After Sleeping Giant, I started my drive out to Alberta. It took me two full days of driving (10-11 hours) to get through Manitoba and Saskatchewan and on my third day I headed to Dinosaur Provincial Park. The park is about 45 minutes off the Trans Canada Highway through farmland and prairies. I had never been to the site so when I drove up to the gate I was a little disappointed. Until I crested the hill and drove down the access road. When you head to the park all you see is farmland and cows. Once you reach the park boundary, you are staring down into a huge canyon with tall hoodoos (mountains of sedimentary rock that form from the ground up) throughout the whole park. It was like a mix between Bryce Canyon and the Grand Canyon in Utah, with tall hills formed from sand and sedimentary rock and grasslands surrounding.
I walked around the visitor centre there and learned about the history, geology, and discoveries within the park. Dinosaur Provincial Park was established in 1955 and became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979. There have been over 450 fossils discovered spanning over 50 species of dinosaurs, plants, and organisms that were living over 60 million years ago or longer.
The history of the park is fascinating. When all of these species lived and roamed the Earth, Dinosaur Provincial Park was a tropical environment. There was a river that ran through the land and lead out to the ocean where amphibians and other sea creatures survived and where other organisms got their water. Throughout history, the sea levels slowly started to rise until eventually, all species on land were drowned. The sediment build up that created the hoodoos and canyons is from years of the land being underwater, and then slowly draining to be as we know it today. The hoodoos are soft underfoot. While I was scrambling up the hills I kept slipping down because the sand would give way and cause small landslides. You are able to break off pieces of the rock or carve your name into the hills which is something I saw quite frequently.
I walked a few trails in the park but the best part of my time there was later on. My campsite was right at the back of the campground so I was alone in my section and right next to the road that runs through the whole park. About 20 feet behind me there was a large area where you are able to walk and hike freely. I hiked up to the top of one of the hills and I got to watch the sunset. Being in the park made me feel like I was Luke Skywalker on his home planet in that famous scene where the two moons rise across the desert. Although I didn’t see the moon the night before, the next morning I got up at 7 and hiked to a different hill and before the sun rose over the plains, the moon hung to the West. It was a full, warm yellow, harvest moon. It was probably the best view I saw there, even after seeing the sunset and sunrise.
It was interesting to see that the prettiest view happened either just before, or after, the “ideal moment”. When you think about watching the sunrise it is for the moment just as the sun breaks over the horizon. That is what you go to see and look forward to. What I saw was that the moments before and after were so much more beautiful.
Overall, I had an awesome time. If you haven’t been to Dinosaur Provincial Park, you should definitely try and visit. I’ve posted photos in the gallery that you can check out, and on my instagram.
Julianna Cook 