Where to Find Dinosaurs in Alberta, Canada

Is your kid dinosaur obsessed like mine? Or maybe you are (no shame here – I still find them fascinating!).

After a few summers visiting the dino-related sites on our Alberta travels, I’ve gathered together dinosaur themed museums, playgrounds, landmarks and more from across Alberta.

From dinosaur tracks, to eggs in nests, to massive bone beds, we have some incredible dinosaur sites in this province! Get out and walk where dinosaurs once roamed. 

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Land Acknowledgement

This land has welcomed First Nations from across Turtle Island, and settlers and visitors from around the world. Alberta lands are part of Treaties 4, 6, 7, 8 and 10, and the homeland of the Métis.

Alberta Mamas respects and celebrates the sovereignty, lands, histories, languages, knowledge systems and cultures of all Indigenous, Métis, and Inuit nations. We are striving to better listen, understand, and learn from the Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing.

We are all Treaty people.

Drumheller

Known as the dinosaur capital of Canada, Drumheller is nestled in the Red Deer River valley in the heart of the Alberta Badlands. With plenty of things to do both dinosaur related and not, it’s easy to spend a week or more in the area.

Book a hotel or stay in a campground or cabin in the area to make the most of your visit!

Below are the don’t miss dino activities in the area.

Royal Tyrrell Museum

Alberta’s top dinosaur attraction, the Royal Tyrrell Museum is a world class dinosaur museum and takes between two hours and an entire day to visit.

Book an outdoor tour in the morning before it gets too hot, have lunch in the cafeteria (or your packed lunch at the picnic tables by the playground), and explore the museum in the afternoon.

Don’t forget to take the iconic photo with the Camarasaurus leg bone!

Want to get up close to the dinosaurs after hours? Book a sleepover!

Read the reviews of the Royal Tyrrell Museum on TripAdvisor.

Tyra, Worlds Largest T-Rex

Hard to miss from anywhere in Drumheller, Tyra, The World’s Largest Dinosaur is a classic dinosaur attraction (and checks off an item on your Roadside Attractions list). 

She’s scheduled to close in 2029, so make sure to visit her soon!

Read the reviews about Tyra on TripAdvisor!

Assorted Dinosaurs (Drumheller)

Find quirky dinosaurs around town (map) like this one in front of the Fire Hall (photo taken in 2020 – thus the sign!). 

Hunting them down while you explore the area is a fun, free activity that keeps the kids entertained during the drive. You’ll hear plenty of “I found another one!” as you explore.

Dinosaur Provincial Park

Almost two hours south of Drumheller, Dinosaur Provincial Park is Alberta’s secret dinosaur destination. This is a much more rugged, hands on, not-museum experience of Alberta’s dinosaur hunting.

The nearest town is 30 minutes away, so plan to tent or book a cabin in the park (sorry, no cell service in the valley!). I highly recommend spending a couple days in the park to be able to do everything and not feel rushed!

Must do activities include:

• Visitor’s Centre
• Guided tour in the Preserve
• Fossil displays
• Explore the hoodoos within the Public Loop Road

Read the reviews of Dinosaur Provincial Park on TripAdvisor!

Southern Alberta

T-Rex Statue, Milk River

If you find yourself heading to Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park you’ll drive through Milk River and can see this giant statue on the west side of the highway south of town.

It isn’t a huge attraction, but if you’re a completionist (like I am with this list), you know about it now! I’ve seen it, but we wanted to get down to Writing-on-Stone and didn’t stop!

Devil’s Coulee Dinosaur & Heritage Museum, Warner

Devil’s Coulee Dinosaur & Heritage Museum is a stop that is still on my to-visit list. Located 45 minutes from Dinosaur Provincial Park, this small dinosaur museum offers guided tours of both the museum and where the first official dinosaur nesting site in Canada was discovered.

Read the museum’s reviews on TripAdvisor!

