Hooliganting: Southern Alberta: Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump and Bar U Ranch

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Southern Alberta: Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump and Bar U Ranch

Alberta has some amazingly quick roads for travel. Sometimes, road trips are wonderful. When in Southern Alberta, I can strongly recommend two intriguing stops for exploration and fun.

First let me introduce you to Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump. The name says it all. You have to go just so that you can say that you have been to "head smashed". This is a World Heritage Site. Off the beaten path a little bit, it is a two hour drive from Calgary. I was on a bus tour, which had a fortunate stop at Tim Horton's in Claresholm. I say that as the cafeteria at Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump is your only other option once you are there.

Once there, you should really go to the very top and walk out to see the Buffalo Jump cliffs. The views are splendid over the rolling prairies and the drop illustrates the purpose to which the cliffs had in days gone by. From there, the museum that is built into the hillside winds you back through five floors of exhibitions and interactive activities. They have an amazing educational center with a small cafeteria and gift shop. I loved the teepee displays and the original artifacts lovingly preserved.

While here, I also took time to wander the trails. These were ominously marked to watch for wildlife but other than people, I didn't see any. Instead, we saw kites flying that were there courtesy of the Art Project. This project sends kites to artists from the First Nations communities to have them painted. They are then flown at Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump.

This was only a two hour stop for us and then we headed back north and west to the Bar U Ranch. Again, this is not on the roads most traveled but is completely doable as part of a day trip. I think that I had more fun here as they had a preserved ranch site. They had the wagon rides and horses. We were able to try our hands at roping (I was terrible) and could visit the chuckwagon for tea and stories. There was the cattle round up and demonstrations along with lots of exhibitions and interpreters to help you out. This is a Parks Canada site so it is well maintained and the fresh baked goods were terrific. The drive to get here is beautiful too. This stop was even fun in the rain!