Dinosaur Provincial Park

This park contains 73 square kilometers (28.2 square miles) of riverside, badlands, and prairie habitats. It is located along the Red Deer River east of Calgary and northeast of Brooks in southern Alberta.

Long ago, the climate of what is now southern Alberta was similar to that of the Louisiana Bayou today -- a sub-tropical forest, lush with vegetation, teeming with turtles and crocodiles, and a perfect habitat for the dinosaurs. After a great change in climate, the dinosaurs died out, leaving their skeletons.

In 1882, John Ware, a slave from the US Deep South, moved to this area to homestead. He soon rose to fame because of his exceptional equestrian talents. Two years later, Joseph B. Tyrell visited the Red Deer Valley and discovered an Albertosaurus.

In 1888, The Geological Society sent Thomas Weston here to become Canada's first official fossil collector. The Society sent Lawrence Lamb here in 1897 to explore for dinosaur fossils.

Dr. W. G. Anderson, a local homesteader, became an advocate for a national park being established in the badlands. It was not until 1955 that the area was established as Steveville Dinosaur Provincial Park. Four years later, John Ware's cabin was moved to the park. The park's name was changed to Dinosaur Provincial Park in 1962. The park was declared a United Nations Heritage site in 1980.

See map of the park.

We would like to thank Lesia Boyko of the Department of Community Development, Government of Alberta, for assistance for this page. The information was obtained from the official website of Dinosaur Provincial Park.

Fauna