This morning we drove towards the North East of Calgary through flat country side with roads that have been planned on the drawing board. You basically drive for half and hour then you make a 90 degree turn and drive for another hour.

Every square meter of this land seems to be farmed. The view is only disrupted by oil pumps that are scattered across the land.

First stop was Horseshoe Canyon in Kneehill County. This amazing rock formation reminded us of the Bungle Bungles in Australia.

We arrived very early in the morning and had the short hike down into the canyon all to ourselves.

From Horseshoe Canyon we drove to the Drumheller Star Mine Suspension Bridge that connects both sides of the Red Deer River. The construction was used by miner‘s to get to work in the coal mine on the other side. The bridge has undergone reconstruction recently and has now been reopened. Walking across is quite a shaky experience especially on a windy day.

Just a short drive along Red Deer River you reach the Willow Creek Hoodoos, sandstone pillars with a rock cap that are formed by erosion.

A sign states that the Aboriginal peoples used “hoodoo” to refer to evil, supernatural forces. Some believed that they were giants turned to stone by the Great Spirit due to their evil deeds.

More on the humorous side was the following stop of the day: the Drumheller dinosaur, allegedly the world’s largest dinosaur. This Tyrannosaurus rex is built from fiberglass & steel and measures a whopping 26 meters . It features a viewing area in the mouth that you can reach via the visitor centre.

Drumheller is home to some of the most important fossil discoveries ever made. Amongst those a 70 million year old dinosaur skull, later christened Albertosaurus.

Highlight of the day, however, was Horse Thief Canyon and the prairie dogs who populate the viewing area.

The name of the canyon is derived from the legend that during the peak of the ranching era horses that ranged from here to beyond the “Hand Hills” would disappear just to later reappear carrying a different brand, hence the name “Horse Thief Canyon”.

Looking over the stunning rock formations I was almost expecting Winnetou and Old Shatterhand to be rounding the river bent on horseback.

From Horse Thief Canyon we had to cross the Red Deer River again to get to Orkney Viewpoint on the other side.

Taking the historic Bleriot Ferry made the crossing extra special.

Orkney Viewpoint offers a lookout over the Red Deer River from right across the Horse Thief Canyon but the view is completely different. We enjoyed some quiet time here before heading back to our hotel in Airdrie.