The Best Way to Spend 1 Day in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada
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If you want to live out your Jurassic Park dreams, there may be no better place in Canada to do so than Dinosaur Provincial Park. Part of the Canadian Badlands, Dinosaur Provincial Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it is a mere 2 hour drive from Calgary, Alberta.
I would argue that dinosaurs fascinate everyone to some degree, so I knew when I was planning a Canadian Badlands road trip that I needed to make time to visit Dinosaur Provincial Park.
75 million years ago, during the Cretaceous Period, this area was pretty tropical. Today, the badlands are a rough desert-like environment, offering beautiful geological scenery like coulees and hoodoos.
This park has a rich history of palaeontology, as over 50 dinosaur species have been discovered within the park. It actually offers the world’s most complete record of the late Cretaceous Period. If you’re lucky you may even find a fossil yourself!
Note: It is illegal to take or disturb fossils in Alberta. The whole point of Dinosaur Provincial Park is to protect the late Cretaceous fossils found here, and park visitors play a role in this. If you do come across a fossil, don’t touch it, take a photo and note your location, then report it at the Visitor Centre.
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How to Day Trip Dinosaur Provincial Park
We went to Dinosaur Provincial Park on a day trip, and I felt that was more than sufficient for a self-guided tour of the park. We drove here directly from Drumheller, and it was about a 1 hour 45 minute drive to the park entrance.
Many people also pair their trip to Dinosaur Provincial Park with a visit to Drumheller, Alberta (the Dinosaur Capital of the World and home to the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology). We also did this so if you’d like to do the same check out my 5 Day Canadian Badlands itinerary.
UNESCO Overlook
Before driving fully into Dinosaur Provincial Park, do not miss pulling into the parking lot at the main entrance. Here there is actually a short trail called the UNESCO Overlook/Prairie Loop. And don’t forget to take a picture with the park entrance sign!
Fun fact: The dinosaur depicted on the Dinosaur Provincial Park is an Albertosaurus! This dinosaur was named after the province in which it was discovered.
Here you’ll get a stunning view of the Red Deer River Valley from above, and you’ll be looking into much of the preserve at Dinosaur Provincial Park. I will always find it so fascinating how the flat Prairie lands can suddenly turn into these deep canyons.
If you continue along the trail in the opposite direction, you’ll come across a glyphstone, a small boulder with etchings carved by First Nations People. As you walk you’ll see a big metal grate covering the boulder, with a sign next to it explaining the glyphstone’s significance.
Although the exact meaning of the carvings is unknown, historians believe the boulder may have been used as a travel landmark, or as an offering for a bison hunt.
Visitor Centre
After taking in the views and reading all the interpretive signs, we hopped back into the car and continued to the Visitor Centre. This is the best place to get your day started in Dinosaur Provincial Park, as there is a gift shop, information desk, and museum exhibits.
It costs $2 per person to visit the exhibits in the Visitor Centre and I thought this was well worth it. There are many displays showcasing the current wildlife in the park you may be lucky to spot while hiking, but more fascinatingly there are actually lots of dinosaur fossil remains!
The Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, actually has a Field Station in the Visitor Centre of Dinosaur Provincial Park. So you can see some of their work as you go through the museum exhibits. The fossil remains on display here were also of course found within Dinosaur Provincial Park.
On certain days, Dinosaur Provincial Park also offers interpretive programs at the Visitor Centre where you can learn how to examine fossil specimens and cast them! We didn’t get to do this but I’d like to on our next visit to Dinosaur!
For much of the year, the Visitor Centre is open daily typically from 9am to 5pm, while during the winter months it is open on weekends, and open by appointment on weekdays.
Welcome Walk
Right next to the Visitor Centre is the trailhead to the 1.2km Welcome Walk. You may see signs for a trail called “Coulee View” as this was the trail’s old name.
Over the past couple years, Dinosaur Provincial Park and Alberta Parks have been creating new trails in the park and there are now 14 trails to explore in the public area! We only had time for the UNESCO Overlook and Welcome Walk, but many of the other trails seem to be interconnected with one another.
The Welcome Walk was overall an easy and short hike, but it offered some awesome geological views, and you can see some small hoodoos on this loop! You’ll also come to another viewpoint overlooking the Red Deer River Valley.
Some of the trails in Dinosaur Provincial Park will be closed during wet weather due to the slippery terrain, so be mindful of this if visiting Dinosaur in inclement weather. Most days however, Dinosaur is very hot and sunny, and given how barren the Badlands are, there is no shade while hiking. So please ensure you bring lots of water and practice sun safety.
While hiking you should also be mindful of prickly plants like cacti, and be aware that rattlesnakes and scorpions live in the park so keep away from rocks and tall grass. We were fortunate to not see any creepy crawlies, but still it is something to be mindful of.
John Ware’s Cabin
After hiking the Welcome Walk, we continued even further into Dinosaur Provincial Park and visited John Ware’s Cabin. Yes there is actually more than just dinosaur fossils at Dinosaur Provincial Park!
John Ware was a famous figure in Canadian ranching history, he was originally a slave born in South Carolina but eventually made his way to Alberta by cattle driving. Around 1900, Ware and his family moved from Calgary to Duchess, which is not far from Dinosaur.
After a spring flood destroyed his first cabin in 1902, Ware built a new cabin but sadly he did not enjoy his last home for very long, as he was killed when his horse fell on him in 1905. After years of moves and restoration, John Ware’s Cabin found its home in Dinosaur Provincial Park.
