Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
 

Hi,

I wonder if anyone (Judy?) could advise me on the quickest route from Drumheller to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, and how long it will take? We will be visting in mid August and will have a car for this leg of our journey.

Many thanks.

It would take about 4 hours, not counting stops.

If you go to Map Quest and plug in Drumheller AB as your starting point and Fort Macleod AB as your ending point, you will be given a route that takes roughly 3.5 hours. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Interpretive Centre is on Route 785, approximately 30 minutes west of Fort Macleod, between Fort Macleod and Pincher Creek.

In my opinion it takes at least 2 hours to do justice to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump. It is not a "Wow!" place like the Tyrrell Museum, where the impressive dinosaur skeletons are "in your face," so to speak. To appreciate HSIBJ you need to read the explanations next to the exhibits, and you have to use your imagination to figure out what was there in the distant past.

I think I have an advantage at HSIBJ, in that my dad was a skilled tracker and hunter, and I sometimes followed him in the bush when I was a kid. That was in Africa, so it was a completely different natural environment. Nonetheless, I have enough of an appreciation of tracking and hunting in one ecological niche to be able to appreciate, at least to some extent, what is involved in tracking and hunting in any ecological niche.

Unfortunately the cafeteria at HSIBJ has a poor selection of food. We either take a picnic lunch and eat at the picnic tables just outside the Interpretive Centre or else we wait to have lunch in Fort Macleod or in Pincher Creek afterwards. In your case, it probably would be best to have lunch in Fort Macleod before you set out on Route 785 for HSIBJ.

Hope that helps.

It would realistically be too long for a day trip from Drumheller, although we did it as a day trip (a long day) from Calgary.

It is very interesting. Who knew about such a place before traveling to Calgary? I know I didn't. It is a fascinating site and shows the ingenuity of Native Americans long before the Europeans got to North America with the horse.

Hello red101,

FauxSteMarie's post motivated me to follow your name and find your previous posts about your trip to Canada. I was not for one minute thinking in terms of doing Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump as a day trip from Drumheller. That is, I would never have suggested it if you were going to be driving to Drumheller, visiting HSIBJ, and then returning to, say, Calgary all in one day.

I now see from your previous posts that you'll be travelling in RVs. You should add at least 10% and perhaps even 15% to the previously mentioned estimated driving times, which are based on car travel.

In addition to that, I see you'll be travelling with children under eleven. I think HSIBJ is a bit iffy in terms of its appeal to children. You know your children better than I do, and it <b>may</b> be a suitable spot for them to visit, but I would think long and hard about it if I were you.

I have to agree that HSBJ has limited appeal for young children. My son, who was about 13 at the time, was not thrilled with it and went back to the car early.

You can go whitewater rafting in the Calgary area. We went on the Kicking Horse out of Golden, BC, but that trip is unsuitable for very young children (age restrictions because it is rough). There is another water trip on calmer water southwest of Calgary if my memory serves me correctly. The kids might like that a lot better.

Hi, I'm having some difficulty posting a reply, so apologies if this appears more than once!

Many thanks for all the advice. It will not be a day trip from Drumheller - our itinerary is as follows:

Aug 12th - arrive and one night in Calgary, pick up car
Aug 13th - drive to and overnight in Drumheller
Aug 14th - drive to HSIBJ
Aug 15th - return to Calgary
Aug 16th - pick up RV for Rockies tour.

we have booked on a one and a half day tipi camping package at HSIBJ, which includes among other things, campfire story telling which we thought all the kids would enjoy. I agree the display at HSIBJ may not keep some of the younger children interested, but they (and the adults) are all excited about sleeping in a tipi! Anyone taken part in one of these camping packages?

I wanted to be able to get to HSIBJ as quickly as possibe as we have to return to Calgary the following day - I was trying to make sure that we got our day-and-a-half from the camping package! Also we will pick up the RV on our return to Calgary, so we will have a car, which should make the journey quicker.

Thanks again for all your comments.

My children, now 11 and 14, have visited Head Smashed In at least 3 times beginning when they were 7 and 10. They loved it every time.

Most recently, I went with a large school group (K - 12) who were, for the most part, enthralled. We did the camping trip. The kids set up a tipi, listened to campfire stories and slept in tipis. Again, they really enjoyed the experience. Taking part in the interpretive programs really helped their experience.

I've gone with my own kids and almost the same school group to Drumheller and Head Smashed In rated as highly in their opinions.

Thanks Heather49 - good to know that your kids enjoyed HSIBJ and though it was as good as Drumheller.

I remember as a child being dragged to places such as museums by my parents, complaining loudly. Now I look back on those experiences and am really glad that they took me!

Insofar as sleeping in tipis, etc., and loving Head Smashed In is concerned, if you are not part of an organized school group, you will not get those opportunities.

And, if you are the parent and the child is complaining loudly, the fun is kind of gone from the day--even if years later the child decides it is worthwhile. While it is going on, for the parents, it is very frustrating.

Good luck!

Thanks for the warnings FauxSteMarie.
We have been to several museums etc with the kids at home and on various holidays in past and they've been pretty good, so we'll see how it goes as we've already booked the tipi camping. We should get the chance to do some rafting and so on later on in our trip.

Many thanks.

Hi. Just returned from our trip to Canada, and the visit to head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump was one of the highlights in an altogether fantastic vacation! We took part in the tipi camping package. This included a guided tour of the HSIBJ Centre, which was excellent, a hands on session about how the Blackfoot people lived off the land, and the kids were allowed to handle all the tools and things that were talked about. We had our meals in the cafeteria, and although it wasn't fancy it was freshly cooked and plentiful. The tipi sleepover was amazing, if a little scary as it was a very windy night and the tipi creaked a lot! Another member of the HSIBJ team came over to the tipi site in the evening and we told us various Blackfoot stories, after which we had a campfire and stayed up talking and watching the stars. The kids absolutely loved the tipi sleepover.

I think just a visit of the HSIBJ centre could be a little dull for kids, but if you have the chance to take part in one of the tipi packages, I would highly recommend it!

The tipi camping package sounds like heaps of fun, red101. Glad to hear you had a good time. Thanks for providing feedback.

I am so glad you enjoyed the HSIBJ. My sister was the artist who did the panels there and we are proud of that heritage site here in So. Alberta. It is great that you took your kids and had such a good time.

&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;My sister was the artist who did the panels there&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;

Wow, catsmom, I'm impressed. I'll have to look at them more carefully next time I'm there.

Another thing about that museum that impresses me is the way in which it's built into the mountainside, so that you don't even see it till you're almost there.

Judy, she did not do the mural, she did the panels, the ones that are in black and white with the commentary and they fashioned the t-shirts after her panels, the ones where the buffalo are falling.

My sis is a very talented artist, unfortunately, that gene did not pass on to me.

..I have one of those t-shirts with that design !...I enjoyed HSIBJ very much...found it to be a quiet, spiritual place and enjoyed walking outside around the jump site...looking forward to a return visit..

Thanks for letting us all know how your visit went. I found it very interesting. My son sulked that day. Perhaps we should have arranged a camping experience.

By the way, my son loved the Drumheller Museum (as did I). I wish we had planned more time there to do one of the digs.

I loved HSIBJ - glad you did too!