We love visiting Drumheller with kids and always find lots of activities. So, we didn’t need more. But we got one anyway!

Let me tell you about Barney’s Adventure Park in Drumheller.

Imagine a giant space surrounded by a forest, badlands, and a sunflower field. On this giant space, it’s an adventure playground with obstacle courses, farm-themed playgrounds & summer games, and farm animals. Basically, a whole lot of fun for a whole day. That’s Barney’s Adventure Park in a nutshell.

And that’s not all. While you might think it’s just for kids, I’m here to tell you the opposite. Adults can enjoy sliding down a mega-slide, strolling through a field of sunflowers, playing games such as ledger ball, cornhole, jumbo checkers or chess, swinging on a tire swing (my favourite), or racing on a trike track.

It’s an adventure park for the whole family!

I’m going to show you our favourite games and activities from the Barney’s Adventure Park. However, since it’s a huge park, we didn’t manage to do it all, despite our second visit this year.

In case I’ve already inspired you to visit Barney’s Adventure Park, you can use our code ‘travelwiththesmile’ to receive 20% off any ticket (day pass or season pass).

What’s in the Barney’s Adventure Park in Drumheller

After a short 15-minute drive from downtown Drumheller, you arrive at Barney’s Adventure Park. Upon arrival, you already have your tickets, as you purchased them beforehand and received 20% off with our code ‘travelwiththesmile’.

TIP: At the gate, take a picture of the posted schedule for opening times of certain activities, train ride hours, and pig races.

Barney’s Adventure Park has three parts:

• Boomtown – with all the games, food stalls, and playgrounds
• Barnyard – with all the farm animals
• Boneyard – with an interactive dino walk through the forest

Boomtown

Right after entering Barney’s Adventure Park, there’s my 5-year-olds’ favourite activity – Gem Mining. We purchased a small bag of gems (last year, we purchased fossils), which you dump onto the panning sieve and then swirl around in the water to separate the gems from the dirt. The kids were so excited feeling like real gold diggers!

We went to the mega-slide so everyone could have some fun right away. This slide is always a hit. Even our little toddler enjoyed sitting in the tube and being dragged around.

We then spent a couple of hours in the Boomtown playing games, riding the train, and cooling off with an ice cream.

Where we spent the most time in Boomtown:

• Mega slide
• Ball pit at the playground
• Train
• Tire swing

For lunch, we ventured to the food shack. We got pizza, hot-dogs, and local Drum soda iced tea. This area is where attractions often fall short, serving subpar meals. I’m happy to say this isn’t the case in Barney’s Adventure Park.

Everything we ate or drank was amazing, and we’ve tried a few things – pizza, hot dogs, ice cream, mini donuts, a slushie, and several types of Drum sodas (my favourite is the iced tea flavour).

INSIDER TIP
Whenever it’s scorching hot, bring lots of water for drinking and head to the water tower pictured below – it’s clearly visible in the middle of Boomtown. There’s a sprinkler spraying water on you, great for cooling off!

Barnyard

After lunch, we moved on to the Barnyard for pig races. Little piggies were a hit for every single kid I’ve seen. And our little toddler absolutely adored visiting the Animal Bouncers right next to the piggies.

We saw cute bunnies, pet a few goats, watched little kittens sleep, and spent an hour at the trike race. This year, our son was able to pedal the trike by himself, and he definitely made the most of it. Racing with kids is a lot of fun. And let’s be honest, sometimes it involves tears and cuddles.

Where we spent the most time in the Barnyard:

• Rubber duck races
• Animal bouncers
• Goat area & bunny pens
• Trike track

We were all getting very tired after the race, but there was one great attraction I didn’t want to miss – the Boneyard.

Boneyard

This was a great escape from the heat! Boneyard is a walk through the forest with interactive dinosaur displays, like walking through a Jurassic Park, but much less scary.

When you pass the dinosaurs, they actually move and roar, much to the delight of our older son. There are fun photo opps, roaring dinosaurs, and lots of shade, the perfect way to end the day.

What I liked the most about Barney’s Adventure Park

• They thought about fun activities for kids of all ages, and adults as well
• There’s a decent variety of meals and drinks
• Lots of shaded areas to enjoy a meal or take a break
• Their fun radio station reminds you of opening times for games and activities
• Activities for a whole day, just one stop a day, without having to drive anywhere else

Now that you’re ready to book your adventure at Barney’s Adventure Park, don’t forget to use code ‘travelwiththesmile’ for 20% off your tickets.

Have fun!