Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park is a natural park in Canada straddling the

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

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 ...

boundary and jointly administered by the two provinces. Located south-east of

Medicine Hat Medicine Hat is a city in Southern Alberta, southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff, Alberta, R ...

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 Highway 41, officially named Buffalo Trail, is a north-south highway in eastern Alberta, Canada. It extends from the United States border at Wild Horse, Alberta, Wild Horse to Alberta Highway 55, Highway 55 in the Hamlet (place), hamlet of La ...

, the townsite of Elkwater, Saskatchewan Highway 615, Saskatchewan Highway 271, and

Fort Walsh Fort Walsh is a National Historic Site of Canada that was a North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) fort. Administered by Parks Canada, it forms a constituent part of Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. The fort was built in June 1875 and was named ...

, and the Centre Block, an additional area of in Saskatchewan, west of

Saskatchewan Highway 21 Highway 21 is a provincial highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from Montana Secondary Highway 233 at the United States border at Willow Creek to Highway 950 / Highway 919 within the Meadow Lake Provincial Park. High ...

Geography

The Cypress Hills plateau rises up to above the surrounding

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

, 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 The Canadian Rockies () or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, w ...

and the

Labrador Peninsula The Labrador Peninsula, also called Quebec-Labrador Peninsula, is a large peninsula in eastern Canada. It is bounded by Hudson Bay to the west, the Hudson Strait to the north, the Labrador Sea to the east, Strait of Belle Isle and the Gulf of ...

. Eastward across the boundary is the highest point in Saskatchewan, at . The "West Block" of the Cypress Hills spans the provincial boundary.

Battle Creek Battle Creek is a city in northwestern Calhoun County, Michigan, United States, at the confluence of the Kalamazoo River, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek River, Battle Creek rivers. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a tota ...

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 Woody plant encroachment (also called woody encroachment, bush encroachment, shrub encroachment, shrubification, woody plant proliferation, or bush thickening) is a natural phenomenon characterised by the area expansion and density increase of ...

, with a detected 1% increase of shrub cover annually.

History

*1931 — Cypress Hills Provincial Park was established in Saskatchewan. *1951 — Cypress Hills Provincial Park was established in Alberta. *1989 — On August 25, the governments of Alberta and

signed an agreement committing themselves to cooperation on

ecosystem management Ecosystem management is an approach to natural resource management that aims to ensure the long-term sustainability and persistence of an ecosystem's function and services while meeting socioeconomic, political, and cultural needs. Although indi ...

, 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. *2001 — On August 18, Vance Petriew discovered a

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that warms and begins to release gases when passing close to the Sun, a process called outgassing. This produces an extended, gravitationally unbound atmosphere or Coma (cometary), coma surrounding ...

from Cypress Hills during the Saskatchewan Summer Star Party. The comet was later named 185P/Petriew. *2004 — On September 28, Saskatchewan Parks, Alberta Community Development, Parks Canada and the

Royal Astronomical Society of Canada The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) is a national, non-profit, charitable organization devoted to the advancement of astronomy and related sciences. At present, there are 30 local branches of the Society, called Centres, in towns an ...

signed an agreement that declared the park a

dark-sky preserve A dark-sky preserve (DSP) is an area, usually surrounding a park or observatory, that restricts or reduces light pollution or maintains and protects naturally dark night skies. Different terms have been used to describe these areas as national or ...

. *2011 — On August 25, the Park opened the Cypress Hills Observatory and Yurt classroom.

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 A cottage, during Feudalism in England, England's feudal period, was the holding by a cottager (known as a cotter or ''bordar'') of a small house with enough garden to feed a family and in return for the cottage, the cottager had to provide ...

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 A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

and

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

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 trail A cross-country skiing trail or ''loipe''From or ''Langlaufloipe'', pl. –''n'', ''loipe'' is a loanword in English-language travel guides, referring to cross-country ski trails in Europe. It is a Germanization of the Norwegian language, Norwegia ...

s 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

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

s. The park protects the majority of the Cypress Hills

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

, which consists of three separate elevated blocks of lush forest and fescue

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

surrounded by dry mixed-grass

. 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 Eastend is a town in south-west part of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan, situated approximately north of the Montana border and east of the Alberta border. The town is best known for the nearby di ...

, 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 The elk (: ''elk'' or ''elks''; ''Cervus canadensis'') or wapiti, is the second largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. T ...

moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...

, and

pronghorn The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American ante ...

. Other mammals found in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park include: Eulipotyphla *

Masked shrew The cinereus shrew or masked shrew (''Sorex cinereus'') is a small shrew found in Alaska, Canada, and the northern United States. This is the most widely distributed shrew in North America, where it is also known as the common shrew. Descripti ...

