Everything about Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park totally explained
Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park is an interprovincial park straddling the southern
Alberta-
Saskatchewan border, located southeast of
Medicine Hat. It is
Canada's only interprovincial park.
The park consists of two protected areas, the west block, that straddles the Alberta/Saskatchewan border between
Alberta Highway 41, the hamlet of
Elkwater,
Saskatchewan Highway 615,
Saskatchewan Highway 271 and
Fort Walsh, and the east block, an additional area of in Saskatchewan, west of
Saskatchewan Highway 21.
Geography
The Cypress Hills rise up to 600 metres above the surrounding
prairie, to a maximum elevation of, making it Canada's highest point between the
Canadian Rockies and the
Labrador peninsula and also the highest point in Saskatchewan. The "West Block" of the Cypress Hills spans the provincial border.
Battle Creek runs through the central part of the park.
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 block" and "centre block" 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, isn't part of the park. The
Fort Walsh National Historic Site is also located in the park's limits.
Activities
On the Alberta side of the west block, key park features include Head of the Mountain, the
Elkwater townsite (a
cottage community sitting at the same elevation as the
Banff townsite), Horseshoe Canyon and Reesor Lake viewpoints (offering 100 km views on a clear day), over 50 km of
hiking and
mountain biking trails, and Hidden Valley Ski Area (Canada's Prairie Sno-asis). Three lakes sit on the Alberta side of the park (
Elkwater Lake, Spruce Coulee Reservoir and Reesor Lake), with another three in Saskatchewan (Harris, Adams and Coulee Lake).
All year long, park interpreters present education programs to school and youth groups, adult and seniors groups, and a wide range of park visitors.
History
- 1951 - The Cypress Hills Provincial Park was established in Alberta.
- 1989 - On August 25, the governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan signed an agreement committing themselves to cooperation on ecosystem management, education and park promotion.
- 2000 - Fort Walsh National Historic Site (located on the Saskatchewan side of the West Block) joined the collective. Together, these three partner agencies make up the park. Both Alberta and Saskatchewan provincial governments signed the Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park agreement, establishing the first interprovincial park in Canada.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park'.
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