Once again, our drive to Granum (population 406) was incredibly scenic, and in some ways even a better experience than the next 3 days we camped there. I could hardly get over the fact that so many pictures taken through Sid’s windows turned out so well. The drive took us around the southern and eastern boundary of Glacier National Park, and in my opinion, the terrain was similar to the high plains east of the Colorado Rockies. Once we crossed the border, we could still see, but were further away, from the Canadian Rockies.









We stayed in Granum’s Granview Recreation Park about 12 miles north of Fort Macleod (population 2,967), the nearest town with gas, groceries, and coffee (albeit only Tim Horton‘s). Our spacious site was on a small lake with a distant view of the mountains.






First morning, I was looking for a trail to hike on my AllTrails app and discovered there was a UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) site only 22 miles from us. We had to go, right? The site had an extremely strange name. Seeing the graphic on the entrance sign, we had a vague understanding of what a buffalo jump was all about, but never expected to see and experience such an elaborate explanation of it. The interpretive center was a five-floor tiered-facility built on a 66′ slope up to the top of the long rock ridgeline cliffs where jumps were orchestrated.




The Head-Smashed-In site sat in the greater Oldman River Valley, which for 6,000 years was the winter camp for the Plains People. Two jump sites have been uncovered in the area: Head-Smashed-In (the oldest ever discovered) and nearby Calderwood. The cliffline where the jumps occurred ran in a north-south direction. Buffalo gathered and grazed in the rolling hills several kilometers west of the cliffs. Tribe members worked for days before a hunt constructing cairns by adding brush, earth, and dung to small piles of rocks. These cairns were spaced every 5 to 10 yards apart along the sides of what would become the driving lanes. The lanes ran from the gathering basins to the cliffs. On the day of the hunt, tribesmen herded the buffalo into the driving lane and got the herd moving east. Because of poor eyesight, the buffalo sensed the cairns as walls and kept moving forward. Tribe members also stood behind the cairns making noise and waving branches to agitate the herd and keep it moving east in the lane. As the driving lane narrowed, the buffalo panicked and eventually stampeded over the cliffs (see graphic).

Hunts were not always successful, but if planned and executed properly, they could yield between 100 and 200 buffalo. Immediately after the jump, the tribe became a flurry of activity euthanizing any living animals then butchering them so all meat not imediately consumed could be prepared for curing and long-term consumption. All remaining buffalo parts were eventually used for everything from clothing to tools to jewelry and more. Little went to waste.
We began our tour by exiting the Interpretive Center at the top and viewing the area from a platform at cliff level. Originally, the cliff was estimated to be 66′ high, but over the millennia, environmental erosion and wear caused by each jump event filled in the cliff base with rocks, soil, bones, and debris. The cliff elevation today is only about 33′. After reviewing all levels of the center, we hiked the scenic trail below the cliff, and passed by the current archeological dig.






One of the Interpretive Center displays identified the Head-Smashed-In area as one of the windiest areas in Canada. As we were reading the display and discussing how interesting this was, a local visitor piped up and assured us this was true. One of the reasons for the wind was the occurrence of Chinooks an average of 35 times each year. Chinooks were defined as cool, moist Pacific air rising over the mountains, dropping its rain or snow and creating warm, dry air rushing down the east side of the Rockies. The Chinooks can warm local temperatures by as much as 68 degrees F in just a few hours. The warm air repeatedly melts winter snows, which significantly enhances the growth of prairie grass for grazing animals. The average annual wind speed in the area is 16 mph with gusts recorded as high as 90 mph. We didn’t need any further proof really, but here’s what the wind was doing back at our campground. No telling what I’m trying to explain in the video and don’t bother listening to the whole noisy recording.
Second morning we enjoyed a Timmy’s coffee and hiked a pleasant flat trail along the Oldman River in Fort Macleod’s River Valley Wilderness Park. I was proud of MFI for hiking despite her injured hand. Third morning we headed north again.






EPILOGUE: So what was the reason behind the name, Head-Smashed-In? Legend was that a young tribes boy who had never seen a jump went to the bottom of the cliffs to get a first hand look. Not knowing the extent of the area impacted by the jumping buffalo, and curiosity getting the better of him, he ended up too close and was killed and buried by the falling beasts. When the boy was uncovered later, his head had been smashed in. Because the Plains People believed the mountains to be both physically and spiritually significant in their lives, it was meaningful for them to honor both the boy and the site with the name.