The Rumsey Ecological Preserve is a part of the Rumsey Natural Area, a 70 square-mile tract of original prairie and aspen parkland set amid rolling “knob and kettle” geography north of Drumheller.

We took the first Ramblers trip to Rumsey on a fine summer-like day, after camping at Tolman campground on the Red Deer River.

Crawling under the fence

Having obtained permission from the leaseholder, we parked on a paved approach one mile east of Highway 56 on Secondary Highway 589, and crawled under the fence to head south on a reclaimed roadway.

Walking reclaimed road

There are a myriad of reclaimed roads and cattle trails to follow, but be sure you can find your way back. We only went wrong once on the return, quickly realizing that we had not gone that way. The topography is complex and the hills small, so it would be very easy to get lost, especially if it was cloudy or you weren’t paying attention to the route.

Knob and Kettle geography

The sound of birds was constant, and many stops were made to observe birds of various species.

Typical duck pond

Many of the “kettles” have duck ponds, and many ducks were observed.

View from lunch hilltop

We walked south until we hit a boundary fence, then followed the fence up to the highest hill around, which offered a refreshing breeze and fabulous view for miles around. We could see all the way to the banks of the Red Deer River badlands.

Buffalo bean carpeted hill

The yellow buffalo beans were the most prominent flower, but there were also violets and shooting stars as well as three-headed avens. Mosquito action was considerable. We were back at the cars at 1:45 after a relatively short but rewarding hike. We particularly enjoyed the warm prairie weather. When we got back to Calgary it was 10 degrees cooler and raining.

Participants: Jay, Frank, Dorothy-Ann, Dwight, Ken, June, Tom and Carl, coordinator.