Caribou Creek is a river in the east-central part of the
Canadian province
Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...
of
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...
. The
river's source is in a hilly plateau called
Cub Hills, near the western boundary of
Narrow Hills Provincial Park. The river heads south following a glacier-carved valley through the Cub Hills en route to its mouth at
Lower Fishing Lake. The entire course of the river is in the
boreal forest
Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by pinophyta, coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. I ...
ecozone of Canada. Caribou Creek is a tributary of
Stewart Creek, which flows south and into the east-flowing
Torch River. Torch River is a tributary of the
Saskatchewan River
The Saskatchewan River (Cree: , "swift flowing river") is a major river in Canada. It stretches about from where it is formed by the joining of the North Saskatchewan River and South Saskatchewan River just east of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan ...
as it flows into the
Saskatchewan River Delta. Much of the upper
watershed
Watershed may refer to:
Hydrology
* Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins
* Drainage basin, an area of land where surface water converges (North American usage)
Music
* Watershed Music Festival, an annual country ...
was burned in 1977 in what is known as the Fishing Lakes Fire and is now dominated by a forest of
jack pine
Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana''), also known as grey pine or scrub pine, is a North American pine.
Distribution and habitat
Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories t ...
.
Caribou Creek is accessed from the
Hanson Lake Road along the southern shore of
Upper Fishing Lake. Along the highway, near the point where Caribou Creek flows out of Upper Fishing Lake, is Caribou Creek Lodge. The lodge features a motel, cabins, a dining room, fuel, and a convenience store.
Course
Caribou Creek begins in
muskeg
Muskeg (; ; , lit. ''moss bog'') is a peat-forming ecosystem found in several northern climates, most commonly in Arctic and boreal ecosystem, boreal areas. Muskeg is approximately synonymous with bogland, bog or peatland, and is a standard te ...
and swamp in a valley formed over 10,000 years ago during the
last ice age at the western boundary of Narrow Hills Provincial Park, just south of
Highway 913. North flowing waters from that valley make their way into the
Nipekamew Creek while south flowing waters form Caribou Creek. Caribou Creek follows the course of the valley to
Lower Fishing Lake. Along the way, it is joined by several tributaries and there are three lakes along its course.
The first notable tributary to meet Caribou Creek is a river that begins at Bean Lake, near the northern boundary of Narrow Hills Provincial Park, and flows south to meet it. Less than a mile downstream, a short stream from
Summit Lake meets Caribou Creek and then it opens up into
Lost Echo Lake. From the south end of Lost Echo Lake, the river opens up to a much smaller Lower Echo Lake. From there, Caribou Creek continues southward and is joined by tributaries from Fairy Glen Lake and Strickly Lake before emptying into Upper Fishing Lake. That stretch of river from Lost Echo Lake south to Upper Fishing Lake–a distance of 12 kilometres–is also known as Lost Echo Creek. From the eastern end of Upper Fishing Lake, the river carries on south-east past Caribou Creek Lodge and across Hanson Lake Road for about a mile and terminates at Lower Fishing Lake.
Brook trout
Brook trout
The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada. Two ecological forms of brook trout h ...
were first introduced to the Lost Echo Creek portion of Caribou Creek in 1934. As Lost Echo Creek is well suited for brook trout, they adapted well and became naturalised. The only access to the creek is through trails off of Hanson Lake Road.
Since 1934, brook trout have been introduced to 25 rivers in the Cub Hills with five of those rivers now supporting populations of naturalised, self-sustaining feral brook trout. The other four rivers include the creeks of
Nipekamew,
White Gull, and
McDougal and
Mossy River. All seven of Saskatchewan's trout species can be found in the Cub Hills.
See also
*
List of rivers of Saskatchewan
This is a list of rivers of Saskatchewan, a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada.
The largest and most notable rivers are listed at the start, followed by rivers listed by drainage basin and then alphabetically.
Principa ...
*
Hudson Bay drainage basin
The Hudson Bay drainage basin is the drainage basin in northern North America where surface water empties into the Hudson Bay and adjoining waters. Spanning an area of about and with a mean discharge of about , the basin is almost entirely wi ...
References
{{authority control
Rivers of Saskatchewan
Tributaries of Hudson Bay
Northern Saskatchewan Administration District