Royal Tyrrell Museum Visitors Guide
Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Canada, is one of the best day trips from Calgary any time of the year. Before your visit, read our Royal Tyrrell Museum travel guide, learn how to plan your trip, how to get to Drumheller, what to expect, tips on best exhibits, where to stay, and how much the entrance fee is.
The province of Alberta hides many secrets, and the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller is one of the best of them.
Drumheller is a small and quiet town in the Canadian Badlands northwest of Calgary, about 90 minutes drive from the city. The town is famous for its rich prehistoric history and landscape.
Badlands in east-central Alberta cannot be compared to the famous Canadian Rockies in the west, which attracts millions of visitors from all around the world each year. These incredible mountains and places such as Banff or Jasper are usually the main reason why so many travelers choose to visit this beautiful province in the first place.
Visitors cannot wait to hit the road, and this is why they often skip the Drumheller area, which is in the opposite direction than the mountain range.
But skipping the area completely, in our opinion, would be a huge mistake as it offers an entirely different experience.
Drumheller is known as the Dinosaur capital of the world for a reason. More than 75 million years ago, the mighty dinosaurs were the rulers of Earth. With its tropical climate, the province of Alberta looked completely different than it does today.
Fast forward to the end of the 19th century, Joseph Burr Tyrrell was sent to Alberta by the Geological Survey of Canada to search for coal deposits. The expedition was a success, he found what he was looking for, and the systematic coal mining started.
However, two months later, he stumbled upon the discovery of a lifetime, 70-million-year-old dinosaur skull, and the life of an average Canadian town has changed forever, and dinosaurs became Drumheller's pride.
Today, the museum carries the name after Joseph Burr Tyrrell in honor of his discovery.
There are many must-visit places in Drumheller and its surroundings, such as Hoodoo Trail, Horsethief Canyon, Atlas Coal Mine, Bleriot Ferry, or the Badlands & Horseshoe Canyon, but in this travel guide, we would like to focus on Royal Tyrrell Museum and share with you all the necessary practical information.
So, is the Royal Tyrrell Museum worth a visit before you continue to explore the Badlands?
VISITING THE ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM
Visiting the museum is very intuitive, despite its size. Once you buy your ticket, there's nothing that would hold you back from gaining knowledge about these prehistoric giants.
The Royal Tyrrell Museum is well laid out and remarkably informative.
You will start with the foundations, learn about the history of the Earth, ancient Alberta, landscape, ancient plants, environments, evolution, bones, shells, skulls, fossils, and paleontology itself.
Then you will proceed to even more exciting parts of the museum.
One of the best places in the museum is called the Preparation Lab. Here you can see (through the glass) technicians who are actually preparing the fossils for further research projects and exhibitions. That's really awesome!
Furthermore, there was a place where another technician was removing the rock in front of us (no glass barrier this time)!
It couldn't get any better than this. But somehow, it did. In fact, that was not the absolute highlight for us. It was something else.
The first time you enter the Dinosaur Hall, it will just blow you away.
It feels really strange to stand below the great Tyrannosaurus Rex's enormous body, look into the 'eyes' of Triceratops or get closer to Stegosaurus. And there are so many more exhibits in the Royal Tyrrell Museum of these amazing animals that we could circle around the hall for hours.
We can't fail to mention also the 220 million years old and absolutely epic fossil of Shonisaurus sikanniensis, with 21 meters the world's largest marine reptile.
Speaking of ancient fossils and findings, one of the exhibits shows 505 million years old models of creatures from the Burgess Shale, which is located in Yoho National Park.
This world-famous site is near the park's top attractions, such as Emerald Lake or Takakkaw Falls, and you can visit it with a guided tour.
If you are a paleontology enthusiast, make sure to incorporate this area in your Canadian Rockies itinerary.
At last, the Mammal Hall and Ice Age will take you to a completely different world and make a nice ending to a very long day.
HOW MUCH TIME YOU NEED
We think we spent in the museum something between 6-7 hours, crazy, right, but it was definitely worth it.
The truth to be told, we think we did not read even the half of information signs and absolutely understand that travelers who are more into history and dinosaurs can easily spend here much longer.
This is also the reason why you can purchase a multi-day ticket.
Royal Tyrrell Museum is a unique museum of its kind, and once there, there's certainly not a reason to rush.
SERVICES
When it comes to services in Royal Tyrrell Museum, you'll be fully satisfied. There's a restaurant by the entrance, where you can buy snacks and refreshments because it is easy to spend hours here.
If you travel on a budget, consider bringing your own snack and reusable water bottle, but this time, we made an exception and had lunch here as prices were reasonable.
Plenty of washrooms throughout the property is the norm, and there's always a souvenir shop close to the exit.
ENTRANCE FEE
General admission in Royal Tyrrell Museum is 21 CAD for adults for one day or 27 CAD for two days.
For us, one day in the museum was enough but had we had more time, we could imagine we could have walked around the halls one more time, and we would read the information we had missed the day before.