You can read more about John Ware’s life on the Alberta Parks website, or you can simply visit the cabin! Inside you’ll learn about John Ware’s life escaping slavery and becoming a cattle driver, and how he settled in Alberta and became famous in the Calgary area.
There are also some antique belongings of John Ware’s still in the cabin and I thought it was very interesting to learn about this small piece of cowboy history.
From May to Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, John Ware’s Cabin is open to the public from 10am to 4pm daily.
Public Loop Road
After John Ware’s Cabin, we hopped in the car once again to drive the Public Loop Road around the park. The self-guided area of Dinosaur Provincial Park is much smaller than I expected, most of the park is a preserve that is only accessible with a staff guide.
But in addition to the Visitor Centre, there are more dinosaur remains you can see on your own. The Public Loop Road is a one way route around Dinosaur, and many of the hiking trailheads are along the way. But the two main attractions to see are the Fossil Displays!
Here these two small buildings stick out in the Badlands landscape, and if you go up to the glass you’ll see dinosaur remains! It turns out these small buildings are actually outdoor interpretive fossil displays.
Fossil Display 1 – The Headless Hadrosaur
The first Fossil Display you’ll come across is called “the Headless Hadrosaur”. Here you can see most of a Hadrosaur’s skeletal remains, and much of it is still in the rock and hasn’t been completely excavated.
This Hadrosaur fossil lies exactly where it was found in 1959 by Roy Fowler, who was Dinosaur Provincial Park’s first park ranger. This duck-billed dinosaur is actually missing its skull! The interpretive panel explained that dinosaur heads often got washed away when they died, as their neck muscles deteriorated.
But the rest of the skeleton is articulated, which means the bones are still connected to one another. It is pretty neat to see how dinosaur remains look like as they are being excavated. But without the skull, it is impossible to know which subspecies of Hadrosaur this dinosaur was specifically.
If you look closely near the tail of the Hadrosaur, you can see skin impressions and imagine the rough reptilian hide it once had. When stopping at the fossil displays make sure you walk around the entire building to see all the fossil details.
Fossil Display 2 – Centrosaurus Bone Bed
As you continue on the Public Loop Road, you’ll quickly come across Fossil Display 2, which houses a Centrosaurus Bone Bed. Unlike the Headless Hadrosaur, this one is a recreated display that shows what it would be like to be at a dig site.
Inside the display you see a huge jumble of dinosaur bones, and many excavation tools littered around the bone bed. Bone beds are areas where multiple dinosaurs died at the same time, usually from a flash flood.
While not a real dig site, it is still interesting to imagine what it would be like to excavate a dinosaur bone bed. However, if you decide to do one of the guided tours at Dinosaur, you can visit a real Centrosaurs Bone Bed!
More to Know & Do – Dinosaur Provincial Park
The two fossil displays were the last places we visited on our day trip to Dinosaur Provincial Park, but there is a lot more to do here! While I felt like a day trip was sufficient for the self-guided areas of Dinosaur Provincial Park, if choosing to do a guided tour (which I deeply regret missing), staying overnight would be a good idea.
Guided Tours in Dinosaur Provincial Park
Dinosaur Provincial Park has a huge variety of tours and events offered at the park. With the bulk of Dinosaur being a protected preserve, it did feel like we missed out on a lot of what Dinosaur has to offer.
It is illegal to enter the preserve without a staff member or permit, so you need to take one of these guided excursions if you want to experience this area of the park. There are bus tours, guided hikes, and even guided excavations!
While entry into Dinosaur Provincial Park is free, there is an extra fee for these guided tours. You can see the full list of tours here, but expect around $30-$40 dollars for the guided hikes.
Best Time to Visit Dinosaur Provincial Park
We visited Dinosaur Provincial Park on a week day in early June, and I thought this was a great time for a self-guided tour day. The weather was still mild, and the park was not busy at all.
If just planning on doing a self-guided exploration, any time from May to September would be a great time to visit. Peak time at the park is during July and August.
I normally recommend against visiting destinations during peak season simply due to crowds, but in Dinosaur’s case, the guided tours mostly happen during these peak times.
You can book these guided tours online through the Alberta Parks website, and I’d suggest planning your dates around your booked tour if this is something you don’t want to miss. The next time I visit Dinosaur I will do just that, and visit either on weekend, or during July or August so I can actually go into the preserve.
Where to Stay In & Near Dinosaur Provincial Park
When most people come to Dinosaur Provincial Park, they do choose to camp here. Dinosaur has over 120 campsites and can cater to both RVs/trailers and tents. You can actually camp at Dinosaur year-round!
The only reason we didn’t camp at Dinosaur was because we were visiting from Ontario, and I did not feel like checking all our camping equipment or renting any for our trip. If you can book it early enough there are 2 comfort tents at Dinosaur. But you would still need to bring bedding and cooking utensils.
Instead we just chose to stay at a Days Inn in Brooks, Alberta, which is the closest city to Dinosaur Provincial Park. This was about a 30 minute drive from Dinosaur, so you could easily visit again the next day if need be.
Final Thoughts
If you’re a dinosaur lover, you’ll absolutely love visiting Dinosaur Provincial Park. I would highly recommend adding a visit here in addition to a trip to Drumheller, Alberta.
The Canadian Badlands make for a unique road trip in Alberta and it is so fun nerding out at all the dinosaur discoveries that have happened in this area. It’s an easy trip to plan and also great for kids, just make sure you book those guided tours into Dinosaur Provincial Park’s preserve in advance!
