Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park

Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park is a provincial park in Central Alberta, Canada, located about 103 km (64 mi) southeast of Red Deer and 16 km (9.9 mi) east of Trochu. The park is situated along the Red Deer River and features badlands topography. Its name derives from the large plateau in the middle of the park, 200 m (660 ft) above the Red Deer River, which has never been developed by humans and retains virgin prairie grasses.

Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park
Panoramic view
Location of Dry Island Park in Alberta
LocationKneehill County / Starland County / County of Stettler No. 6, Alberta, Canada
Nearest cityThree Hills, Red Deer
Coordinates51°56′38″N 112°57′49″W
Area34.5 km2 (13.3 sq mi)
EstablishedDecember 15, 1970
Governing bodyAlberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation

The park is situated at an elevation ranging from 720 m (2,360 ft) to 875 m (2,871 ft) and has a surface of 34.5 km2 (13.3 sq mi).

The park is the site of an ancient buffalo jump, where Cree native people drove bison over the cliffs in large numbers to provide for their tribes. The hills also contain unique flora and fauna that are not found this far east of Alberta's Rocky Mountains in as large numbers as at Dry Island. The park contains the most important Albertosaurus bone bed in the world, which was first discovered by Barnum Brown in 1910 and rediscovered by Dr. Phil Currie in 1997. The bone bed excavation was halted at the end of August, 2005. Dr. Currie left the Royal Tyrrell Museum in October 2005 to become the Canada Research Chair with the Biological Sciences Department at the University of Alberta. Under university auspices, excavation at the bone bed has continued in the summers of 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Activities

Wildflowers at Dry Island Buffalo Jump

The following activities are available in the park:[1]

See also

References

  1. Alberta Tourism, Parks, Recreation & Culture. "Activities in Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park". Retrieved 2007-07-14.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.