We decided to make one more trip, to find "Beynon Canyon", close to Drumheller. Somewhere here was the location and backdrop of Pa Kent's funeral -- the "Smallville Cemetery" from Superman the Movie.

The maps I found online were pretty vague, but I figured if we found Beynon we would find the correct canyon. We headed in from the South, and that was a mistake! The roads were quicksand -- very, very soft and muddy, with lots of loose gravel. It made even the flat parts very difficult to drive through in our minivan, plus two young kids in the back. Yeah, you get the idea. We couldn't find the location so we pulled into an oil pump station and asked for directions.

The canyon itself was very scenic, with a few old bridges and buildings -- probably one hundred years old now . Sadly, the grain elevators were no longer there (the tall wooden buildings). We didn't stay long because we were very nervous about getting stuck in the mud in the dark. On our ascent up the other side we were VERY close to getting stuck. I recommend a 4x4 if you are brave enough to visit this place!

The north side of the canyon is where they filmed the cemetary from Pa Kent's funeral (looking south into the valley). The valley was much smaller than I imagined, and the hilltop where the cemetary (and fake five inch church) was shot was also smaller than what exposed on film. The church appears way off in the distance, but that hilltop isn't that large. The small church gives the illusion of a larger hill. It was very beautiful, but the experience was soured by the rough drive.

We carried on the same road which zig zagged for a few kilometers, then meets highway 9. I would recommend going in from this direction, NOT from the South. MUCH easier to access, then turn around and head out the same way. There is a sign from the highway that highlights "Beynon" -- from there just follow the main dirt (MUD) road and don't turn off onto any farm driveways or Encor (if memory serves) service roads. This Google map is centered at the canyon, or if you search 'Beynon, Alberta' my marker for the "cemetery" should come up.

Jason Thomas
Okotoks, Alberta

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