Experience Tumbler Ridge

About 200 km west of Grande Prairie, lays the coal mining town of Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. One footloose and fancy-free summer day in 2000, two local boys, Mark Turner (11) and Daniel Helm (8), were tubing in the rapids of the Flatbed Creek near Tumbler Ridge. After falling off their tube, they walked back upstream on bedrock. Noting some unusual depressions on the banks, they became convinced that they were dinosaur tracks. Although sceptical, Daniel’s father, Dr. Charles Helm, ultimately contacted palaeontologist Dr. Rich McCrea, who confirmed the prints were part of the trackway of a heavily armoured ankylosaur. It turns out that 100 – 75 million years ago swampy coastal forests covered the current Tumbler Ridge region. Their beaches and swamps helped to preserve footprints of the dinosaurs that roamed the forests.

In 2002, a local prospector showed Dr. McCrea a bone he’d spotted in a large sandstone slab which had slid down into Quality Creek from the nearby cliff face. Ribs, vertebrae and a fibula embedded in the block represented a colossal find as the first massive concentration of dinosaur material in BC. The site turned out to be a treasure trove of dinosaur tracks and the bones of theropods, hadrosaurs, ankylosaurs, crocodiles, turtles, fish, a freshwater ray and a smattering of bivalve shells. The bones from this Kaskapau Formation (Turonian; about 90 million years old) proved much older than any others found in western Canada to date.

The Dinosaur Discovery Gallery in the Peace Region Palaeontology Research Centre.

Photo Courtesy of Dr. Richard T. McCrea

With such an explosion in the findings of dinosaur trackways and bones, Dr. McCrea spearheaded the creation of the Peace Region Palaeontology Research Centre (PRPRC) in 2003 to excavate, prepare, research, interpret, exhibit, and store fossils from the BC Peace Region.

Recognizing the abundance of paleontological phenomena in the Tumbler Ridge region, in 2014, UNESCO designated this area as the first global geo-park in western North America. The international organization cited the significance of the Cretaceous dinosaur tracks and bone bed, and the presence of Triassic fish and marine reptiles in making this designation.

In 2016 the PRPRC published the analysis of T. rex trackways found in the region; it provides the first record of the walking gait of tyrannosaurids. In the summer of 2017, Dr. Helm and Dr. McCrea, along with palaeontologist Dr. Lisa Buckley,

discovered avian trackways in this area in rocks of the Gates Formation (Lower Cretaceous, about 100 million years old). That year, coal mines operated by Conuma Coal Resources, Ltd. of Tumbler Ridge proved to be rich sources of dinosaur tracks. Several large ankylosaur and some theropod tracks were discovered in their Wolverine Mine.

Dr. Buckley with fossil bird trackway,

Photo Courtesy of Dr. Charles Helm

A BC chiropractor, Dr. Rick Lambert unearthed the first ever dinosaur skull discovered in BC beside a creek near Tumbler Ridge in 2017. Wandering down the creekbed after heavy rains, Dr. Lambert realized a rock formation that had caught his eye actually contained dinosaur teeth. It’s likely that these teeth form part of the skull of a massive tyrannosaurid-like Albertosaurus (around 75 million years old).

Over 700 dinosaur bones have been found in the Tumbler Ridge region, including one articulated crested hadrosaur (lambeosaur) surrounded by over 40 tyrannosaur teeth. Over 1500 fish and marine reptile specimens have been removed from the mountains to the PRPRC, making its collection one of the largest in the world. The research centre has developed the 6000 sq ft Dinosaur Discovery Gallery in Tumbler Ridge to exhibit and interpret these extensive collections and unique fossil finds. The main central exhibit is surrounded by many numerous displays highlighting the incredible diversity of the regional fossil assembly, suitable for all ages. The Gallery also contains a small theatre and a well-stocked gift shop. Popular items include exact replicas of locally found dinosaur footprints and tyrannosaur teeth.

Wolverine Mine,

Photo Courtesy of Dr. Charles Helm

Hands-on experiences are available via educational programs, dino-camps and dinosaur trackway tours. The Flatbed Creek trackway site features deep prints, which include rare dewclaw impressions. The 4 km long hiking trail is rated as moderately strenuous. The Wolverine River trackway features shallower prints with well preserved skin impressions. Nocturnal guided tours use lantern light to bring out the relief in the prints. The 1-km long route is also moderately strenuous.

A network of hiking trails near the PRPRC leads to numerous geo-sites, including spectacular waterfalls, mountain summits, sedimentary rock formations, caves and canyons.

For more information visit: trmf.ca or (250) 242-DINO [3466].

By: Dr. Shannon L. Tracey