September 6/2022 Summer Hike
Today we are in Alberta’s Badlands, and we will be exploring Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park. This area has the most stunning and unique landscape I have ever hiked in. Today we will be doing a loop hike with a total distance of 7.5 kilometers, with an elevation gain of 205 meters.
Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park is about a one hour and 45 minute drive North and East of Calgary. When you arrive there, stop at the lookout to get an awesome view looking down into the Badlands. They have some informational signing here telling you about this area and the wildlife. The road down into the valley is gravel, and very steep in sections. It is not recommended to take this road in rainy or bad weather, and no trailers are allowed. I parked at the day use area, which has picnic tables, fire rings and bathrooms.
I started my hike walking down to the boat ramp on the Red Deer River. from here I walked upstream along the river for about 1.5 kilometers. In some areas there wasn’t much of a trail here. There were about 5 big birds flying around this area. I managed to snap a few pictures of them. When I got home I found out that these birds were Turkey Vultures, not the cutest birds. I then proceeded left away from the river into the trees. After a little bit of bushwhacking, I was out of the trees and made my way up to the top of a hill. From here I could see a trail and made my way towards it. At 2.1k I was now on a highlighted trail on AllTrails. Soon I found myself looking up at some beautiful rock formations. I lost the trail so I started climbing up into the rock fromations to see if I could find a trail. I continued climbing up and down some hills, and I was in the heart of the badlands. Words cannot describe how beautiful the rock formations were all around me. I found myself at the bottom of a drainage, so I proceeded climbing up it. At 3.1k I found myself weaving and climbing up and down through the rock formations. I am still off trail. I found myself climbing a little higher as I was hiking up and over each rock formation. Soon I could see our destination, Dry Island. As I continued, I found myself in the most beautiful rock formations I have ever seen. I was truly lost in the Badlands, and didn’t mind it at all. I came across some beautiful little Hoodoos that were truly amazing. I soon found myself on a ridge, with stunning views to my right and to my left. Soon I was at the top of Dry Island, a grassland area. Here I enjoyed watching more Turkey Vultures sailing over my head. I made my way to the back of the island into the trees. I had done enough bushwhacking, so I proceeded to cross the island to the other side. At 4.6k I reached the other side of the island. Here I had my lunch and a beer and enjoyed the views looking down the valley. I worked my way back to the beginning of the island in search of a trail. I could see a trail way down below me, so I worked my way along a ridge. Soon I found myself at the end of the ridge and had to do a little bit of scrambling to get down into the valley. Now it was just a matter of working my way back to the car. There were many different trails here, so I used AllTrails to make my way back to my car.
This was truly an adventure. I pretty much had the whole place to myself. I only saw two other groups of people in the valley as I was climbing around the rock formations. I highly recommend coming here if you want to explore the Alberta’s Badlands. If you stay on the trails, you will find it much easier than I did. Make sure you have an App with a map as you can easily get turned around hiking here.
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Thank you,
Cary Mason
#hikingalberta #travelalberta #badlands
Email – liveonalberta@gmail.com
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