A visit to the Royal Tyrrell Museum is a must-do when visiting Drumheller. It’s usually the main attraction for families visiting the region. Kids love dinosaurs (and big kids do, too)! My family has been a few times over the years, both with toddlers and school-aged kids, and it’s worth the trip every time.
As soon as you walk into the main galleries, the prehistoric era comes to life. You can stand beside and beneath the giant dinosaurs that once roamed this land. You don’t have to imagine what they were like; the Royal Tyrrell Museum shows you. It tells the story of our planet from 3.9 billion years ago to today.
Whether you’re travelling with dino-loving kids or curious about Alberta’s natural history and our planet, a visit here offers new perspectives, wonder, and discovery. Here’s why you should include it on your Badlands family trip.
While visiting this special region, Northern Explorers respectfully acknowledges that the Royal Tyrrell Museum and Drumheller are in Treaty 7 territory on the ancestral and traditional homes, hunting grounds and gathering places of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai and Piikani), the Tsuut’ina First Nation, Stoney Nakoda First Nation and the Métis homeland. We honour your long-standing connections to this landscape and are grateful for the opportunity to learn more about its history and First Peoples.
Meet the Giants of our Prehistoric Past
The main gallery, called Dinosaur Hall, is enormous, with plenty of room for kids and strollers, and features multiple dinosaur skeleton displays. Standing beside them gives you an idea of how large these creatures were. Especially when standing beneath the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. It really puts their sheer size and power into focus!
The Alberta Badlands are particularly rich in dinosaur discoveries. This region holds the world’s most complete and concentrated record of the late Cretaceous Period and is globally famous for its abundance of dinosaur fossil discoveries. Researchers have unearthed over 1,000 complete skeletons and more than 58 distinct dinosaur species across these sandy hills and canyons.
When we visited the Natural History Museum in London, England, most of the full dinosaur skeletons and most impressive fossils came from Alberta’s Badlands! It was cool to see Alberta represented overseas.
Species that made the trip over the pond include: Albertasaurus, Albertaceratops, Spinops sternbergorum and various fossils. Most were found in Dinosaur Provincial Park.
One of the region’s most famous dinosaurs is Albertosaurus, a large carnivorous dinosaur named after the province. Its story is closely tied to the region’s paleontological history, beginning with Joseph Burr Tyrrell’s 1884 discovery of a dinosaur skull near present-day Drumheller.
That discovery helped put Alberta on the map as an important place for dinosaur research. Today, the museum continues to share the stories hidden in fossils found across the province. While the giant skeletons are impressive, take time to look at fossils that preserve evidence of animals and environments that existed long before humans. Each fossil tells a small part of a much bigger story.
The Science of a World in the Making
The dinosaurs draw tourists, but this museum has much more worth seeing. The Royal Tyrrell Museum explores Earth’s natural history across billions of years. You’ll find exhibits on ancient ecosystems, the evolution of life, and the geological processes that have shaped our planet and its landscapes.
They do a great job of making the exhibits engaging, interesting, and fun for all ages. For kids, a visit to this museum helps introduce them to science. But it’s not like a school lesson; it’s an interactive adventure with so much to see and do. From paleontology, geology, and earth science to biology, ecology, field sciences and research methods, the museum’s exhibits, hands-on programming, and workshops bring these core and applied sciences to life.
Questions Answered for Curious Kids
If you have a kid like mine, you’re likely answering dozens of questions a day. He has a curious mind and wants to know the how, when, why, where and who of everything, including dinosaurs and the Earth’s history. The Royal Tyrrell Museum captures that curiosity and imagination and turns it into answers and learning opportunities.
How tall were these animals? What did they eat? Why did they disappear? How do scientists know what they looked like? How tall am I compared to a dinosaur?
They’ll get answers through an adventurous, fun outing, not by memorizing facts. It truly is a place for discovery and fun.
Exploring the Landscape Beyond the Museum
The Royal Tyrrell Museum is located smack dab in the middle of Midland Provincial Park. This setting showcases the best of the Badlands scenery, including sandstone hills, hoodoos, coulees and layered rock buttes. These rock layers reveal a geological history stretching back millions of years. Erosion over those years has carved it into unusual shapes, exposing stunning colours and formations and creating rugged valleys that make the Badlands so unique.
After exploring the museum, head outside to experience the landscape itself. Midland Provincial Park offers several walking trails, day-use picnic areas, and access to the Red Deer River. This otherworldly landscape sparks the imaginations of would-be fossil hunters and deepens understanding of what makes the Canadian Badlands so remarkable.
Planning Your Visit to the Royal Tyrrell Museum
The Royal Tyrrell Museum is open year-round, so you don’t have to wait for summer holidays to visit. We’ve been there in the spring, summer and winter, and each trip was enjoyable. Here are a few more things to consider before you visit.
Getting There
Drumheller and the Royal Tyrrell Museum are approximately 3 hours (280 km) from Edmonton and 1.5 hours (135 km) from Calgary. Once you’re in Drumheller, follow the signs for the Royal Tyrrell Museum and take North Dinosaur Trail (Highway 838) toward Midland Provincial Park.
Hours and Admission
Opening hours and admission prices vary by season. Check the official Royal Tyrrell Museum website before setting out. Their website also shares information about current exhibits, activities, accessibility, and visitor amenities.
How Much Time to Allow
It took my family about two hours to explore the entire museum. If you have younger children, give yourself a little more time and let them set the pace. Leave time to check out the Paleo Play Park just outside the building, which opens in the summer.
Accessibility
The Royal Tyrrell Museum is stroller- and wheelchair-friendly, with accessible washrooms on each level, an elevator, and a wheelchair ramp. You can rent a stroller or manually operated wheelchair at the Visitor Services Desk for $3.
If your personal stroller is exceptionally wide, they may ask you to swap it (free of charge) for a Museum stroller that complies with their fire regulations.
Special Programs
It’s also worth checking the museum’s current activities and programs before your visit. Depending on what’s available, you may find additional opportunities to explore fossils and learn more about the work of paleontologists.
Make it Part of a Greater Badlands Adventure!
The museum is fantastic, but it’s just one stop on what could be the most epic Badlands family adventure. So many cool attractions and natural spaces tell the story of this region and let you experience it firsthand. If your entire trip is in Drumheller, read our guide: 10 Fun Things to Do With Kids in Drumheller.
You can also discover other badlands destinations in these stories:
- Dry Island Buffalo Jump: A Badlands Destination to Remember
- A Landscape of Stories at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park /Áísínai’pi
- A Boat Ride in the Badlands on the Kid-Friendly Bleriot Ferry
- Hiking in Dinosaur Provincial Park: Everything you need to know
- Hiking the Matapiiski (Hoodoo) Trail in Writing-on-Stone/Áísínai’pi Provincial Park
