We tried to leave Banff early as we had a 4-hour drive to Drumheller, where there is a fabulous Dinosaur museum. It was highly recommended that we visit there.
We drove to the museum via Hwy 9 which is a beautiful drive in itself. Many brilliant yellow fields of safflowers. I really wanted to shoot some photos, but we thought we’d better get to the museum. But for those who read this blog and want to make this drive, plan extra time in order to shoot some great photos.
The museum is amazing. There are interactive displays that kids can do. One that Zaya loved was touch screen where a dinosaur is outlined then parts are jumbled together in a corner. You must touch and drag each part to the outline and when it is placed correctly the screen lights up. Zaya was so excited to build a dinosaur correctly.
There are some living animals like some huge cockroaches maybe 2-1/2” long and a soft-shelled turtle, the type of which was in existence millions of years ago.
The museum has many educational opportunities. We missed many of them by arriving in the afternoon. They offer chances to make casts of fossils and hear stories. For older kids they can dig for fossils and the one we did was to hike to look for fossils.
We went on a 1-1/2 hour walk with 2 stops thru the Badlands. The path is dirt and some areas a little steep but not difficult. The walk isn’t long at all. The first stop was in a flat semi-circular area at one of the hoodoos. Fossils and rocks have washed down and are strewn about the ground. The guide pointed out fossils, iron-ore rocks, glacial erratic, sandstone and petrified wood. Then the kids were encouraged to bring rocks to her to identify. We then went and saw a semi-exposed dinosaur for our 2nd stop.
Fortunately,
the museum is open until 9pm so there was no rush to leave. We wondered thru the timelines of the eons, viewing the various animals alive during those times. http://www.tyrrellmuseum.com/
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