Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park

We were dusty, hot and thirsty when we turned off the TransCanada highway and began the climb into Cypress Hills, a green oasis on a parched, summer prairie landscape. Canada’s only interprovincial park is a year-round destination that straddles the Alberta- Saskatchewan border, one hour east of Medicine Hat.

Sunset at Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park

In summer, Cypress Hills is a magnet for travelers from the prairie provinces in Canada and from the Great Plains in the United States. In winter it’s a ski destination but, but most don’t know it. Hidden Valley Ski Resort is here, a dynamite hill for young families costing a fraction of what it costs to ski the Canadian Rockies.

Elkwater Lake Lodge, in the park’s townsite, partners with Hidden Valley on ski packages. We stayed in one of its loft-style condos which include a full kitchen, fireplace and entertainment unit. The lodge also has pet friendly suites and cabin rentals. Reesor Ranch is a working cattle ranch that’s been going since 1904. Located just outside the park gates, the ranch operates as a B&B with log cabin and room rentals. “City Slickers” can actually join a real cattle drive here and ride with the Reesor Wranglers as they gather and move cattle.

Relaxing at Elkwater Lake Lodge

Cypress Hills holds an extraordinary place in Canada’s history. First Nations found game and plant medicines at Cypress Hills that they could not find on the prairie, and even today First Nations consider it sacred land. In the 1870s, four American whiskey trading posts in Cypress Hills set the stage for the Cypress Hills Massacre. The massacre quickened the recruitment and organization of a new police force which would later become known as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, aka the “Mounties”. In 1876, following the Battle of Little Big Horn, Chief Sitting Bull and his Sioux followers fled to the Cypress Hills area.

Cypress Hills is also one of North America’s darkest dark sky preserves. Every August, hundreds of amateur astronomers flock to a big summer star party here complete with powerful telescopes for night sky viewing. A couple of years back, an amateur astronomer discovered a new star at the party.

Alberta Parks staff helping out with the Learn To Fish program – photo courtesy of Alberta Parks

Alberta Parks opened a new visitor centre here a couple of years ago. It operates in warmer weather months. Learn to Fish is perhaps its most popular family program. Interpreters teach kids basic fishing skills like how to tie a line, where to look for fish, and how to cast. “You can see the magic on kids’ faces”, says Peter Swain, Alberta Parks head of visitor services at Cypress Hills. “The first time they manage to cast a line properly, they just light up and become completely wrapped up in the experience. Every weed, every rock, every snag of wood – it’s a bite from the big one.” Cost per child is nominal and fishing gear is provided by the Alberta Parks visitor centre.

Cypress Hills is home to a variety of wildlife including Wapiti, White Tail, Mule Deer, Elk and Cougar, the largest wildcat in North America (rarely seen). Evening wildlife tours in warmer weather months highlight park wildlife habits and habitats.

Several campgrounds are located in Cypress Hills. Campsite reservations are recommended.

Descending out of the forested hills onto the rugged terrain of the Canadian Badlands

The Canadian Badlands encompass 90,000 square kilometres of southeastern Alberta, including Cypress Hills.