Royal Tyrrell Museum is opened seven days a week from mid-May to August 31, from 9 AM to 9 PM; seven days a week in September from 10 AM to 5 PM; from October to mid-May from 10 AM to 5 PM every day but Monday.
Although we work hard to keep this blog as up-to-date as possible, as the situation can always change the same as the price of the tickets, always check for updates on the official website.
BADLANDS INTERPRETATIVE TRAIL
Once you finish exploring the museum, wait a bit, and do not leave just yet as there's one more thing you should not miss, Badlands Interpretative Trail.
On this trail, you will safely explore the Badlands area around the Royal Tyrrell Museum.
The trailhead starts about 150 meters northeast of the museum entrance. The trail is 1 kilometer long, and it takes about 30 minutes to finish the loop.
We visited the Badlands at the end of June, and it was 35 Celsius outside, so make sure you have strong sunscreen, and wear straw hat and sunglasses.
Once you get back from the trail, return to the museum, and just opposite the entrance, you can climb a short hill with a nice view from the top.
Travel Insurance
We never leave home without travel insurance that was designed to cover our expenses if something goes wrong during the trip.
Travel insurance protects against theft, flight delays, injury, illness, cancellations, and much more.
World Nomads provides travel insurance for travelers to cover their trip essentials, including sports and adventure activities.
SafetyWing is affordable travel insurance for backpackers, long-term travelers, and digital nomads.
Travel smarter and safer!
WHERE TO STAY
As we wanted to explore the Canadian Badlands more thoroughly, we based ourselves in Drumheller for a couple of nights.
However, it's perfectly fine to stay in Calgary and visit Royal Tyrrell Museum on a day trip.
Drumheller offers several hotels, but the selection is somewhat limited.
On the other hand, Calgary has a wide variety of hotels, hostels, motels, etc., in all price ranges to accommodate you during your visit.
Check out our favorite picks for the best hotels in Drumheller and Calgary.
Drumheller | Canalta Jurassic - Hotel Jurassic Canalta offers a large indoor hot tub, spacious rooms, sauna, fitness room, free Wi-Fi, complimentary hot breakfast, and a great location right off the SH 9.
Drumheller | Badlands Motel - A very classic motel features air-conditioned rooms, an on-site restaurant, and basic rooms for an affordable price. Badlands Motel has an excellent location on the Dinosaur Trail road close to the Royal Tyrrell Museum.
Calgary | Wingate by Wyndham Calgary Airport - This hotel has a great location for guests who want to catch an early flight or visit Drumheller the next day. Wingate by Wyndham Calgary Airport offers an indoor hot tub and pool, complimentary hot breakfast, a free 24-hour shuttle service, and free parking.
HOW TO GET FROM CALGARY TO ROYAL TYRRELL MUSEUM
If you would like to make a trip from Calgary to the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, you only really have one option.
There is no way around it. The fastest and most efficient way to get to Drumheller from Calgary is by car.
Drive over to State Highway 2 and head north towards Airdrie. The fastest way is to turn right in Balzar and follow the road to Beiseker. Once you reach Beiseker, turn right and join State Highway 9, which will take you all the way to Drumheller.
The GPS navigation will offer you a couple of more options and suggest the best route that depends on the current traffic conditions. Normally, it takes about 90 minutes to get from Calgary to Drumheller.
The museum is located less than a 10-minute drive from the town's center, so cross Michichi Creek, turn left to Midland Provincial Park, and drive to Royal Tyrrell Museum.
Royal Tyrrell Museum has a pretty large parking lot, and you will find a spot easily on most days.
There are many rental companies in Calgary, and you have plenty of options here.
Really, renting a car in Calgary is very easy.
As the Calgary Airport is located in the northeast, you might want to rent the car there, drive directly to Drumheller, and then come back and explore Calgary and, consequently, the Canadian Rockies.
There used to be a Greyhound bus from Calgary to Drumheller, but the service is no longer available. And the bus stopped only in Drumheller, so you would have to walk several kilometers to get to the museum anyway.
TOURS
There are also many tours to choose from. However, they usually travel around the Canadian Badlands, making several stops along the way, which is very convenient.
However, you can spend only about two hours in the museum itself, which is not really enough, if the museum is the main reason behind your visit.
The last option is to take a Royal Tyrrell Museum, Drumheller and Badlands Private Tour.
However, it is a pretty expensive way to get there, though you can customize your travel itinerary to fit your plans and expectations.
Travel Resources
Here you can find links to all the travel resources we use and which you might find helpful when planning your next holiday.
Accommodation: When looking for accommodation, we usually search hotels via Booking.com or Hostelworld.
Tours: Although we love to travel independently, some places are better to visit with a guided tour.
We prefer GetYourGuide for its easy-to-use interface and solid reputation. Another great alternative is Viator.
Rental Cars: When going on a road trip, we always use Rentalcars.com, a reliable site for booking a rental car in advance.
Flight Tickets: When looking for flight tickets, you can search Skyscanner to find the best price.
Travel Insurance: World Nomads and SafetyWing cover against risks of travel.
