Blackstrap Provincial Park is a

provincial park Ischigualasto Provincial Park A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countries. They are typically open to t ...

in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

in the RM of Dundurn. Prior to the park's establishment in 1986, it was a provincial recreation site. The park runs along the eastern shore of

Blackstrap Lake Blackstrap Lake is a man-made reservoir in central Saskatchewan, Canada, south of Saskatoon in the rural municipality of Dundurn No. 314. The lake was created as a reservoir in 1967, as part of the Saskatoon South East Water Supply System. ...

and consists of a conservation area, campground, beaches, Mount Blackstrap, cross country ski trails, biking and hiking trails, and several picnicking areas. It is located at LSD 32-3 W3, east of Dundurn and accessed via Highway 211. Mount Blackstrap is a man-made mountain built as a ski hill for the 1971 Canada Winter Games. It continued to operated as a ski hill until 2007.

History

Blackstrap Lake is a man-made lake that was created in 1967 as a water reservoir for agricultural, industrial, and recreational uses. Saskatoon was awarded the 1971 Canada Winter Games and land was acquired along the reservoir to build a man-made mountain, Mount Blackstrap, for the downhill events. In 1986, much of the eastern shore of the lake, including Mount Blackstrap, became the provincial park. Water used to flood and maintain the lake is gravity fed via an earthen aqueduct from

Lake Diefenbaker Lake Diefenbaker is a reservoir and bifurcation lake in Southern Saskatchewan, Canada. It was formed by the construction of Gardiner Dam and the Qu'Appelle River Dam across the South Saskatchewan and Qu'Appelle Rivers respectively. Construc ...

. Local legend claims that the name for the region is derived from an incident involving the breaking of a barrel of

blackstrap molasses Molasses () is a viscous substance resulting from refining sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, method of extraction and age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is primarily used to sweeten and flavour foods. ...

during transport through the valley, thereafter becoming known as Blackstrap. Fred Wilson, reeve of the RM of Dundurn, Whitecap Dakota First Nation and surrounding municipalities in the area have shown support to convert the provincial park to a regional park. Development of the roadways, cabins, housing, and camping would impart more financial aid to the park, which would be addressed by the communities. The operation of the ski hill for the year of 2007 was estimated at $465,000 by the provincial government. No private sector came forward to run the hill, and it was closed down. But due to a sudden boom in the immigration to the province and a booming economy, offers are expected to come in. Provincial funding to Blackstrap Provincial Park has historically supported the ski hill operations only and the remainder of the park has deteriorated. Christine Tell, minister of Tourism, parks, culture and sport, and Van Isman, Tourism and parks deputy minister will update the provincial government's Blackstrap provincial park management plan to aim to make Blackstrap the best facility it can be. In 2013, the provincial government announced that two private companies would spend $2.6 million on a new marina and cabins in the park. In 2016, the provincial government invested $2.9 million in expanding the amenities at the park, including the addition of 63 new campsites.

Attractions and amenities

Blackstrap Provincial Park has a wide variety of amenities throughout the park. This includes campgrounds, picnic sites, hiking and biking trails, boat launches, cross-country ski trails, beaches, and an aquatic adventure park. While there are no docks for fishing, there is Fisherman's Point which is a rocky point that juts out into the lake that can be fished from. Near the boat launch is a fish filleting station.

Camping

There are three main campgrounds totalling over 150 individual campsites. The northern most, and closest to the main beach, is Hazelnut Grove Campground. About half of Hazelnut Campground's sites are along the lake shore. The Kevin Misfeldt Campground is farther south along the lake, well past the main beach. While Hazelnut is entirely electrified, the Kevin Misfeldt sites are a mix of electrical and non-electrical. The Misfeldt Campgrounds also include showers, a playground, a sani-dump station, and a small beach. It is named after a

conservation officer A conservation officer is a law enforcement officer who protects wildlife and the environment. A conservation officer may also be referred to as an environmental technician or technologist, game warden, forest ranger, forest watcher, forest g ...

, Kevin Misfeldt, who had his career cut short by a fatal accident on 24 January 1997. On that date, he and two others, wildlife biologist Wolly Kost and pilot Brett Thomas, died in a plane crash near Manitou Sand Hills, near

Lloydminster Lloydminster is a city in Canada which has the unusual geographic distinction of straddling the provincial border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. The city is incorporated by both provinces as a single city with a single municipal administrati ...

. The only full service campsites in the park are at Sunset Ridge Campground. Sunset Ridge is the newest campground and it is set up on the top of the ridge over-looking Blackstrap Lake. File:Sunset Ridge Campground 02.jpg, View of Sunset Ridge Campground from across a coulee File:Kevin Misfeldt Campground 01.jpg, A campsite at Kevin Misfeldt Campground File:Kevin Misfeldt Campground 03.jpg, Campsites at Kevin Misfeldt Campground File:Kevin Misfeldt Campground 04.jpg, View of Kevin Misfeldt Campground from the look out File:Kevin Misfeldt Campground beach 01.jpg, Kevin Misfeldt Beach

Picnicking

There are multiple picnicking sites throughout the provincial park. Near the main beach, there's Aspen Grove Picnic Area, Lakeview Picnic Area, and Mountain View Picnic Area. Farther down the lake by the boat launches, there's Lakeside Picnic Area. Other areas of the park are also set up for picnicking, such as at Fisherman's Point and Kevin Misfeldt Campground.

