East Coulee is a small former coal town east of Drumheller, set in the bare, striped badlands of the Red Deer River valley. It is not a polished destination, and that is the point: the old school, the mine buildings, and the dry coulee walls make the coal history feel close rather than packaged.
The clear reason to come is Atlas Coal Mine, one of the best preserved coal-mining landscapes in Canada and home to a huge wooden tipple. The East Coulee School Museum adds the domestic side of the story, while the Willow Creek Hoodoos make an easy natural stop on the road in.
East Coulee works best as a half-day from Drumheller, but it clears the bar because its identity is so strong. It is the Drumheller Valley's coal past in one compact, still-slightly-haunting village.