Background
In south-west Alberta, marked trails, an aboriginal camp and a tumulus of buffalo skeletons are evidence of a custom practised on the North American plains for nearly 6,000 years. UNESCO explains that, using their knowledge of the land and of buffalo behaviour, hunters killed their prey by chasing it over a precipice and carved up the carcasses in the camp below.
Estipah-skikikini-kots in Blackfoot, the jump lies 18 km west of Fort Macleod where the foothills rise from the prairie. Wikipedia describes bison driven from the Porcupine Hills 3 km west into drive lanes lined by hundreds of cairns, by young buffalo runners dressed as coyotes and wolves; the cliff is about 300 m long and drops 10 m at its highest, and the bone deposits are 12 m deep. The Piikani elder Joe Crowshoe Sr was instrumental in developing the site, and Wikivoyage says the interpretive centre is built into the cliff itself.
- 6,000 years agoThe jump is in use
- 1874Fort Macleod is founded as a Mounted Police post
- 1981Inscribed as World Heritage
- 1998Joe Crowshoe Sr receives the National Aboriginal Achievement Award
Find Your Way Around
The main parts of the site, in the order most visitors see them
- 1Interpretive CentreBuilt into the cliff, with exhibits on the hunt and Blackfoot culture.
- 2The Cliff300 m long, 10 m high at the jump.
- 3The Drive LanesCairn-lined lanes running from the Porcupine Hills.
- 4The Camp BelowWhere the carcasses were processed, with fresh water close by.
- 5Joe Crow Shoe Sr LodgeDedicated to the elder who shaped the site.
- 6Fort Museum, Fort MacleodThe North West Mounted Police museum in town, with summer riding displays.
Know Before You Go
From Wikivoyage and the GoGo guides
The Jump and the Fort
Not yet in a GoGo guide
- 10:00Interpretive Centre2 hrsThe hunt explained, inside the cliff.
- 12:00Cliff Top and Kill Site1 hrThe jump and the camp below.
- 14:00Fort Museum of the NWMP90 minThe Mounties' second headquarters, in Fort Macleod.
Best Time to Visit
Best months: Jun–Sep. Freezing days in Nov–Mar.
Typical highs
Climate: NASA POWER
Pair It With
Other World Heritage sites nearby, by distance
