Drumheller Hoodoos

Elevation: 760 m
Elevation Gain: 80 m
The Drumheller Hoodoos are tall, eroded pillars of sandstone capped with a more resilient rock top (that ultimately protects the softer rock underneath). The term “Hoodoo” is derived from the African Hausa language and means “to arouse resentment and practice retribution.” Presumably, this is a reference to their unusual or ominous forms, which have led to their incorporation within the lore of various First Nations. Indeed, local Blackfoot and Cree people contended that the Drumheller Hoodoos were petrified giants who came to life at night to protect the land.
My Ascents:
August 12 2022
Trailhead: Hoodoos Trail

After being forced to cancel a weeklong trip to Jasper (thanks COVID 😷), we decided to salvage a mini summer vacation (once everyone had recovered and come off their, no longer mandatory, isolations). Having had her fill of mountain adventures this summer, Brianne suggested that we head to nearby Drumheller for a change of geological pace. Never one to look a gift dinosaur 🦖🦕 in the mouth, I happily obliged and booked us a site at a family-friendly Drumheller campground (not all of them are 😳, so be careful where you book)!

LEFT and RIGHT: Having not been to the magnificent Royal Tyrrell Museum since pre-COVID times, our girls were SUPER excited to get up close and personal with “real” dinosaurs. Come to think of it, I was pretty excited too! RAWR!

While the museum is, without a doubt, the highlight of every Drumheller visit, we also did some outdoor exploration during our trip, including a hike (of course) at the nearby Hoodoos.

LEFT: 4-year-old Penny and 6-year-old Mera were excited to dust off their hiking boots for a badlands stroll around the hoodoos. While hiking boots looked ridiculous when everyone else was wearing sandals, they didn’t seem so absurd when our little ones easily clambered up steep hillsides that reduced grown, sandal-wearing adults to crawling…
RIGHT: A boot-clad Brianne embarks on the Hoodoo trail. The trail proper is an absurdly short 0.2 km interpretive loop. Obviously, this wouldn’t do for the Hobbs family so we decided to extend our hike by scrambling to the top of the hill above!

A smattering of ill-prepared tourists 🤦‍♂️ dot the landscape above the official trail.

LEFT: Penny and Mera become one with the hoodoos.
RIGHT: Penny scrambles up the silty hillside under the watchful eye of her 7.5-month pregnant mother.

LEFT and RIGHT: Daddy’s little scramblers! 😍

LEFT: Brianne looks far, far too happy to be out hiking somewhere other than the mountains. 🤔
RIGHT: Miss Mera nears the “summit” a whopping 80 m above the trailhead.

The panorama of the Red Deer River Valley from the top of the climb which 4-year-old Penny described as “easy peezy lemon squeezy!” 🍋 (while another struggling adult hiker looked on incredulously 🤣). Click to see larger.

Brianne and the girls enjoy lunch high atop the hoodoos despite the fact that the ascent’s easy, peezy effort didn’t really merit a replenishment of calories.

After lunch, Mera made an “exciting” discovery as we explored the hilltop…

…Thinking she may have found a cool fossil or critter, I rushed over to see that she’d discovered a cactus. 🙄 At least she didn’t discover it by falling on it! 😂

With temperatures soaring and the sun baking us, our small children decided to appropriate our sunglasses.

Looking down at the busy Hoodoos trail below. From here, its advertised 0.2 km length seems like a stretch as the parking lot is bigger than the interpretive loop!

Family photo away from the crowds below. I knew the Drumheller region was renowned for its dinosaurs but I had no idea we’d find 2 (sunglass-wearing) turkeys here. 🕶️🦃

Panoramic views over the Willow Creek Coulee (left) and the Red Deer River Valley (right) from the hilltop’s eastern end. Click to see larger.

During our explorations, we discovered an alternate way down towards the nearby Willow Creek Coulee and happily availed ourselves of it since it was a) easier and b) allowed us to extend our short hike somewhat. As you can see, our turkeys now had our sunglasses and our hiking poles… 🙄

LEFT and RIGHT: Sunglasses recovered at least! Score one for the adults! 🥳

Descending more gentle slopes to the east of the hoodoos also allowed us to spend some time fossil-hunting with our little ones while enjoying more badland views. Click to see larger.

LEFT: Sadly, our fossil hunt proved fruitless but I, at least, succeeded in finding great craft beer once we returned to Drumheller.
RIGHT: With our next little scrambler 👶 due in 5 weeks, craft beer wasn’t exactly Brianne’s jam so we also found a way for her to cool off! Our Hoodoos “hike” may have been easy, peezy, lemon squeezy but after a hot afternoon in the sun, a comfy seat in a cool fountain was just what the doctor (me) ordered. 🙃🍋