OVER 500 MILLION YEARS AGO

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Join us and explore a place of wonder, beauty and incredible science. The Burgess Shale is one of the most important fossil sites in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Nestled high in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, the Burgess Shale is a record of one of the earliest marine ecosystems giving a tantalizing glimpse of life as it was over 500 million years ago.

Few places, anywhere, have contributed as much to our understanding of the origins of animals on the planet. The Burgess Shale is one of the rare locations in the world where both hard body parts and soft tissues have been fossilized. This rare and exquisite preservation has granted scientists the unusual opportunity to view an organism in its entirety with remarkable clarity providing a window to the distant past and an insight on how these amazing creatures lived. Using advanced imaging techniques scientists have shown that nervous systems, hearts, livers, and eggs have all been preserved, providing a deeper understanding of the evolution of early life.

Discover the Burgess Shale for yourself. Join one of our earth science guides for an unforgettable day half a billion years in the making. Located near the town of Field, BC it is less than an hour from Banff. Use the following links for the morning meeting location for both hikes and accommodations in the vicinity.

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To see photos of the fossils please have a look at our Gallery. For more information regarding the Burgess Shale organisms and their significance, we recommend visiting The Royal Ontario Museum's (ROM) website.