(''Sorex cinereus'') *

American pygmy shrew The American pygmy shrew (''Sorex hoyi''), also called the eastern pygmy shrew, is a small shrew found throughout much of Alaska, Canada, and the northern contiguous United States, as well as south along the Appalachian Mountains and in a small r ...

(''Sorex hoyi'') * Wandering shrew (''Sorex vagrans'') Lagomorpha *

Snowshoe hare The snowshoe hare (''Lepus americanus''), also called the varying hare or snowshoe rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet. The animal's feet prevent it from sink ...

(''Lepus americanus'') *

White-tailed jackrabbit The white-tailed jackrabbit (''Lepus townsendii''), also known as the prairie hare and the white jack, is a species of hare found in western North America. Like all hares and rabbits, it is a member of the family Leporidae of order Lagomorpha. I ...

(''Lepus townsendii'') * Nuttall's cottontail (''Sylvilagus nuttallii'') Chiroptera *

Hoary bat The hoary bat (''Lasiurus cinereus'') is a species of bat in the vesper bat family, Vespertilionidae. It lives throughout most of North America (and possibly also in Hawaii, although this is disputed). Taxonomy The hoary bat was described as ...

(''Aeorestes cinereus'') *

Big brown bat The big brown bat (''Eptesicus fuscus'') is a species of vesper bat distributed widely throughout North America, the Caribbean, and the northern portion of South America. It was first described as a species in 1796. Compared to other microbats ...

(''Eptesicus fuscus'') *

Silver-haired bat The silver-haired bat (''Lasionycteris noctivagans'') is a solitary migratory species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae and the monotypic, only member of the genus ''Lasionycteris''. Etymology The species name translates as night-wand ...

(''Lasionycteris noctivagans'') *

Eastern red bat The eastern red bat (''Lasiurus borealis'') is a species of microbat in the family Vespertilionidae. Eastern red bats are widespread across eastern North America, with additional records in Bermuda. Taxonomy and etymology It was described in 1 ...

(''Lasiurus borealis'') *

Small-footed myotis The western small-footed bat (''Myotis ciliolabrum''), also known as the western small-footed myotis, is a species of vesper bat native to North America. Description Western small-footed bats are relatively small bats, having a total length of , ...

(''Myotis ciliolabrum'') *

Long-eared myotis The long-eared myotis (''Myotis evotis'') is a species of vesper bat in the suborder Microchiroptera. It can be found in western Canada, the western United States, and Baja California in Mexico. Description The long-eared myotis is a pale brown ...

(''Myotis evotis'') * Little brown myotis (''Myotis lucifugus'') Carnivora *

Coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the Wolf, gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the c ...

(''Canis latrans'') *

North American river otter The North American river otter (''Lontra canadensis''), also known as the northern river otter and river otter, is a semiaquatic mammal that endemism, lives only on the North American continent throughout most of Canada, along the coasts of the U ...

(''Lontra canadensis'') *

Bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...

(''Lynx rufus'') *

Striped skunk The striped skunk (''Mephitis mephitis'') is a skunk of the genus ''Mephitis (genus), Mephitis'' that occurs across much of North America, including southern Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico. It is currently listed as least concern ...

(''Mephitis mephitis'') *

Stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine or ermine, is a species of mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern regions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Concern on th ...

(''Mustela erminea'') *

Black-footed ferret The black-footed ferret (''Mustela nigripes''), also known as the American polecatHeptner, V. G. (Vladimir Georgievich); Nasimovich, A. A; Bannikov, Andrei Grigorovich; Hoffmann, Robert S. (2001)''Mammals of the Soviet Union''Volume: v. 2, pt. 1 ...

(''Mustela nigripes'') *

Least weasel The least weasel (''Mustela nivalis''), little weasel, common weasel, or simply weasel is the smallest member of the genus ''Mustela,'' Family (biology), family Mustelidae and Order (biology), order Carnivora. It is native to Eurasia, North Ame ...

(''Mustela nivalis'') *

Long-tailed weasel The long-tailed weasel (''Neogale frenata''), also known as the bridled weasel, masked ermine, or big stoat, is a species of weasel found in North America, North, Central America, Central, and South America. It is distinct from the Stoat, short-t ...

(''Neogale frenata'') *

American mink The American mink (''Neogale vison'') is a semiaquatic species of Mustelidae, mustelid native to North America, though human introduction has expanded its range to many parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. Because of range expansion, the Am ...

(''Neogale vison'') *

Raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the North American, northern or common raccoon (also spelled racoon) to distinguish it from Procyonina, other species of raccoon, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest ...

(''Procyon lotor'') *

Mountain lion The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

(''Puma concolor'') * American badger (''Taxidea taxus'') *

Northern pocket gopher The northern pocket gopher (''Thomomys talpoides'') is a small gopher species native to the western United States and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia, and Manitoba. Description Northern pocket gophers have long ...

