Drumheller

From Edmonton I took the bus to Calgary, the only reason being was that was the closest I could get via bus to Drumheller, which was where I actually wanted to go.  There were no tours going to Drumheller from Calgary until Saturday and no buses so I hired a car to drive there.

Drumheller is all about Dinosaurs, you can't see the town until your very near, it's in a valley that looks like a miniature grand canyon called The Badlands. For all the dull pancake flat land that surrounds it, Drumheller is a very interesting area and if you're not expecting it would be quite a surprise and a welcome change.
I first went to the visitors centre distinguished by the huge dinosaur by the entrance, you can go inside the dinosaur and looks out from it's mouth. After which I had brunch at a nice cafe called Cafe Ole! The Tyrrell Dinosaur museum I had primarily come to see was open till late so I went on the dinosaur driving trail first to see the Hoodoos - strange sand stone sculptures that have weathered into columns protected by harder stone caps, Horseshoe canyon, various lookouts and an old mining area which had a compound knitting elevator*. At the north and of the trail is a tiny ferry, which is more like a moving bit of road that crosses the river, it's free and you need to ring the bell for the operator.
It made for a long day but having wheels again, albeit just for the day, was great.

Notes:

• A good map of the self guided tour can be found here.
• *!