Dinosaur Provincial Park is situated in the valley of the Red Deer River, which is noted for its badland topography. It is well known for being one of the greatest dinosaur fossil beds in the world. Thirty-nine dinosaur species have been discovered here and more than 500 specimens have been removed and exhibited in museums across the globe. Its significance justified it becoming a World Heritage Site in 1979. The park boasts a very complex ecosystem including three communities: prairie grasslands, badlands, and riverside cottonwoods. Its ecosystem is surrounded by prairies but is unique unto itself. Choruses of coyotes are common at dusk, as are the calls of nighthawks. Cottontail rabbits, mule deer, and pronghorn can all be seen in the park; the prairie rattlesnake, bull snake and the red-sided garter snake are present as well. Curlews and Canada geese are among the 165 bird species that can be seen in the spring and summer. Some of the most northern species of cactus, including Opuntia (prickly pear) and Pediocactus (pincushion) can be observed in full bloom during the later half of June. Dinosaur Provincial Park preserves an extraordinarily diverse group of freshwater vertebrates. Fish include sharks, rays (such as the durophage Myledaphus), paddlefish, bowfins, gars, and teleosts. Amphibians include frogs, salamanders, and the extinct albanerpetontids. Reptiles include lizards (such as the large monitor Paleosaniwa), a wide range of turtles, crocodilians, and the fish-eating Champsosaurus. Mammals such as shrews, marsupials, and squirrel-like rodents are also represented, although usually only by their fossilized teeth, rather than bones. Mega-plant fossils are rare in the park, but pollen grains and spores collected from here suggest that these Campanian forests contained sycamore, magnolia and bald cypress trees, along with Metasequoia. The sediments of Dinosaur Provincial Park span 2.8 million years and three formations: the terrestrial Oldman Formation at the base of the strata, the terrestrial Dinosaur Park Formation above, and the marine Bearpaw at the top. The Dinosaur Park Formation, which contains most of the fossils from articulated skeletons, was primarily laid down by large rivers in very warm temperate coastal lowlands along the western margin of the Western Interior Seaway. The formation dates to the Late Campanian, about 75 million years ago. The Dinosaur Park Formation spans about 1 million years.
Dinosaur Provincial Park protects the area where dinosaurs once hunted and mated - and ultimately met their demise, leaving an amazingly rich fossil and bone record. 60 species of more than 45 genera of seven families of dinosaurs have been found in the park. 75 million years ago, this region was a subtropical paradise populated by turtles, crocodiles and sharks - and featuring a lush vegetation similar to the coastal plains of the south-eastern United States today. It preserves an extraordinarily diverse group of freshwater vertebrates. Fish include sharks, rays, paddlefish, bowfins, gars, and teleosts. Amphibians include frogs, salamanders, and the extinct albanerpetontids. Reptiles include lizards (such as the large monitor Paleosaniwa), a wide range of turtles, crocodilians, and the fish-eating Champsosaurus. Mammals such as shrews, marsupials, and squirrel-like rodents are also represented, although usually only by their fossilized teeth, rather than bones. The park boasts a very complex ecosystem including three communities: prairie grasslands, badlands, and riverside cottonwoods. Its ecosystem is surrounded by prairies but is unique unto itself. when we drove into the park, the first turnoff lead us to a breathtaking viewpoint; over a large canyon/valley, filled with badlands. there was a surprising amount of plant life; i had expected the badlands to be barren, but there were trees, grass, bushes a plenty. a trail led from the top, all the way to the bottom, it was quite steep, and in some places narrow and scary. but is was a great trail. we got about half way down, before turning around, and climbing back up. there are two sections to the park, the reserve, and the non-reserve. the reserve covers 70% of the park, and is only accessible by guided tour, there are several hiking trails in the rest of the park, that you can hike by yourself. we took a tour, and the guide led us to a part of the park, which was a dry lake bed. Bones littered the ground. everywhere you look, there were dinosaur bones on the ground. not big ones, most were smaller then your fist, but they were everywhere. it was remarkable! after the tour, we hiked on a trail, that took us, through badlands, to an overlook over a wide valley, with a river at the bottom. it was an amazing trip. this is in my opinion, the best thing to see in all of Alberta.
Badlands stretch along many river valleys throughout the North American plains, and some of the most spectacular sights are in 7,330-hectare (18,000-acre) Dinosaur Provincial Park, 200 kilometers (124 miles) east of Calgary. But the park is best known for being one of the most important dinosaur fossil beds in the world. Thirty-five species of dinosaurs--from every known family of the Cretaceous period--have been unearthed here, along with the skeletal remains of crocodiles, turtles, fish, lizards, frogs, and flying reptiles. Not only is the diversity of specimens great, but so is the sheer volume; more than 300 museum-quality specimens have been removed and are exhibited in museums around the world. Originally established in 1955 to protect the fossil bonebeds, the park's environment is extremely complex and is unique within the surrounding prairie ecosystem. Stands of cottonwoods, a variety of animal life, and, most important, the extensive bonebeds, were instrumental in UNESCO's designation of the park as a World Heritage Site in 1979. In 1985, the opening of the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, 100 kilometers (62 miles) upstream in Drumheller, meant that bones that had previously been shipped to museums throughout the world for scientific analysis and display could now remain within the province. The Royal Tyrrell Museum operates a field station in the park, where many of the bones are cataloged and stored. The displays, films, and interpretive programs offered at the center will best prepare you to begin your visit to the park. More than millions of years ago, great quantities of silt and mud were flushed downriver, building up a delta at the edge of the sea. In time, this delta hardened, and the countless layers formed sedimentary rock. Soon after, great pressures beneath the earth's surface pushed the crust upward, forming a jagged mountain range that we know today as the Rocky Mountains. This event dramatically changed the climate of the plains region from tropical to temperate, probably killing off the dinosaurs approximately 64 million years ago. From then until one million years ago, the climate changed many times until the first of many sheets of ice covered the plains. As the final sheet receded, approximately 15,000 years ago, millions of liters of sediment-laden meltwater scoured the relatively soft bedrock into an area we know as the badlands. The erosion process continues to this day, no longer by the action of glacial meltwater but by rain and wind. The carving action has created a dramatic landscape of hoodoos, pinnacles, mesas, and gorges in the sandstone here, which is 100 times softer than that of the Rockies. The hills are tiered with layers of rock in browns, reds, grays, and whites. Many are rounded, some are steep, others are ruddy and cracked, but they all have one thing in common--they are laden with dinosaur bones. As the Red Deer River curves through the park, it cuts deeply into the ancient river delta, exposing the layers of sedimentary rock and revealing the once-buried fossil treasures.
