Dino-Mite Daytrip

What do you call Tyrannosaurus rex when it wears a cowboy hat and boots? Tyrannosaurus Tex of course, Alberta style.
While they passed beyond our world over 65 million years ago, dinosaurs are alive and kicking in our imagination. Luckily, Alberta is a hotbed for dinosaur fossils. Opportunities abound for daytrips or overnight visits to close-by locales where dinosaurs would have walked, ate and slept millions of years ago.

Drumheller is home to the Royal Tyrell Museum, a must-see for tourists and locals alike. It’s an easy daytrip from Calgary. Displays such as the Burgess Shale exhibit feed our adult brains while the full sized skeletons of gigantic predatory dinosaurs such as the Albertasaurus excite (and sometime scare) the kids. Admission is $30 for a family of four.

Beyond the museum, a climb to the top of the World’s Largest Dinosaur located in the town of Drumheller to peek between the world’s largest teeth is worth the $3 for admission. As you drive around town, play ‘spot the dinosaur’ and have the kids keep a look out for the many dinosaur statues that abound. On hot days a visit to the dino-themed (of course) splash park located in the giant predator’s shadow is a welcome relief, so pack suits and towels in the car. Breakfast or lunch at WHIFS Flapjack House for pancakes and java is another Drumheller must-do (yum). The kids will be entertained by the trains moving around overhead while you enjoy the delicious food. If you’re looking for a weekend escape, both the Ramada and the Super 8 are clean, comfortable and have two-story waterslides (perhaps the highlight of the trip for the kids, if truth be told).