Trail system

The provincial park and the lake are set in the Blackstrap Coulee, which is a long

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

with steep sides. Along the valley, there are several smaller coulees that flow towards the lake as well. In several places along the valley wall and in the smaller coulees, biking and downhill biking, hiking, and cross-country ski trails are set up.

Sask Aquatic Adventures

At the main beach, Sask Aquatic Adventures has a water adventure park set-up just off shore. It is one of nine in Saskatchewan. The others are located at

Regina Beach Regina Beach is a town in south central Saskatchewan, located on Highway 54, close to where Highway 11 (which connects Saskatoon to Regina) intersects with the Qu'Appelle Valley. As Regina Beach rests on shores of the south end of Last Mount ...

Last Mountain Lake Last Mountain Lake, also known as Long Lake, is a prairie lake formed from glaciation 11,000 years ago. It is located in south central Saskatchewan, Canada, about north-west of the city of Regina. It flows into the Qu'Appelle River via L ...

the Battlefords Provincial Park The Battlefords Provincial Park is a recreational provincial park in the Canadian Province of Saskatchewan. It is located north of the city of North Battleford in the RM of Meota No. 468 on Jackfish Lake. Highway 4 runs north from North Ba ...

Buffalo Pound Provincial Park Buffalo Pound Provincial Park is a provincial park located in southern Saskatchewan, Canada, about north-east of downtown Moose Jaw and north-west of the city of Regina. The park centres on Buffalo Pound Lake, a prairie lake formed from gl ...

, Duck Mountain Provincial Park,

Greenwater Lake Provincial Park Greenwater Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is located on the eastern side of the province in the Porcupine Hills on Highway 38. The closest town, Porcupine Plain, is about 28 kilometre ...

, Tufts Bay on

Elbow The elbow is the region between the arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and the me ...

, Sandy Bay at

Candle Lake Provincial Park Candle Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in the central region of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Prior to the park's establishment in 1986, it was a provincial recreation site. Located in the Rural Municipality of Paddockwood ...

, and Greig Lake at

Meadow Lake Provincial Park Meadow Lake Provincial Park is a northern boreal forest provincial recreational park along the Waterhen and Cold Rivers in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The park was founded on 10 March 1959, is the largest provincial park in Saska ...

Mount Blackstrap

Mount Blackstrap, also known as Blackstrap Ski Hill, is a man-made

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

and

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic ...

hill located approximately south of

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, east of Highway 11, the Louis Riel Trail. It is one of only a few man-made mountains in the world and is a unique feature on Saskatchewan's prairie landscape. It is now a feature of the park along with

. It rises 45 metres above the surrounding land.

History

The hill was built in 1970 by the

Canadian government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in ...

for the 1971

Canada Winter Games Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by total ...

at a height of 2,045 feet above sea level. The mountain is built with soil excavated from the escarpment behind the "mountain". The theme for the Saskatoon bid for the 1971 Canada Games was "Going to build a mountain" in honour of the construction of the hill. After the Canada Winter Games, the ski hill was turned over to a private operator. However, the hill was closed permanently in 2008 due to declining ridership. The ski lodge was destroyed by a suspicious fire in September 2009. A month later, the provincial government announced that the remaining ski equipment at the hill would be dismantled and sold. By the end of 2012, three developers had approached the government with proposals to develop a recreation area. Requests for proposals were accepted until the spring of 2013. One developer,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, for ...

’s Torey Spink, withdrew his proposal over financial concerns, while the other two submissions did not include redevelopment of the ski hill. The ski hill never did get rebuilt and the only things left, besides the hill itself, are part of the ski lift and concrete foundations at the top of the hill.

Fish species

Fish species include

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Sam ...

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish water, brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are kno ...

burbot The burbot (''Lota lota'') is the only gadiform (cod-like) freshwater fish. It is also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, and eelpout. The species is closely ...

, white sucker, and whitefish.

Gallery

File:Sask Aquadic Adventures 01.jpg, Sask Aquatic Adventures File:Coulee beside Sunset Ridge Campground.jpg, Coulee beside Sunset Ridge Campground File:Blackstrap Lake 01.jpg, Blackstrap Lake File:Mount Blackstrap 04.jpg, Abandoned service tunnel, Mount Blackstrap File:Mount Blackstrap 05.jpg, Abandoned ski lift, Mount Blackstrap

References

External links

Blackstrap Provincial ParkDescription of Mount BlackstrapFish Species of Saskatchewan
{{Authority control Dundurn No. 314, Saskatchewan Provincial parks of Saskatchewan Division No. 11, Saskatchewan Hills of Saskatchewan

History

Attractions and amenities

Camping

Picnicking

Trail system

Sask Aquatic Adventures

Mount Blackstrap

History

Fish species

Gallery

See also

References

External links