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Wednesday • July 30, 2025
Tourism Fernie is thrilled to be spearheading an exciting new initiative that will bring the ancient history of Fernie, Sparwood, and Cranbrook to life like never before.
Paleo Trails BC is a regional project that combines education, storytelling, and tourism to showcase the remarkable fossil discoveries found in our part of the Kootenays.
Partnering with Dinosaur Valley Studios and TrueArc Media, we’re producing a 10–15 minute film that will highlight the incredible journey of fossils in the Elk Valley and beyond.
The film will feature stunning animated sequences: imagine seeing Earth from space as it looked 150 million years ago, then zooming in to ancient seas teeming with ammonites and Ichthyosaurs. You’ll see how massive geological shifts over millions of years transformed these marine creatures into fossils, eventually revealing them in the dramatic rock formations we see today.
This short feature gives a taste of what the film will include:
Fernie’s story will be brought to life through its famous Ammonite fossil* and the Ichthyosaur discovered west of town, both symbols of a prehistoric ocean that once covered this land.
But the project goes beyond just a video:
We’re developing educational tours for locals and visitors to learn about our unique paleontological history.
We’ll offer a self-drive tour, guided by the video itself, so anyone can explore fossil points of interest across Fernie, Sparwood, and Cranbrook at their own pace.
This is a new tourism product for the Elk Valley and the Kootenays — designed to be educational, family-friendly, and deeply rooted in our natural history. We’re proud to be collaborating with Tourism Cranbrook who have provided funding support, and our neighbours in Sparwood, to tell a shared story that stretches across the region.
Be sure to stop by the Visitor Information Centre (VIC), where you can see a replica of the Fernie Ammonite up close — and soon, we’ll also be adding an Ichthyosaur replica to the display. It’s a unique chance to get face-to-face with fossils that tell the story of an ancient sea that once covered our mountains.
Together, we’re helping people learn, discover, and see Fernie and the Elk Valley through a whole new lens — not just as a place of beautiful landscapes, but as part of an ancient, living history millions of years in the making.
*The ammonite fossil near Fernie is currently inaccessible due to ongoing logging activity.
