Calgary - Drumheller

Since July, many Canadian provinces are open to domestic travel. Being fully vaccinated, I was eager to make some movements and quickly locked the Calgary Stampede as the "the thing" to check out, adding Drumheller to make a perfect weekend holiday.

Jul 10, 2021
Calgary

This trip was actually my test-run to see how travel goes during the pandemic. It turned out to be quite valuable. First, WestJet changed my 9 am flight from Vancouver to Calgary to 10 am. To make it even worse, the flight was further delayed for half an hour. Not only that I was not able to have a proper lunch before the rodeo, I was actually half an hour late for the event that started at 1:30 pm. Not a big deal. The rodeo was actually some learning experience for me, though I understood it's not without controversy.

In the evening, I checked out the evening show held at the same venue, the Grandstand. Since sunset was almost 10 pm, the first half of the show was a kind of "rodeo" but more like a "show" than competition. When it became dark, the performance began. Programs included country music, dancing, motorcycle stunts, etc. There were also splendid fireworks throughout. Overall, the evening show was not too bad, but I didn't find it too special. Considering it's more expensive than the rodeo, this show is probably not a must-see.

Jul 11, 2021
Drumheller

In "normal" times, many travel agencies run Drumheller one day tour from Calgary. Perhaps because international tourists are still not allowed to come to Canada at this time, all the tour companies I contacted couldn't get other people to join the group. I ended up renting a car to do it my self.

Basically I did a loop and checked out 11 "sites" en-route, namely the ghost town of Dorothy, Hoodoos Trail ($2 to get into the parking lot), Star Mine Suspension Bridge (closed but can be seen from outside), Last Chance Saloon in Wayne (had lunch there), World's Largest Dinosaur (admired from outside), Royal Tyrell Museum / Badlands Interpretive Trail, the Little Church, Horse Thief Canyon, Bleriot Ferry, Orkney Viewpoint, and Horseshoe Canyon.

I didn't see any other tourists in Dorothy but there were considerable number of people at other sites, especially Last Chance Saloon and World's Largest Dinosaur (couldn't find parking). Royal Tyrell Museum was also very busy but that's expected. I particularly liked the Little Church (capacity 6) and the cable ferry at Bleriot. At Horseshoe Canyon, there is a well marked trail that takes you down to the bottom of the canyon.

Horseshoe Canyon

Overview

The Calgary Stampede should be checked out at least once in life, especially for Canadians. Drumheller is really an undervalued destination. The Canadian Badlands combines landscape, history and paleontology all-together in a one day trip. Highly recommended.