photographed by Jessie Altura
Last month, I took a road trip to the Hoodoos near Drumheller, Alberta.
The Drumheller Hoodoos are tucked into eastern Alberta’s rolling hills and are one of the province’s many hidden gems. While most tourist traffic leaving Calgary heads west towards world-renowned destinations like Banff, Lake Louise, and Peyto Lake, we aimed for this lesser-known attraction an hour and a half north-west of the city.
After driving through the seemingly endless prairies, the landscape of the Badlands and the Hoodoos is in sharp contrast. The Hoodoos are natural sandstone formations in the Alberta Badlands National Park. They’re Canada’s very own mini Cappadocia of sorts (minus the hot-air balloons 😉 ). The area is actually very similar to the Big Muddy Badlands in Southern Saskatchewan where Nomade & Mode did a photoshoot earlier this summer.
The prairies have many amazing landscapes and unique photo opportunities, and I’m taking full advantage of it. That said, a photoshoot for Nomade & Mode at the Hoodoos was on my to-do list for a while. I finally got the chance to make it happen while visiting my friend Laura, who is a visual artist based in Calgary.
The photoshoot was very impromptu. Laura and I styled everything at 1 AM the night before we drove to the Drumheller Hoodoos. We also reached out to our photographer Jessie around the same time. Fortunately, he was available last minute, and the day turned into an amazing road-trip. (Check out more of Jessie’s work here).
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What to visit in the Alberta Badlands:
The Alberta Badlands are famous for being a dinosaur fossil hotspot, an obvious theme as you drive through Drumheller. The city’s unofficial mascot is the “World’s Largest Dinosaur,” a giant T-Rex sculpture that sits next to the tourist office. Climb the 106 steps to the mouth of the dinosaur for one of the best views of the city. You can also visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum to check out the extensive collection of dinosaur fossils, which is a half-hour drive from the Hoodoos.
Also not to be missed while in the area is the Dinosaur Provincial Park, around an hour and a half southeast of Drumheller. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and is one of the most dinosaur fossil dense sites in the world.
Unfortunately for us, this trip was more fashion than dinosaur-related 😉 , and we had a deadline to be back in Calgary.
Although the Drumheller Hoodoos aren’t nearly as busy as other tourist attractions like Banff, I recommend going early to beat the crowds. Parking was a very informal two dollars paid to a guy sitting in a lawn chair by his truck 😛 . Two food trucks are also now parked in the lot below the Hoodoos pathway, unexpectedly serving affogatos, ice cream, and iced lattes.
If you’re looking for a fun day trip from Calgary, I highly recommend visiting the Alberta Hoodoos, along with the tourist attractions that Drumheller has to offer.
Pro tip: Drive directly to the Hoodoos before visiting Drumheller (Highway 564, then Highway 56). This is the Drumheller scenic route and is much nicer compared to the main highway between Calgary and Drumheller (Highway 9).
For more behind the scenes of the shoot day, check out Nomade & Mode on Instagram @nomadeandmode.
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