


The feature was originally discovered by Lynn Hickox while examining images on the Google Earth application in November 2006.

Canada badlands guardian tv#
It was the winner of the RTNDA National TV short feature award for that year. In 2006 Medicine Hat's CHAT-TV Reporter Dale Hunter did a short feature on the Badlands Guardian. Its age is estimated to be in the hundreds of years at a minimum. Although the image appears to be a convex feature, it is actually concave – that is, a valley, which is formed by erosion on a stratum of clay, and is an instance of the Hollow-Face illusion. The 'head' may have been created during a short period of fast erosion immediately following intense rainfall. The arid badlands are typified by infrequent but intense rain-showers, sparse vegetation and soft sediments. The head is a drainage feature created through erosion of soft, clay-rich soil by the action of wind and water. Its scale is much larger than the figures of Mount Rushmore.

The apparent earphones are a road and an oil well, which were installed recently and are expected to disappear once the project is abandoned. Because of additional man-made structures, it also appears to be wearing earphones.
Canada badlands guardian full#
Viewed from the air, the feature bears a strong resemblance to a human head wearing a full Aboriginal Canadian headdress, facing directly westward. The Badlands Guardian (also known as Indian Head) is a geomorphological feature located near Medicine Hat in the south east corner of Alberta, Canada. So pack up your camera, and come and explore! For more information on travel in the region, check Travel Alberta. Wherever you go in the Canadian Badlands, you’ll find a sight to remember. Or relax and watch the stars from one of the many campgrounds in the area. You can rent a variety of recreation equipment, including stargazing kits and explorer backpacks to guide your discoveries of science and nature. Count how many bird species you can spy along the shore.Įxplore the splendid boardwalks and trails at Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park all year round. Or contemplate the hoodoos from the water as you paddle or float down the Milk River.Įnjoy the warm lake and superb beach at Kinbrook Island Provincial Park, just 90 minutes east of Calgary. It’s a great place for birdwatching, backcountry hiking, canoeing, cycling or simply soaking up the wondrous sights.ĭiscover hundreds of sandstone hoodoos as you hike the trails and marvel at the ancient rock art at Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park. The stunning, otherworldly landscape of the Canadian Badlands teems with wildlife and unusual species, from prairie rattlesnakes and horned lizards to prickly pear cacti. Comfort camping in wood-floored tents or staying in backcountry huts is available at three provincial parks in the region. The badlands were named by early French explorers who termed their steep-sloped mesas (flat-topped mountains) and deep, winding gullies as “bad lands to cross.” Don’t miss a chance to camp and explore this otherworldly landscape. The Milk River Natural Area to the south of these hills preserves wild prairie in the same undisturbed state as when the buffalo roamed. An astonishing diversity of plants and animals make their home in the grasslands, forests and wetlands of these high, lush plateaus. It is home to the largest deposits of dinosaur bones in the world.Īt the southeast end of the badlands, the Cypress Hills rise 600 metres above the plains like a vast layer cake of sedimentary rock. Spanning east from Drumheller to the Saskatchewan border and south to the United States, this region is known as the Canadian Badlands. Today, fertile plains suddenly drop away into a world of multi-hued canyons and wind-sculpted hoodoos. Seventy-five million years ago, when dinosaurs walked the earth, southern Alberta was a subtropical paradise of towering redwoods and giant ferns.
