If you’re looking for something a little different to do this May long weekend you’re going to want to head out to the Alberta Badlands. Just fifteen minutes Southeast of Drumheller, right in the middle of dinosaur country you will find the Ghost Town of Wayne, Alberta. In the early 1900’s Wayne was a bustling coal-mining town with a population of more than 10,000. Then in the early 1930s, during the Great Depression many of the coal mines starting closing, taking Wayne’s population with them. By the mid 1950s the last mine closed leaving Wayne with a mere couple dozen souls.

One of the many businesses that started to support this rapidly growing town was the Rosedeer Hotel. The hotel and its Last Chance Saloon are the last of the still operating businesses in Wayne. The hotel was built in 1913 and many say it is haunted. On the property of the hotel is a campground and this is where the LGBT Campout takes place, right in the heart of the ghost town. The original owner of the hotel passed it on to his sister who was narcoleptic. She would sleep beside the bar and patrons would refill their own drinks and leave their money near the cash register. Don’t worry, now her son Fred runs the bar and he will be wide awake and serving up the good times all weekend. The hotel and saloon are surrounded by the stunning hills of the Badlands with a beautiful creek running beside the hotel.

This year is the 31st annual LGBT Campout. Sandy Page has been organizing this amazing campout for the community since the beginning. Sandy originally started going out to the Last Chance Saloon with Camp 181. Camp 181 started in 1981 and was primarily a lesbian social group that held dances.  When Camp 181 stopped going out to the Saloon, Sandy decided to start a campout as she had so much fun there in the past. Sandy rents out the entire campground located right at the haunted hotel and Saloon. No running out of drinks this May long weekend! The price of camping for the entire weekend is only $25 per person; you can’t camp that cheap anywhere! If you are not big on the sleeping outside and no hook-ups kind of camping you could always rent a room in the hotel, so long as you aren’t afraid of ghosts. If you are a big chicken like me, you can also find many hotels nearby in Drumheller.

Over the long weekend there will be a games tournament consisting of shuffle board, bean bag toss, horse shoes and a new game which involves throwing ball-rope contraptions at goal posts. Awesome prizes will be awarded to the winners of the tournaments. Friday night most campers are setting up their site and many walk around to meet the other campers or head into the saloon. Saturday evening is when the game tournaments start with shuffleboard in the saloon. The remaining tournaments are held Sunday afternoon. Fred the owner of the property then has a massive bonfire Sunday night where many campers bring their guitars and bongos.

Greg McDonald, a long time campout participant says, "It’s a great time, a place where we can all have fun, no judgement and you meet so many new friends".  Greg adds the whole campsite is very friendly, "we created this 50 foot slip n’ slide, using water from the creek and a tarp from Fred, and the whole camp was watching us laughing and being crazy." Event organizer Sandy remembers, "one of my guys got dressed up in drag, and it was the funniest thing you ever saw! There are a lot of funny things." The campers consist of women and men, young and old. They have people in their early twenties all the way to their seventies. The weather is usually nice, but this is Alberta, the weather can change in the blink of an eye, so make sure you are prepared.

There is a lot to do in the Badlands. For one, you could go into Drumheller and check out the Royal Tyrell Museum. Also, you can head out to the Badlands to do some hiking and while you are there you might just find a dinosaur bone or some interesting plantlife. It is said that the Alberta Badlands has the richest dinosaur fossil beds in the world.

The drive out to Wayne is an adventure. The last few kilometers of the trip, you will cross 11 one-lane wooden plank bridges. Once in Wayne you will see the buildings from the mining days which are now abandoned. Along the way the old derelict mining equipment can also be seen.

This is real Alberta history. Come out for the day or stay for the weekend!