Flashback Friday: Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta

Dinosaur Provincial Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Red Deer River valley, about 2 hours drive from Calgary. It is noted for its striking badland topography, and as a site of many dinosaur fossils. I had previously visited Drumheller, with it's amazing museum but on this trip I was more interested in the badlands than dinosaurs. The general consensus seems to be if you want a lot of dinosaur information, go to Drumheller. It is said that you are much more likely to find dinosaur fossils in situ here.

It was very easy to find the road to turn. Right at the highway intersection, I found this an abandoned service station and store with it's sad and decaying dino.

Further along the road, I started to see the first signs of the badlands. In prehistoric times, much of the prairies were an inland sea that dried up when the Rockies rose. The soils left are layered between clay, slate, and other soft stone.

My first sight of the badlands was pretty impressive. As a BC girl, I'm used to seeing land forms above ground level. It is always fascinating for me to see these deep canyons.