert. I struggled to choose because of the great options, but landed on the lemon lavender cheesecake which was delicious. I would walk back to Drumheller for that! My Dad had the apple crisp which I kept sneaking a taste of.

Looking for more food choices in Alberta? How about afternoon tea at the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel?

Things to do in Drumheller

So you made it all the way to Drumheller. Now what? Well good news is you won’t be short of dinosaur related activities. What’s that? You don’t like dinosaurs? Well…

Drumheller isn’t all about dinosaurs, but they did kind of take the theme and run with it. Hard! Not sure if you’ve ever been to Niagara Falls in Canada, but it reminded me a bit like that. Everyone came for this one thing, but you got them there and you have to make them want to do other stuff. But dinosaurs is what Drumheller has, so if you want dinosaurs, goddamn it you’re gonna get dinosaurs!

Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology

Let’s face it, this is the number one reason people visit Drumheller. As museums go this Drumheller dinosaur museum is actually amazing. We spent the whole afternoon there.

The museum is about a 10 minute drive from the town of Drumheller, and really well signposted. There’s ample free parking and you may even see some cute little ground squirrels popping up from the dirt along the path.

The museum is pretty reasonably priced at $19 for an adult ticket and $10 for kids (FREE for 6 and under). I was also of the mindset “just take my money and show me dinosaurs”.

Before you get into the museum you see dinosaurs everywhere. Granted they’re fake and more like scale models, but dinosaurs nonetheless. There is an interpretive trail where you can walk to viewpoints and see the surrounding landscape that would once have been home to the dinosaurs millions of years ago. Information panels give information about what you can see.

Being that it was still the end of April though and pretty windy, we didn’t linger outside for too long.

Inside the Royal Tyrell Museum

Inside the museum there’s a clear path leading you through. Not all about dinosaurs, you’ll learn more about the creation of the Earth and the solar system, how species evolved throughout time, and how the dinosaurs died out (or the theories behind it at the very least).

I loved seeing the dinosaur skeletons put together, with models of how they would have looked too. From some of the more famous dinosaurs to the lesser known ones, it was an interesting progression.

I was most excited about seeing a Tyrannosaurus Rex, easily my favorite dinosaur. This place has one of the only (almost) complete skeletons, and stood in front of it I was in awe. The size of that thing was crazy. I was like a kid at Christmas. My Mum remarked after how I just looked so goofy happy that she thought I might burst. Bucket list checked, we begrudgingly left the museum.

Drumheller Hoodoos Trail

Back through the town of Drumheller, continue on to the Hoodoos Trail which is about 15 minutes drive. What the heck is a hoodoo you ask? Well hoodoos are rock formations made from sandstone and a harder rock on top protecting the sandstone. When the cap on top starts to erode the sandstone erodes quicker creating these really cool formations.

My Dad really wanted to see the Hoodoos so even though we’d had a pretty long day we went while it was still light. There’s a free parking lot opposite and a path up and around some of the more delicate formations until you get to a bit you can walk through.

It was a really cool experience, kind of like walking through another planet. I felt like this would be a great setting for Star Wars or something. It might not seem like much, but it’s worth the drive to get there. Plus it’s free!

The information panels tell you about the area and the Hoodoos including the meaning behind the name “hoodoo”. Some aboriginals believed these Hoodoos were giants turned to stone because of the evil deeds they had done.

Remember to take a reusable water bottle with you on your travels, like this one from FastTech

The world’s largest dinosaur

I kid you not, this is really a thing. Of course it’s not a real dinosaur or even a skeleton of one. But rather a giant model that you can climb through the inside to a viewing platform at the mouth.

Where else would this giant monstrosity not look out of place than Drumheller? Located at the visitor center, there was a steady steam of children and out of breath parents coming and going from the giant T-Rex.

It’s in a giant parking lot so plenty of places to park the car while you check it out, and go inside the visitor center for local information. Entry is $4 for anyone over the age of 5 (free for kids under 5).

Dinosaur spotting in Drumheller

Another free activity in Drumheller is finding statues of dinosaurs on every corner. It’s kind of like a non-digital version of Pokemon. Throughout the main streets there are models of various dinosaurs at street corners or on lawns.

Some of the statues are more famous dinosaurs like Dino from the Flintstones. Even some of the streets have been renamed after dinosaurs.

65 million reasons to visit Drumheller

Drumheller tourism is focused solely around dinosaurs and palaeontology. You can’t walk more than a few feet without tripping over a dinosaur or something named after a dinosaur. It’s a little kitschy sometimes, but in a fun way, not a total in your face Las Vegas kind of way. The town has charm, and for anyone who loves dinosaurs it’s an amazing place.

I imagine traveling to Drumheller with kids would be a great experience, because let’s face it, what kid doesn’t like dinosaurs? Then there are the kids that just don’t grow out of it, like me. I had a wonderful time here, and even though it was in the opposite direction than I wanted to go for the rest of my vacation, I am so glad I went there. The long drive through the barren lands of Alberta was worth it. Even people not as interested in dinosaurs as I am said it’s a must see place at least once. Even better if you ever dreamed of being a paleontologist as a kid.

If you’ve enjoyed this post please leave a comment or share using the social media buttons below. Have you ever been to Drumheller? What similar experiences have you had?