East Coulee Meet
and Greet
Friday, July 15th from 4 PM to 8 PM
East Coulee School Museum
There's no better way to introduce you to the Canadian Badlands
than to bring you to East Coulee for our "BAD Way to Start a
Weekend" Meet and Greet.
On the way here - you might be caching the Best of the Bad
Legacy Trail along the way - you'll travel through some of the most
beautiful, captivating and unearthly vistas that the Canadian
Badlands offers its visitors.
When you reach east Coulee we'll take you back to school –
1936 style - in the historic (and haunted?) East Coulee School
Museum. Learn about the Badlands from a local geologist, visit the
nearby Willow Spring hoodoos or tour the historic Atlas Mine just
minutes from the Meet and Greet, then relax over a BBQ put on by
the East Coulee School Museum volunteers for the price of a
donation.
The small village of East Coulee nestles in the Canadian
Badlands about 10 minutes east of Drumheller. More than a few souls
currently make their home in East Coulee, but here's what
GhostTowns.com has to say:
East Coulee "…was once a thriving coal mining
town which had a population of over 3,000 people. Today, the
community [has] about 200 permanent residents. Just east of the
townsite, the recently restored historic Atlas Coal Mine, shut down
decades ago, offers tourists a marvellous glimpse of the Drumheller
Valley’s glorious past, including its eight-storey tipple for
a bird's-eye view of the mine site and the Drumheller Valley; an
original miner's shack, built of straw, mud, and manure; original
mine offices — complete with original records from 140
different coal mines, and a wash house — one of the most
complete in existence.The townsite has… many boarded-up
buildings. However, locals have turned the old school into a
museum. Built in 1930, the museum still uses coal to heat the
building. The museum features a restored 1930's classroom;
miners’ artifacts, and magazines and hundreds of photos of
the miners, their families and cultural lives. (Johnnie
Bachusky)
"[East Coulee's] heyday was the period 1928-1955 when
coal mines were working full blast and turning out hundreds of
thousands of tons of coal every year. East Coulee has plenty of old
buildings, abandoned mines, hoodos, fossils, and unusual scenery to
keep the ghost towner occupied for quite a while. (H.B.
Chenoweth)"
East Coulee is home to the splendid East Coulee School Museum,
filled with fascinating exhibits that faithfully tell the story of
a thriving centre of industry and population. You'll see a fully
restored circa 1930's school room; you may even run into the
no-nonsense schoolteacher. There's also a fully restored miner's
home where a family of six once lived, in a that house fits neatly
inside one of the old classrooms!
To top it off, just down the road is the Atlas Coal Mine
National Historic Site, one of the "most complete mining museums in
Canada". You can tour the last wooden tipple in Canada, a 200-foot
long mining tunnel, and take a ride on coal car train pulled by a
mine locomotive.
And that's not all! Brent Noland, noted geologist, will be
giving a Rock Talk and then taking you on a Field Trip tour
of the iconic hoodoos at Willow Springs just a stone's throw from
East Coulee.
After all of that, you'll need to re-fuel at the Backyard BBQ
the volunteers with the School Museum and the Drumheller Humane
Society are putting on for you. They'll have the grills fired up
from 5 -7 PM at the East Coulee Community Centre across the street
from the School Museum. There's no charge, but a donation to their
community work may be accepted.
There's a lot going on Friday the 15th in East Coulee to give
you a really BAD start to the Mega weekend. Don't miss it!
Meet and Greet Schedule
2 - 8 PM East Coulee School Museum is
Open
4 - 8 PM Meet and Greet Logbook is Open
5 - 7 PM Backyard BBQ (no charge, donations may
be accepted)
2 PM - School Museum Tour; Rock Talk and Field Trip; Atlas
Tipple Tour; Atlas Tunnel Tour
4 PM - School Museum Tour; Rock Talk and Field Trip; Atlas Tipple
Tour; Atlas Tunnel Tour
6 PM - Rock Talk and Field Trip; Atlas Mine Train Tour
East Coulee School Museum Tours (No
Charge)
Your Best of the Bad registration name badge or your GPSr is
your admission to the School Museum on July 15th. (Mega Event
registration opens at 9 AM on July 15th at Centennial Place in
Three Hills.)
