Drumheller is surrounded by a fertile wheat-growing plain, unbroken except by occasional oil pumps known as "donkey heads" because they bob up and down continuously. Upon approaching the town, the extensively eroded valley, nearly 120m/400ft deep and about 1.6km/1mi wide, comes as something of a surprise. Dominating the entrance to the visitor centre is an 86ft-high replica of a Tyrannosaurus rex, billed as "The World's Largest T-Rex." Constructed of fibreglass and steel and completed in the summer of 2000, the giant T-Rex contains a stairwell that leads to a viewing platform located within the dinosaur's gaping mouth. From this vantage point, the view of the river valley and the plains beyond is worth the climb (106 steps).