Outdoor Report: Escape the crowds at Dry Island Buffalo Jump provincial park

The chill in the air marks the start of thechanging larches and the busiest season for hiking in the Rocky Mountains.

So, for this week's Outdoor Report,Paul Karchutintroduces us to anature walk that's nevercrowded.

Where is this somewhat secret hike?

Dry Island Buffalo Jump provincial park.

Never heard of it?Neither had I.

It took meroughly two hours to drive there from Calgary, and my guides wereGreg and Susan Hall.

"It's a wonderful vista," says Susan.

The best way to describe it? It's a lot likeDinosaur Provincial Park or Drumhellercomplete with a deep, desert-like valley and those iconic Alberta hoodoos.

Greg calls it a "hidden gem" and says you can wander for hours without seeing anybody.

How established is this park?

There's not much infrastructure in the park,but that's part of its charm.You have some picnic tables and an outhouse in the parking lot,but that's kind of it.

There's no camping andnoofficial trails just a network of kind of deer paths that you have to make sense of.

So as Greg says, it's a bit of a chooseyourown adventure.

"We have been ... alittle disorientated in going down the wrong channel or up the wrong ridge."

After a rain, the access road often closes because it just becomes a skating rink, sokeep an eye on the forecast. If it's raining the day before you plan to go, best to waituntil things dry out.

Why is it called Dry Island Buffalo Jump provincial park?

The buffalo jump is pretty self-explanatory. This area was used numerous times over the last 3,000 years by Indigenous Albertans.

What makes this one unique is they wouldrun buffalo off a 40-metre cliff at the north end of the park. That's a much larger drop than other buffalo jumps discovered in Alberta.

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As for the dry island,that'san entirely different part of the park.

It's an isolated hunk of prairie formedby overthousands of years bystreams and rain.What you're left with is this flat-topped island,covered withprairie grasses inan otherwise sort of Martian landscape.

And getting on top of that island is often the goal people set for themselves.But again, because these trails aren't marked, you might wind up just exploring with no specific end goal.

Is it also a hot spot for dinosaur fossils?

Yes, and we came across a number of dig sites on our hike both active and inactive. But, itwas a weekend so noonewas working.But,it's not that uncommon to come over a hill and walk right on top of a team of paleontologists digging away.

In fact, Greg and Susan once stumbled upon one of the most famous paleontologistsin Canada Dr. Philip Currie whowound up spending a big chunk of time telling them what he was up to.

An impromptu lecture like that is just not something you'd get to experience in our other busier fossil spots in Alberta.

What advice do you have for people who want to check it out?

Well, it certainly is getting cooler now but in the dead of summer, this area can get scorching hot so make sure to bring lots of water.The mosquitoes can also be really bad so bug spray wouldn't hurt.

But Greg and Susan say it's a great area to explore with kids, becausethe hoodoos and other formations make for a really interesting environment for their imaginations to run wild.

This could also be a great place to extend your hiking season later in the fall when the mountains west of us are getting too cold or snowy.