Local Field Excursions

Many of the possible geoscientific excursions for this proposed 38th IGC will pass through scenic regions of North America. In addition, family- or individual-based recreation and touring activities such as camping, hiking and river rafting can be readily incorporated before and after the Congress.

Mt Yamnuska and the McConnell Thrust; Canoe Meadows and the Cretaceous Kootenay Group

  • easily accessible

  • family-friendly

  • no elevation gain

  • day trip by bus

Image credit: Travel Alberta

Dinosaur Provincial Park

  • UNESCO World Heritage Site

  • Cretaceous dinosaur bone bed displays

  • explore the badlands landscape

  • behind the scenes tour of the bone beds

  • family-friendly

  • minimal elevation gain

  • day trip by bus

Image credit: Jenni Scott

Canadian Rocky Mountains Parks

  • UNESCO World Heritage Site

  • Permian-Triassic boundary (Banff)

  • Cambrian-Precambrian boundary (Lake Louise)

  • easily accessible

  • free time to explore the surroundings

  • family-friendly

  • paved hiking trails and no elevation gain

  • day trip by bus

Image credit: K Boggs

Blackfoot Crossing

  • unique Indigenous cultural historical site

  • location of Treaty 7 signing

  • elder story-teller, dancing performances, traditional Bannock (Indigenous bread)

  • overnight sleeping in a teepee is possible (would require separate organisation)

  • family-friendly

  • no elevation gain

  • day trip by bus

Image credit: K Boggs

Burgess Shale/ Walcott Quarry

  • UNESCO World Heritage Site

  • discovery of the ‘Cambrian Explosion of Life’

  • quarry has restricted access and must be guided with official guides

  • 22km hike round trip with 700m elevation gain

  • day trip by bus (long day)

Image credit: Murdoch McKinnon

Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump

  • UNESCO World Heritage Site

  • discover 6000 years of Plains Buffalo culture

  • views of prairie landscape

  • family-friendly

  • minimal elevation gains

  • day trip by bus

Image credit: Andrew Penner/ Travel Alberta

Badlands and Royal Tyrrell Museum

  • explore the badlands landscapes with its hoodoos and burning coal beds

  • iconic dinosaur exhibits

  • behind the scenes tour of museum collections and recent discoveries

  • family-friendly

  • minimal elevation gain

  • day trip by bus

Image credit: Royal Tyrrell Museum

Áísínaiʼpi National Historic Site– Writing on Stone Provincial Park

  • UNESCO World Heritage Site

  • Explore the thousands of petroglyphs at 50 locations

  • listen to elder story-telling

  • watch for birds and wildlife (falcons, owls, kestrels, pheasants, partridges, pronghorn antelope)

  • family-friendly

  • minimal elevation gain

  • day trip by bus (long day)

Image credit: Travel Alberta