By ALINA SEAGAL
Saskatchewan’s Grasslands National Park (Photo: Tourism Saskatchewan/Douglas E. Walker)
Some of the world’s most spectacular badlands can be found in Canada. Alberta is the most popular destination to view dry geological formations of rock and clay eroded by wind and water. But towering hoodoos, gullies, canyons and other badlands shapes crop up in other provinces too. These enigmatic planet Mars-like sites, often hiding dinosaur fossils, are always worth a visit.
Click on the photos to learn more about Canada’s badlands »
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- <small>SOUTHERN ALBERTA</small><br /> <br /> This <a title="http://travelalberta.com/Places%20to%20Go/Parks/Writing%20on%20Stone%20Provincial%20Park.aspx" href="http://travelalberta.com/Places%20to%20Go/Parks/Writing%20on%20Stone%20Provincial%20Park.aspx" target="_blank">historic site</a> is five hours south of Calgary, just north of the Montana–Alberta border. It contains native rock carvings and paintings along with fantastical-looking hoodoos, rock formations shaped by winds in the badlands.
- Photo: <a title="http://www.flickr.com/photos/diamondtrina/4929394557/in/set-72157630228108676" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/diamondtrina/4929394557/in/set-72157630228108676" target="_blank">Trina Collins</a>
- Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park
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- Photo: Trina Collins
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- <small>YUKON</small><br /> <br /> This <a title="http://www.env.gov.yk.ca/parksconservation/tombstonepark.php" href="http://www.env.gov.yk.ca/parksconservation/tombstonepark.php" target="_blank">iconic Yukon park</a> with tundra landscapes and alpine lakes doesn’t have the badlands territories found in Alberta. But take a look at these stunning rounded hillsides where little can grow.
- Photo: Government of Yukon photo/F. Mueller
- Tombstone Territorial Park
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- Photo: Government of Yukon photo/F. Mueller
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- <small>SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN</small><br /> <br /> <a title="http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/sk/grasslands/index.aspx" href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/sk/grasslands/index.aspx" target="_blank">Grasslands</a> is the only national prairie park in Canada. Aside from breathtaking flat views and ragged patches of badlands, this park features unique vegetation and animals. Look for the black-tailed prairie dogs and the black-footed ferrets here.
- Photo: Tourism Saskatchewan/Douglas E. Walker
- Grasslands National Park
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- Photo: Tourism Saskatchewan/Douglas E. Walker
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- <small>NUNAVUT</small><br /> <br /> <a title="http://goo.gl/maps/FOyT" href="http://goo.gl/maps/FOyT" target="_blank">Frobisher Bay</a>, along the southeast coastline of Baffin Island, has stunning grounds shaped by the elements. Geologists might scoff at such use of the term, but some describe these lands as the local "badlands".
- Photo: Nunavut Tourism/ Hans Pfaff
- Frobisher Bay
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- Photo: Nunavut Tourism/ Hans Pfaff
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- <small>SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN</small><br /> <br /> Though this valley is considered to be the west block of <a title="http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/sk/grasslands/index.aspx" href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/sk/grasslands/index.aspx" target="_blank">Grasslands National Park</a>, its stunning display carved by the wind deserves a separate mention. It serves as a scenic backdrop for trail rides and hikes into the local badlands.
- Photo: Tourism Saskatchewan/Douglas E. Walker
- Frenchman River Valley
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- Photo: Tourism Saskatchewan/Douglas E. Walker
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- <small>CENTRAL ALBERTA</small><br /> <br /> The <a title="http://albertaparks.ca/dry-island-buffalo-jump.aspx" href="http://albertaparks.ca/dry-island-buffalo-jump.aspx" target="_blank">provincial park</a>, less than two hours from Red Deer, has spectacular panoramic views and one of the largest Albertosaurus bone beds in the world. Fist Nations hunters once used these grounds to drive bison off cliff edges to secure meet supplies for the communities.
- Photo credit: <a title="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wscanada/2630748662/" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wscanada/2630748662/" target="_blank">Wilson Smith</a>
- Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park
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- Photo credit: Wilson Smith
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- <small>CENTRAL ALBERTA</small><br /> <br /> Just two hours east of Calgary, the <a title="http://albertatravel.org/Badlands_Alberta.htm" href="http://albertatravel.org/Badlands_Alberta.htm" target="_blank">Drumheller</a> area is peppered with patches of badlands. Anyone heading to the <a href="http://www.where.ca/listings/listing_detail.php?slug=royal-tyrrell-museum-20" title="http://www.where.ca/listings/listing_detail.php?slug=royal-tyrrell-museum-20">Royal Tyrrell Museum</a> to explore the local dinosaur collection must check out the scenic formations along the way.
- Photo: Alina Seagal
- Drumheller’s Alberta Badlands
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- <small>SOUTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA</small><br /> <br /> In the desert country west of Kamloops, <a title="http://www.hellobc.com/ashcroft.aspx" href="http://www.hellobc.com/ashcroft.aspx" target="_blank">Ashcroft</a> village spreads on both sides of Thompson River. The area is technically neither a desert nor a badlands. But it retains qualities of both with atypical plants and windblown dry hills.
- Photo: <a title="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mgifford/4955614785/in/photostream/" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mgifford/4955614785/in/photostream/" target="_blank">Mike Gifford</a>
- Desert Country around Ashcroft
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- Photo: Mike Gifford
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- <small>SOUTHERN ONTARIO</small><br /> <br /> Just an hour northwest of Toronto, the deep-red <a title="http://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/trails-a-z/cheltenham-hills/" href="http://www.ontariotrails.on.ca/trails-a-z/cheltenham-hills/" target="_blank">Cheltenham Badlands</a> look like lava-rock formations. The rounded hills get its odd hue from the iron oxide. This formation is one of the only badlands spaces in Ontario.
- Photo: <a title="http://www.flickr.com/photos/allenmcgregor/5086672169/" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/allenmcgregor/5086672169/" target="_blank">Allen McGregor</a>
- Cheltenham Badlands
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- Photo: Allen McGregor
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- <small>NOVA SCOTIA</small><br /> <br /> <a title="http://www.novascotiaparks.ca/parks/blomidon.asp" href="http://www.novascotiaparks.ca/parks/blomidon.asp" target="_blank">Blomidon Provincial Park</a> on the Evangeline Trail is sitting on the Bay of Fundy coast. Its famous red rock-cliffs, chewed by wind and water look a lot like the badlands farther west.
- Photo: <a title="http://www.flickr.com/photos/60548141@N00/4815320814/" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/60548141@N00/4815320814/" target="_blank">magnolia1000</a>
- Blomidon Provincial Park
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- <small>SOUTHERN SASKATCHEWAN</small><br /> <br /> About 100 years ago this <a title="http://www.townofcoronach.com/big-muddy.html" href="http://www.townofcoronach.com/big-muddy.html" target="_blank">scenic space in the prairie</a>, just three hours from Regina, used to conceal the famous Outlaw Trail travelled by horse thieves and bootleggers. Now the local badlands with the sandstone Castle Butte mound attract hikers and history buffs.
- Photo: Saskatchewan/Douglas E. Walker
- Big Muddy Badlands
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- Photo: Saskatchewan/Douglas E. Walker
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