Banff 
Ever notice the Rowley wood sign on your way into Drumheller?
A little way north of Drumheller, you’ll notice this sign on the west side of Highway 56. Follow the strange sign, as it takes you to one of Alberta’s most impressive ‘ghost towns,’ where you can camp for the night!
Rowley has been considered a ghost town thanks to the many preserved buildings still on the main street but aren’t open to the public. You can walk the main street in Rowley, join for summer interior tours or peek through the windows on other days to see antiques on display and maybe a ghost…or two.
Rowley is in picture-perfect Alberta farmland and surrounded by a scene of rolling prairies before they plunge into the badlands. There are several photo opportunities around Rowley, and photography can be worth the trip, depending on how far you are from town. The mature trees on the west side of Rowley are where you can find shaded picnic areas, the old train station, and instructions on where to set up your camp.
But how does Rowley stay so well preserved? This comes from a vast community effort (yes! there are still people living in the area) made up of fundraising nights, pizza nights, and live music nights.
At times, Rowley doesn’t seem so ghostly. But imagine camping here for the night. It will get dark out here with almost no light pollution in this part of Alberta. Luckily, the area has amenities like showers and flush toilets. But those features don’t take from the haunting feelings you might get while walking the town after sundown.
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Planning Your Trip – Rowley, Alberta
Credit: Bernadette Gallagher
What:
Rowley is a ghost town that isn’t that quiet. While Rowley was once a populated town of Alberta, it is now more of a monument to the old town of Rowley.
This ghost town is often filled with supporters at the monthly pizza nights and fundraisers. With this, the community can keep the town of Rowley preserved and intact. These buildings include an old saloon, a funeral home, a bank, a farmhouse, and a few structures so overgrown with greenery we’re not sure what they used to be.
How Much: Free
How to get there:
Use Highway AB-56, and turn west onto Township Rd. 32-4 (at the Rowleywood sign)
Best time to go: watch the Facebook page for the pizza night and concert announcements, otherwise you can access the town year-round. They also hold Summer Interior Tours.
For more information:
It would be nice if this mentioned that there is still a population here in Rowley (we get a lot of people presspassing on private property because acricles like these lead people to believe that its all vacant), and that camping is by donation and those donations are a big help into maintaining the town.
Sincerely – local resident 🙂