Pasquia Hills are hills in 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 ...

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 ...

. They are located in the east central part of the province in the RM of Hudson Bay No. 394 near the

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

border. The hills are the northern most in a series of hills called the

Manitoba Escarpment The Manitoba Escarpment, or the Western Manitoba Uplands, are a range of hills along the Saskatchewan–Manitoba border. The eastern slopes of the range are considered to be a scarp. They were created by glacial scouring and formed the western ...

. The Manitoba Escarpment marks the western edge of the pre-historical glacial

Lake Agassiz Lake Agassiz ( ) was a large proglacial lake that existed in central North America during the late Pleistocene, fed by meltwater from the retreating Laurentide Ice Sheet at the end of the last glacial period. At its peak, the lake's area wa ...

. The other four hills include

Porcupine Hills The Porcupine Hills refer to various groups of hills and uplands located in the prairie provinces of Canada, specifically the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. They are part of the Manitoba Escarpment, which was the shoreline of the anc ...

, Duck Mountain, and Riding Mountain. There are three main watersheds that flow from Pasquia Hills, all of which are part of the

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 ...

. The rivers originating from the north side flow into 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 ...

. From the eastern slopes, the

Pasquia River Pasquia River is a river in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. It begins in Saskatchewan in the Pasquia Hills and traverses Boreal forest of Canada, boreal forests and muskeg in the Boreal ...

flows east into

and meets the Saskatchewan River at

The Pas The Pas ( , ) is a town in Manitoba, Canada, at the confluence of the Pasquia River and the Saskatchewan River and surrounded by the unorganized Northern Region of the province. It is approximately northwest of the provincial capital, Winn ...

. The Overflowing River starts at Overflow Lake on the eastern side of the hills and travels east into Manitoba where it flows into Overflow Bay on

Lake Winnipegosis Lake Winnipegosis is a large (5,370 km2) lake in central North America, in Manitoba, Canada, some 300 km northwest of Winnipeg. It is Canada's eleventh-largest lake. The lake's name derives from that of Lake Winnipeg, with a diminuti ...

. On the south side, the rivers drain south into the

Red Deer River The Red Deer River is a river in Alberta and a small portion of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is a major tributary of the South Saskatchewan River and is part of the larger Saskatchewan / Nelson River, Nelson system that empties into Hudson Bay. T ...

, which flows into Dawson Bay of Lake Winnipegosis.

Parks and recreation

There are several parks and protected areas on the Pasquia Hills, including 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 the ...

, recreation sites, and

regional parks In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. At the heart of the hills is Wildcat Hill Provincial Park, which is a wilderness park with no services that covers . Wildcat Hill (), at above sea level, is near the centre of the provincial park. Other parks in the Pasquia Hills include: * Rice River Canyon Ecological Reserve () is situated on the northern slopes of the Pasquia Hills and is centred around the Rice River Canyon. Over the last 12,000 years, the Rice River carved out the canyon, which has walls that reach almost 400 feet above the

riverbed A streambed or stream bed is the bottom of a stream or river and is confined within a Stream channel, channel or the Bank (geography), banks of the waterway. Usually, the bed does not contain terrestrial (land) vegetation and instead supports d ...

. At the bridge across Rice River on Highway 55, about east of Carrot River, is the trail head for the Rice River Canyon hiking trail. It is a "rugged backcountry wilderness hike" along the river up to the river forks. * Pasquia Hills North Recreation Site () is a small, rustic campground on the northern slopes of the Pasquia Hills. Access is from Highway 55. * Mountain Cabin Recreation Site () is a free campground at the intersection of Highways 9 and 55. * Pasquia Regional Park () is a park on the Carrot River. *

Recreation Site () * Overflowing River Recreation Site () * Fir River Road Recreation Site () * Ruby Lake Recreation Site () is a campground on Ruby Lake and is part of Hudson Bay Regional Park.

Pasquia Provincial Forest

The Pasquia Provincial Forest is the forest that encompasses the Pasquia Hills and it is part of the Northern Boreal Forest in a sub region called Mid-Boreal Upland. It is one of several provincial forests in Saskatchewan. Recreation and logging are very important industries in the region. The forests of Wildcat Hill Provincial Park were originally protected in 1971 as a forest reserve and in 1992, it became a

. The trees of the Pasquia forest are typical of the Mid-Boreal Upland consisting of mixed

coniferous Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

and

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

. The trees are medium to tall, closed stands of trembling aspen and balsam poplar, white and black spruce, and balsam fir. There are 21 different

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 ...

species in the forest, including the rare ram's head lady slipper. Wildlife in and around the forest include elk, white tail deer, moose, bears, muskrats, beavers, woodland caribou, and cougars. There are over 350 bird species in the forest.

References

External links

Hiking the Rice River Canyon: Everything You Need to Know

This is the Rice River Canyon
{{Authority control Hills of Saskatchewan Landforms of Saskatchewan Forests of Saskatchewan

Parks and recreation

Pasquia Provincial Forest

See also

References

External links