Dinosaur Trips clients can assist paleontologists
Tinseltown may be boosting Alberta’s tourism trade by drawing attention to some of the creatures that wandered millions of years before the province and indeed all of this country were created.
Jurassic Park Rebirth – the latest Hollywood dinosaur-themed movie to carry Jurassic in its name after the 1990s blockbuster Jurassic Park – shot to the top of the box office after its early July release, and that says Zach Vanasse, president of Dinosaur Trips, will generate renewed interest in dinosaurs, with Alberta possibly being a prime beneficiary of that interest, thanks to its rich dinosaur heritage.
Toronto-based dinosaur enthusiast Vanasse founded Dinosaur Trips three years ago and says it’s the only tour operator specializing in trips revolving around dinosaurs.
“I do think the latest Jurassic movie will serve Dinosaur Trips and (Alberta) places like the Royal Tyrrell Museum, the Philip J. Currie Museum, and Dinosaur Provincial Park,” Vanasse says. “The original Jurassic Park was a major spark for the golden age of paleontology we’ve been living through these past few decades. It helped dinosaurs capture the public imagination. So any time Hollywood turns its lens back on dinosaurs, it tends to reignite that fascination and that’s great news for all of us working to bring prehistoric worlds to life in the places where they actually happened.”
Alberta is one of the flagship destinations for Dinosaur Trips.
“It’s a world-class fossil region, and most people – even Canadians, or perhaps especially Canadians – don’t realize how extraordinary it is,” he continues. “We’ve had folks from Europe and the U.S. spend nearly two weeks just exploring the Badlands and the bonebeds. I appreciate that Canadians might not always want to commit that kind of time to Canadian travel, but if you’re looking for something truly different to do at home, something that gives you bragging rights and a killer dinner party story, fossil hunting in Alberta delivers.”
Vanasse says Dinosaur Trips clients will experience hands-on vacations that have them help literally unearth fossilized reminders of prehistoric creatures, with those clients working alongside palaeontologists splitting rock, brushing away dirt, and wrapping fossils. They’ll also go behind the scenes in museums, seeing prep labs and collections rooms. “People get to touch fossils, work with tools, and sometimes even help prep material that may end up in scientific research,” he reports.
Clients’ work is supervised but Vanasse reports the “work is real. In Alberta, we’ve spent the last two summer expeditions digging up Pachyrhinosaurus bones at the Pipestone Creek Bonebed. That site is absolutely loaded with fossils to the point it – and the same paleontologists we dig with – was even featured in the rebooted Walking with Dinosaurs series from the BBC. While we were there in 2024, we had to keep our lips sealed about a major discovery happening right under our feet: ‘Big Sam,’ one of the biggest Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai skulls ever found. Over 1.6 metres long and weighing more than 1,000 pounds.
“We’ve also worked in the Centrosaurus bonebed at Dinosaur Provincial Park, and we often find other species too, like ankylosaurs with their armour and tail clubs, duck-billed dinosaurs, and even the teeth of the meat-eaters that came along to scavenge.”
Alberta is one of several jurisdictions that Dinosaur Trips has sent people to since its founding, with Vanasse says the focus of company trips spark imaginations.
“And once they get a glimpse of what we’re doing, ie. real science, real places, no kids’ birthday party energy, interest tends to snowball.,” continues Vanasse, who worked elsewhere in tourism before founding Dinosaur Trips. “So far, we’ve hosted small-group and custom trips in Alberta, along the Jurassic Coast in England, in the canyons of Colorado and Utah, and this fall we’ll be heading south with a group to Patagonia for what I think will be our most epic journey yet.
“Personally, I think Patagonia is one of the most incredible places on Earth. It’s rugged, remote, jaw-dropping, and truly unforgettable. When I learned about the Patagonian Paleontology Trail and how few travellers actually get to explore it, I knew I had to build something there. It’s rich with fossils, including the Patagotitan mayorum, the largest land animal ever discovered, at the MEF Museum in Trelew. Honestly, everything we’ve done at Dinosaur Trips so far has been building toward this one.”
(Vanasse adds that company itineraries aren’t just for the “dino-obsessed,” having been designed to celebrate what he labels the best of each destination, such as food and wine in Patagonia, dramatic coastal hikes in England, or the cowboy appeal of Alberta. “If one partner is all in on paleo and the other isn’t quite there yet, there’s still a ton for them to discover and enjoy.”)
Meanwhile, Vanasse says that this is a great time for those intrigued by the likes of T-Rexes and other creatures that long ago stopped walking this planet to consider an Alberta dinosaur vacation, given Canadians are now frequently being urged to holiday in their own country.
“And yes, I’d love to see more Canadian travel campaigns that highlight the prehistoric richness of this country,” he continues. “Dinosaurs might predate Canada by a hundred million years, but they left their mark all over it.”
