Atlas Coal Mine

The Drumheller valley had a hundred and thirty-nine coal mines at its peak, feeding prairie homes and railways, and the Atlas was the last to close, in 1979. Its wooden tipple, the structure that sorted and loaded coal into rail cars, is the last one standing in Canada; eight storeys of timber, condemned and nearly demolished before volunteers saved it. Tours climb inside it. The site also runs a mine train along the valley floor and takes visitors a short way into a tunnel. Former miners and their descendants have worked as guides, and the site does not soften the working conditions or the deaths.

History

The Drumheller valley's coal, easy to mine in flat seams, heated prairie homes and fuelled the steam locomotives of the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific railways, and the mining era ran from 1911 to 1984, when the Atlas No. 3 and 4 mines closed. The Atlas worked from 1936 and its tipple, more than seven storeys high, was built in 1937; thirteen men died in its operation, four of them on 24 June 1941 in a gas explosion and a rescue attempt, and it became a National Historic Site of Canada in 2002 (Wikipedia, Atlas Coal Mine).

What you'll find

• The wooden tipple - the last standing timber coal tipple in Canada.
• The mine train - a short rail trip along the valley floor.
• The tunnel tour - a guided walk into a section of the underground workings.
• The washhouse and offices - the surviving surface buildings of the operation.

When to go

May to September; the site closes for winter. Tipple tours have limited places and sell out on summer days, so book. Mornings are cooler in the valley.

What to expect

The site closes roughly October to April. The tipple climb involves steep stairs in an old timber structure and is not for everyone. Underground access is short.

Nearby

The hoodoos lie west; Drumheller is beyond them.

Key facts