It was established on December 12, 1979 and is maintained by Alberta Tourism, Parks and Recreation.

This site was for thousands of years the site of an annual aboriginal camp, as it was located close enough to the river for transportation and trade and the bluffs of the river valley provided excellent bison-hunting opportunities.

The park was established to preserve the site from encroaching industrial development.

[1] The park contains several abandoned interpretive buildings opened by the Alberta government in 1980 but now shuttered.

[2] Remnants of the park's history as a public science center include tiled triangular obelisks, a boardwalk through the archaeological area, and a few interpretive plaques.