(''Thomomys talpoides'') *

Swift fox The swift fox (''Vulpes velox'') is a small light orange-tan fox around the size of a domestic cat found in the western grasslands of North America, such as Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. It also lives in southern M ...

(''Vulpes velox'') Rodentia *

North American beaver The North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') is one of two Extant taxon, extant beaver species, along with the Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber''). It is native to North America and has been introduced in South America (Patagonia) and Europe ...

(''Castor canadensis'') *

Black-tailed prairie dog The black-tailed prairie dog (''Cynomys ludovicianus'') is a rodent of the family Sciuridae (the squirrels) found in the Great Plains of North America from about the United States–Canada border to the United States–Mexico border. Unlike some ...

(''Cynomys ludovicianus'') *

Ord's kangaroo rat Ord's kangaroo rat (''Dipodomys ordii'') is a kangaroo rat native to western North America, specifically the Great Plains and the Great Basin, with its range extending from extreme southern Canada to central Mexico. Ord's kangaroo rat has a fi ...

(''Dipodomys ordii'') *

North American porcupine The North American porcupine (''Erethizon dorsatum''), also known as the Canadian porcupine, is a large quill-covered rodent in the New World porcupine family. It is the second largest rodent in North America after the North American beaver (''Ca ...

(''Erethizon dorsatum'') *

Thirteen-lined ground squirrel The thirteen-lined ground squirrel (''Ictidomys tridecemlineatus''), also known as the striped gopher, leopard ground squirrel, and squinny (formerly known as the leopard-spermophile in the age of John James Audubon, Audubon), is a species of hib ...

(''Ictidomys tridecemlineatus'') * Sagebrush vole (''Lemmiscus curtatus'') *

Western meadow vole The western meadow vole (''Microtus drummondii'') is a species of North America, North American vole found in western North America, the midwestern United States, Western Ontario, western Ontario, Canada, and formerly in Mexico. It was previously ...

(''Microtus drummondii'') * Gapper's red-backed vole (''Myodes gapperi'') *

Least chipmunk The least chipmunk (''Neotamias minimus'') is the smallest species of chipmunk and the most widespread in North America. Description It is the smallest species of chipmunk, measuring about in total length with a weight of . The body is gray to ...

(''Neotamias minimus'') *

Bushy-tailed woodrat The bushy-tailed woodrat, or packrat (''Neotoma cinerea'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae found in Canada and the United States. Its natural habitats are boreal forests, temperate forests, dry savanna, temperate shrubland, and te ...

(''Neotoma cinerea'') *

Muskrat The muskrat or common muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over various climates ...

(''Ondatra zibethicus'') * Northern grasshopper mouse (''Onychomys leucogaster'') *

White-footed mouse The white-footed mouse (''Peromyscus leucopus'') is a rodent native to North America from southern Canada to the southwestern United States and Mexico. It is a species of the genus ''Peromyscus'', a closely related group of New World mice often ...

(''Peromyscus leucopus'') * Western deer mouse (''Peromyscus sonoriensis'') *

American red squirrel The American red squirrel (''Tamiasciurus hudsonicus'') is one of three species of tree squirrels currently classified in the genus ''Tamiasciurus'', known as the pine squirrels (the others are the Douglas squirrel, ''T. douglasii'', and the sou ...

(''Tamiasciurus hudsonicus'') *

Richardson's ground squirrel Richardson's ground squirrel (''Urocitellus richardsonii''), also known as the dakrat or flickertail, is a North American ground squirrel in the genus ''Urocitellus''. Like a number of other ground squirrels, they are sometimes called prairie dog ...

(''Urocitellus richardsonii'') * Olive-backed pocket mouse (''Perognathus fasciatus'') *

Western jumping mouse The western jumping mouse (''Zapus princeps''), is a species of rodent in the family Zapodidae. It is found in Canada and the United States. Western jumping mice evolved during the Pleistocene, possibly from the fossil species ''Zapus burti'', w ...

(''Zapus princeps'')

Fish species

Fish species include

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

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

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

, brook,

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

, westslope cutthroat and

rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributary, tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in North America and Asia. The steelhead (sometimes called steelhead trout) is an Fish migration#Classification, ...

burbot The burbot (''Lota lota''), also known as bubbot, mariah, loche, cusk, freshwater cod, freshwater ling, freshwater cusk, the lawyer, coney-fish, lingcod, or eelpout, is a species of coldwater ray-finned fish native to the subarctic regions of ...

common carp The common carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), also known as European carp, Eurasian carp, or simply carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Ark ...

white sucker The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii'') is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is common ...

, and shorthead redhorse.

References

External links

*
A Road Trip To Cypress HillsCypress Hills Interprovincial Park
{{Authority control Cypress County Provincial parks of Alberta Provincial parks of Saskatchewan Dark-sky preserves in Canada Maple Creek No. 111, Saskatchewan 1931 establishments in Saskatchewan 1951 establishments in Alberta