What we want from WHS are unique sights, experiences or stories. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump clearly fits that bill. The site represents the story of a communal hunting technique that is only found in this region. The way this hunt was executed is explained well in the 15-minute introduction video at the on-site museum. It was a yearly event, during the fall, to get enough food for the clan to last through the winter. It pre-dates the arrival of horses and guns, two items that enabled the people to hunt bison more easily.

The museum is built into the cliff where the jump took place. You walk up via five levels of exhibitions about the landscape, the hunting and the people to the plateau. At the top, there's a fine prairie trail that leads to the cliff edge. I encountered a hoary marmot (first "new" mammal of the trip!) that sat by the side of the path. Without the story, the cliff itself is not too interesting. I also thought that the museum could be done better - it's a bit old-fashioned with a lot of textual displays and the relatively few items mostly are replicas. I wonder about all these replicas such as the hide with the 'winter count': has nothing survived the ages, or are the originals in different museums around the world?

After I had seen the museum I walked the lower trail, another nice short hike of about 45 minutes that takes you to the site where the bison that had jumped landed. Not that there is a visible grave of bones or something: the layers of bone deposits are meters thick below the current ground. Prairie grass and some bushes have taken over the landscape again.

Entrance to the site costs 11 Canadian dollars. It attracts a steady flow of visitors, as it is within reach of a day trip from Calgary. A visit can also be easily combined with that to another WHS, Waterton Nation Park, which lies about 1.5 hours south.