Guided Tour
2 PM & 4 PM (45 minutes)
Guided Tour of all the exhibits in the School Museum. No charge,
although donations to the museum are welcome. Space on each tour is
limited to the first 25 participants assembling at the departure
point.
Self Guided Tour
2 PM to 8 PM
The School Museum normally closes at 6 PM but the museum volunteers
have agreed to extend their hours on July 15th to 8 PM just for
you. Feel free to wander the school building and the grounds at
your leisure.
Geology of the Drumheller Valley
Badlands: Rock Talk and Field Trip (Optional)
2, 4 & 6 PM (1.5 hours)
Brent Noland, BSc Geology, is President of the Dinosaur Valley
Heritage Society. He's going to add a fourth dimension to your GPS
unit – traveling back in time. You'll start with a 30 minute
Rock Talk at the East Coulee School Museum covering:
Geological Time Scale - Age of
Drumheller Rocks
Global Geology / Plate Tectonics of
the Cretaceous
Drumheller Valley Stratigraphy (the
science of rock layers)
Surface Geology Maps
Coal Mining and Geology
Glacial Geology - Lake Drumheller and
the Big Flood
Dinosaur Valley Digital Mapping
Project
After that, you'll use your personal vehicles to convoy to the
Willow Springs outcrop, then carry on to the HooDoos. The
Field Trip portion of the tour takes one hour. Cost is $5 per
participant. Space on each tour is limited to the first 25
participants attending each Rock Talk.
Atlas Coal Mine (Optional)
Your Best of the Bad registration name badge or your GPSr is
your admission to these tours on July 15th. (Mega Event
registration opens at 9 AM on July 15th at Centennial Place in
Three Hills.)
The Atlas Coal Mine has made five tours available on July 15th
at special rates for geocachers attending the Best of the Bad Mega
Event. Space on the Tipple and Tunnel tours is limited to the first
20 paid participants; the Mine Train Tour can accept 50
participants.
Cost for the Tipple or Tunnel tour is $8.10 + 5% GST per
participant, and $10.80 + 5% GST for the Mine Train Tour, paid at
the Atlas Coal Mine Visitor Centre. Ask about the Family Rate,
too.
A special note: These tours are also open to the general
public. Please arrive early at the Visitor Centre, at least a half
hour before the tour, so that you have plenty of time to go through
the busy line and secure a spot on the tour.
The Tipple Tour
2 PM & 4 PM (1.25 hours)
Climb the last wooden tipple in Canada, and see the inner workings
of this nationally designated historic icon. Hear stories of the
men and the boys who worked in the Drumheller mines. This tour is
suitable for all ages, but moderately strenuous, and you'll need to
watch your step. People who are troubled by heights or by ascending
a ramp will find this tour challenging.
The Tunnel Tour
2 PM & 4 PM (1.5 hours)
Put on a miners’ lamp and go up the underground! This unique
tour climbs an inclined conveyer tunnel, which was re-timbered in
2008. Follow in the footsteps of the miners, in one end, and out
the other. Emerge high in the scenic badlands, and step into the
Atlas #3 Mine Portal. The first few meters of this drift entry were
excavated and re-timbered in the fall of 2010. Wear sturdy
shoes with good treads, and expect a gradual climb, some low spots
in the tunnel, and a steep descent through rugged terrain after
leaving the tunnel Not recommended for children under 6, and
children under 4 are not allowed. Those who have a fear of confined
spaces or open spaces are advised against taking this tour.
Mine Train Tour
6 PM (1 hour)
Climb into a coal car and tour the surface plant and spectacular
badlands scenery. This new above ground tour expands upon our
popular coal car ride, and will be popular with families and train
lovers of all ages. This narrow gauge "mantrip" is pulled by an
antique Mancha Mule battery locomotive, formerly used in
underground mines. Weather dependent. Due to authentic equipment,
visitors with mobility issues may find loading into cars
difficult.