East Coulee

Climb the last wooden tipple in Canada. Learn how coal was sorted, stored, and shipped in this unique processing plant. Walk the gantry – a gradual ascent - 125 feet up to the top of the Tipple to learn about the reality young boys faced: that the dangers of the surface were a training ground for the formidable "belly of the beast. Follow in the historic footsteps of the miners. Put on a cap lamp and hike up the inclined conveyer tunnel to the mine entry, set high in the Badlands. Explore the dark side of coal mining – learn about accidents, brawls, the women, and the unmentionable side of Drumheller Valley history.

Displays of life during the coal-mining era.

Hoodoos are a characteristic rock formation of the badlands. Looking like 2-m-tall mushrooms, they were formed when a cap of more resistant rock protected the softer rock underneath from erosion. Hoodoos can be found in other parts of the region, but this trail makes a few of them easy to visit. A picture there shows that, sadly, there are fewer hoodoos now than even a few decades ago, as erosion and tourist curiosity take their toll. The trail is under 1 km and an easy scramble across rocks. Parking area includes covered picnic tables and chemical toilets. There is also a Hoodoo Trail drive through the area, along Route 10.