Interpretive Tours

To make the most of your time in Dinosaur Provincial Park [1], you will want to join one of the park’s daily tours. Not only do the guides provide an insight into the area, but some of the tours concentrate on the natural preserve where unguided public access is not allowed.

The tours are very popular, and this is reflected in the procedure for purchasing tickets. Advance tickets (adult $8, child $4) go on sale May 1 and must be picked up 30 minutes before the departure time.

To reserve a seat, click through the Reservations link at www.tpr.alberta.ca/parks/dinosaur [2] or call 403/378-4344. A small percentage of places on each tour are sold the day of as Rush tickets (adult $6.50, child $4.50); be at the visitor center when it opens at 8:30 a.m. to ensure that you get a ticket.

Finally, if seats become available through no-shows, you may be able to snag a seat at the last minute. An overview of the tours follows, or check www.tpr.alberta.ca/parks/dinosaur [2] for a schedule.

The Badlands Bus Tour takes you on a two-hour ride around the public loop road with an interpretive guide who will point out the park’s landforms and talk about its prehistoric inhabitants.

The Centrosaurus Bone Bed Hike takes visitors on a 2.5-hour guided hike into a restricted area where more than 300 centrosaurus skeletons have been identified.

The Camel’s End Coulee Hike is an easy 2.5-kilometer (1.5-mi) guided walk to discover the unique flora and fauna of the badlands.

Best suited for families with younger children is the Fossil Safari Hike to a dig site. Finally, the Lab Talk is a 40-minute behind-the-scenes look at the visitor center. This is the only tour that doesn’t require reservations; adult $4, child $2.

Documentaries are shown at the visitor center in the evenings, and special events are often staged somewhere in Dinosaur Provincial Park [1]. The entire interpretive program operates June–August, with certain tours offered in late May and September.