Interprovincial park in Western Canada
Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park is a natural park in Canada straddling the Alberta / Saskatchewan boundary and jointly administered by the two provinces. Located south-east of Medicine Hat in the Cypress Hills, it became Canada's first interprovincial park in 1989.
The park consists of two protected areas, the West Block, that straddles the Alberta / Saskatchewan boundary between Alberta Highway 41, the townsite of Elkwater, Saskatchewan Highway 615, Saskatchewan Highway 271, and Fort Walsh, and the Centre Block, an additional area of in Saskatchewan, west of Saskatchewan Highway 21.
Geography.
The Cypress Hills plateau rises up to above the surrounding prairie, to a maximum elevation of at "Head of the Mountain" at the west end in Alberta, making it Canada's highest point between the Canadian Rockies and the Labrador Peninsula. Eastward across the boundary is the highest point in Saskatchewan, at . The "West Block" of the Cypress Hills spans the provincial boundary. Battle Creek runs through the central part of the park. Although the hills seem relatively low, in a larger geographic context the plateau does rise gradually from many kilometres away so that the total elevation gain from Medicine Hat is approximately . The vegetation of park is undergoing changes through woody plant encroachment, with a detected 1% increase of shrub cover annually.
Activities.
On both sides of the park, all year long, park interpreters present education programs to school and youth groups, adult and seniors groups, and a wide range of park visitors. During the summer months, there's camping, hiking, and swimming. During the winter, there's skiing, winter camping, snowmobiling, and other winter activities. In summertime, kayak, canoe, bicycle, and stand up paddle boards are available for rent. In the winter, kicksleds, snowshoes, skates, and cross-country skis rentals are available.
Alberta.
On the Alberta side of West Block, key park features include Head of the Mountain Viewpoint, the highest point between the Rocky Mountains and Labrador, the Elkwater townsite (a cottage community sitting at the same elevation as the Banff townsite), Horseshoe Canyon and Reesor Lake viewpoints (offering views on a clear day), over of hiking and mountain biking trails, and Hidden Valley Ski Resort. Three lakes sit on the Alberta side of the park — Elkwater Lake, Spruce Coulee Reservoir, and Reesor Lake.
Saskatchewan.
Like in Alberta, there are campgrounds, hiking trails, and lakes. Some of the lakes include Harris, Adams, Coulee Lake, Loch Lomond, and Loch Leven. On the shores of Loch Leven in Centre Block is a marina, the community of Loch Leven, a restaurant, swimming pool, tourist info centre, and The Resort at Cypress Hills.
Winter amenities around the park include a winter picnic shelter, warm-up shacks, a tobogganing hill, a mini-luge slide, and Camp-Easy yurt rentals. There are also snowmobile and winter fat bike trails.
Cypress Hills Ski Area.
Cypress Hills Ski Area is a cross-country ski area on the Saskatchewan side of Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. During the winter, summer campgrounds are transformed into of Cross-country skiing trails and of snowshoeing trails. A further of summer hiking trails are designated for cross-country skiing, of which are groomed.
Nature.
Approximately 700 species of plants and animals thrive in the park, including 14 species of orchids.
The park protects the majority of the Cypress Hills landscape, which consists of three separate elevated blocks of lush forest and fescue grassland surrounded by dry mixed-grass prairie. The West and Centre Blocks are protected as provincial parks, and are managed by Alberta Parks and Protected Areas and Saskatchewan Parks, respectively. The "East Block" of the Cypress Hills, situated near Eastend, Saskatchewan, is not a park or protected area. The Fort Walsh National Historic Site is also located adjacent to the West Block.
Mammals.
There are five species of large hoofed mammals found in the park: wapiti, moose, mule deer, white-tailed deer, and pronghorn. Other mammals found in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park include:
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Eulipotyphla
Lagomorpha
Chiroptera
Carnivora
Rodentia
Fish species.
Fish species include walleye, yellow perch, northern pike, brook, brown, westslope cutthroat and rainbow trout, burbot, common carp, white sucker, and shorthead redhorse.
References.
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