Depending on your point of view, Hollywood has done the fields of archaeology and palaeontology a great service through the Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park franchises, popularizing what were formerly seen as stuffy academic disciplines. In Britain, the TV series Time Team was so popular it lasted for 20 seasons (1994–2013).

Right here in Canada we have our own Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology near Drumheller, Alberta, housing 160,000 individual specimens in an ever-growing collection. The majority of specimens—fossils from 80 to 55 million years ago—have been found in the Alberta Badlands, which offers some of the richest deposits of dinosaur fossils in the world.

The museum’s spring to fall public programming is highly dynamic, including guided hikes in Seven Wonders of the Badlands, learning the basic principles of excavating fossils in The Dig Experience, and programs that embrace ages three and up. It’s a unique opportunity to explore the origins of life billions of years in the making.

Situated in Midland Provincial Park, six kilometres northwest of Drumheller, Alberta, it is the only museum in Canada devoted exclusively to the science of palaeontology and has one of the biggest displays of dinosaur skeletons in the world. The Royal Tyrrell has been voted one of the world’s top dinosaur museums and welcomed over 465,000 visitors from 150 countries in 2015.

Travel Planner

The museum is open year-round. Begin your journey of explorations at tyrrellmuseum.com.