Drumheller is located 138 km northeast of Calgary, and is the gateway to the badlands of the Red Deer River Valley. The Valley's deep gorges are like the Grand Canyon's (but smaller) caused by a glacial meltdown at the end of the last Ice Age. The Drumheller Badlands are one of the few areas in the world where sedimentary layers from earlier time periods have been scraped off by natural processes, exposing a rich cache of fossils and even complete dinosaur skeletons. Large numbers of prehistoric fossils have been exposed for discovery, the product of glacial activity during the last ice age. The town gets an average 2,490 hours of sunshine a year, making it feel like a desert in the summertime. Dinosaur lovers make treks to Drumheller to see the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology. The spectacular Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology is the most popular in North America, while scientists from around the globe use its' unparalleled research facility. The world's largest exhibit of complete dinosaur skeletons will take you on a journey through time from the days of single-celled plants in the sea. Experience 4.5 billion years of the earth's history through skeletons, fossils, hands-on displays and computer simulations. With leading modeling technology, fibre optics and computer wizardry, we have created a cultural experience of world-class recognition. Two popular drives in the Drumheller Valley are Dinosaur Trail and Hoodoo Drive. Dinosaur Trail takes you west of Drumheller to Midland Provincial Park and the Valley of the Dinosaurs. The Hoodoo Drive takes you past 25 kilometers of badlands terrain southeast of Drumheller, into the small Alberta coal mining communities that were in their heyday at the start of this century. Today, Drumheller has a population nearly 8,000 people and it's land mass covers almost 108 square kilometers.