“Pic of the Week”, November 28, 2014: Hoodoos, Drumheller, Alberta

The amazing patterns of erosion you find in Alberta’s badlands sometimes create unusual formations, especially these structures known as “hoodoos”.  The name “hoodoo” was based on the word “voodoo”, and was given to these formations by Europeans.  Each hoodoo is a totem-pole like sandstone pillar resting on a thick base of shale that is capped by a larger stone.  Hoodoos are created over millions of years by differential erosion, the hoodoo eroding at a rate which is slower than the surrounding land because its cap-rock is made of more durable material.  Native Indian tribes (eg. Blackfoot) believed the Hoodoos were petrified giants that could come alive at night.

This particular grouping of hoodoos is one of the most dramatic examples you’ll see anywhere.  They are situated a few miles drive east of Alberta’s dinosaur capital, Drumheller, along the lovely Red Deer River Valley.

(Click on thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance slideshow)