Waterton Lakes N.P. (CA) & Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology

After leaving Glacier N.P. we crossed into Canada — where we failed border crossing — AGAIN!  (If you don’t remember that story, check here.)

Glacier National Park is the larger half of the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.  Both parks are declared Biosphere Reserves by UNESCO and their union as a World Heritage Site.  We knew that Waterton had a fire last year, and some areas were closed.  What we didn’t realize was that about “half” of the park was closed to the public!  Plus it was cloudy and rainy most of the time we were there.  Still it was a lovely place.

View from the campground
Cameron Falls near Waterton Village
View across Waterton Lake
We had many cute neighbors!
And Black Billed Magpies were abundant
Note the iridescent blue on the wings and tail of the Magpie

Leaving Waterton Lakes we headed north toward Calgary.  A little east of Calgary is the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, one of the world’s premier collections of fossils!  They have a collection of over 130,000 fossils and they are leaders in research and preservation of fossils.  We believe that their displays are the best organized of any we have ever seen, starting with an overview, then leading you through the rooms to follow development of the 3.9-billion-year-history of life on Earth.

Going through badlands as you enter the museum displays layers of geologic history
Children’s play area allows kids to excavate their own T-Rex in the sand!
Triceratops figures along entrance walkway
The carnivorous dinosaur, Albertosaurus sarcophagus, was first found in the area

  

Eryops was a large carnivorous amphibian that predates dinosaurs

    

Black Beauty – a Tyrannosaurus rex captured full body in stone
Tyrannosaurus rex
Oligocene Cat – predates sabre-tooth cats
Fossil diaorama of sabre-tooth cats attacking a mammoth

Now, on to Banff & Jasper!

 

Next Post:   Banff National Park of Canada

Previous Post: Glacier National Park