Road Trip Beausejour to Tyndall – Tyndall Stone Quarry & Fossils
Beausejour
Tyndall
45
km
0h48
drive
Summer
season
The Itinerary
Tyndall Stone, a characteristic mottled dolomitic limestone quarried in southeastern Manitoba since 1832, is one of Canada's most famous ornamental stones — clad on the Ottawa Parliament Buildings, Manitoba Legislative Building, Bank of Montreal and hundreds of other heritage buildings. Its particularity: Ordovician marine fossils (450 Ma) visible in every block.
Gillis Quarries at Garson (since 1898) is the world's only source of Tyndall Stone. Guided tours (summer, by reservation) show extraction, in-situ fossils — Receptaculites corals, 1 m straight cephalopods, gastropods — and cutting workshops. It's industrial "fossil rock," unique in the world.
Beausejour (3,100 inhabitants), capital of the "Sunova SnoMan" (winter snowmobile festival) and home of Sunova Credit Union, hosts Lake Brokenhead Provincial Park. 15 minutes away, the East Selkirk Mennonite heritage village and Cooks Creek mill (1930 Ukrainian cathedral) tell Manitoba's ethnic diversity. Whittier and Tyndall villages themselves preserve houses built of local Tyndall stone by quarry workers.
Gillis Quarries at Garson (since 1898) is the world's only source of Tyndall Stone. Guided tours (summer, by reservation) show extraction, in-situ fossils — Receptaculites corals, 1 m straight cephalopods, gastropods — and cutting workshops. It's industrial "fossil rock," unique in the world.
Beausejour (3,100 inhabitants), capital of the "Sunova SnoMan" (winter snowmobile festival) and home of Sunova Credit Union, hosts Lake Brokenhead Provincial Park. 15 minutes away, the East Selkirk Mennonite heritage village and Cooks Creek mill (1930 Ukrainian cathedral) tell Manitoba's ethnic diversity. Whittier and Tyndall villages themselves preserve houses built of local Tyndall stone by quarry workers.
Points of Interest
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Gillis Quarries TyndallWorld's only Tyndall quarry, 450 Ma fossils.
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Parliament Hill StoneOttawa's Parliament clad in Tyndall stone.
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Cooks Creek Ukrainian Cathedral1930 Orthodox cathedral, blue dome.
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Sunova SnoMan FestivalBeausejour winter snowmobile festival.
Practical info
- Departure Beausejour
- Destination Tyndall
- Distance 45 km
- Duration 0h48
- Category Short (< 100 km)
- Best season Summer
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