Wilder Institute-Calgary Zoo

Visit the Prehistoric Park at the Calgary Zoo where you can walk among the dinosaurs in simulated hoodoos.

The bigger attraction at the zoo is definitely the animals, but the dinosaur park offers a fun option to get from the North Entrance to Exploration Asia exhibit via a footbridge you can only access from within the zoo.

I like to start my trip to the zoo with the dinosaur area. The bridge and upcoming animals helps push kids to move along instead of climbing over everything!

Be sure to read our tips for visiting the Calgary Zoo and 5 must-see’s at the zoo before you go, and check out the reviews on TripAdvisor!

Edmonton

While Calgary is closer to the ever-famous Drumheller and benefits from the dinosaur-adjacent hype, Edmonton is the Alberta city with a dinosaur named after it (Edmontosaurus), and is home to the graduate studies associated with the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

University of Alberta Palaeontology Museum

Visit two of the University of Alberta’s free museums in the basement of the Earth Sciences Building including the Palaeontology Museum and the Mineralogy and Petrology Museum.

I love taking the kids here on a rainy day when the library just won’t cut it as an excuse to get out of the house. Being on campus is an experience on its own!

Kid tip: Be sure to print off the Mineralogy/Petrology Museum and Palaeontology Museum scavenger hunts before you go!

Online option: Not able to get there? Take a virtual tour of the museum!

Read the reviews about the Palaeontology Museum on TripAdvisor!

Jurassic Forest

Walk the boardwalk through the woods to encounter animatronic dinosaurs at Jurassic Forest! Make sure to pack the bug spray, as the mosquitos are intense.

This dinosaur experience also has mini golf and an overnight option in their trappers’ tent!

Read the reviews on TripAdvisor!

Metal T-Rex

Located along the west side of Gateway Boulevard, this metal t-rex always catches the kids’ attention when we drive by. It isn’t much of a stop, but may be worth a slight route adjustment to drive past.

Meadowview Dinosaur Park, Leduc

This fun playground has lots to offer your little climber! If you have some extra time to kill before heading to the Edmonton Airport or are driving into the city from the south, a detour to this park will give the kids a chance to burn off that extra energy!

Jurassic Park Playground – Spruce Grove

Located in Central Park, this playground has dino-themed equipment and is a big hit with kids.

Grande Prairie

Did you know Grande Prairie was home to a wide range of dinosaurs, and has some very impressive fossils in the area?

Phillip J. Currie Museum, Wembley

Phillip J. Currie Museum is such a kid-friendly museum! We visited in 2021 and they still had so much available for the kids to interact with. My then four-year-old was in peak dinosaur obsession and didn’t want to leave (thankfully there’s a pretty epic playground behind the museum we could bribe him out the doors with).

Read the reviews about the Phillip J. Currie Museum on TripAdvisor!

Pipestone Park, South of Wembley

Get up close with active palaeontology in Pipestone Park. Palaeontologists are working on extracting hundreds of dinosaurs from a bonebed about 1km hike from the campground/public park.

Museum

This photo captures almost the complete interior of the museum, but don’t let that stop you from popping in before or after a trip to the bonebed! There are lots of fun bits of information on the signs, and lots of the “favourite” kinds of bones kids want to look at.

Expect your visit to take about ten minutes.

Bonebed

Follow Pipestone Creek out to the bonebed and see if you can notice any bones sticking out from the ground (remember to leave them in place – it’s illegal to remove fossils in Alberta!).

If you want a better chance of finding something, and knowing what you’re doing, book a tour through the Phillip J. Curry Museum.

Grande Cache Tourism & Interpretive Centre

Visit the Grande Cache Tourism & Interpretive Centre to try out the Walking with Dinosaurs VR/AR and see some dinosaur tracks in person!

This one is still on my to-visit list. Hopefully we’ll make it up to Grande Cache soon and I can add a photo and more details!

Read the reviews on TripAdvisor!