Seven Natural Wonders of Canada
The park is best known for being one of the most important dinosaur fossil beds in the world. Now known as the Dinosaur Provincial Park, was established on June 26th, 1955 under the name, Steveville Dinosaur Provincial Park as part of Alberta‘s 50th Jubilee year. Stands of cottonwoods, a variety of animal life, and, most important, the extensive bone-beds, were instrumental in UNESCO’s designation of the park as a World Heritage Site in 1979. The park boasts a very complex ecosystem including three communities: prairie grasslands, badlands, and riverside cottonwoods.
The property is unmatched in terms of the number and variety of high quality specimens, over 60 of which represent more than 45 genera and 14 families of dinosaurs, which date back 75-77 million years.
The Centrosaurus Bone Bed Hike provides the tourist a chance to see this backcountry and enjoy a rare opportunity to view dinosaur bones in a natural setting while hearing a fascinating story of scientific discovery. Their bones were buried and preserved under layers of sand and mud deposited in the deltas of sluggish rivers which became the present soft sandstone and bentonite clay shale rocks.
Cottonwood trees are found in abundance and they support a special group of wildlife: scorpions, black widow spiders and rattlesnakes.
