Red Rock Coulee

About Red Rock Coulee

{"summary":"Red Rock Coulee Natural Area features large spherical red sandstone concretions, some up to 2.5 meters in diameter, scattered throughout hilly grassland coulee terrain. These geological formations are approximately 65 million years old and represent some of the world's largest and most accessible examples of spherical concretions.","ecosystems":"Grassland Natural Region, Mixedgrass Subregion with hilly grassland coulee, sagebrush, and native flowering plants including gumbo primrose, prickly pear cactus, and prairie crocus","significance":"Contains some of the world's largest spherical red sandstone concretions, created when mineral matter accumulated around organic nuclei in ancient seas. Features distinctive Alberta geology with eroded coulees and hoodoos. IUCN Category III (Monument or Feature).","wildlife":"Western meadowlarks, Nuttall's cottontails, white-tailed jack rabbits, mule deer, pronghorn, western rattlesnakes, bull snakes, short-horned lizards, and scorpions (rare in Alberta)","features":"Other-worldly landscape of giant red sandstone boulders, geological concretions, prairie grassland ecosystem"}