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travel / great places / canadian snapshots / cypress hills
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Cypress Hills
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The lush rolling landscape of the Cypress Hills
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Rising out of
the gently rolling prairie of Southwest Saskatchewan and Southeast Alberta is
a lush plateau of
forests, grasslands and wetlands. Called "beautiful highlands" by the Cree and
described by John Palliser as "a perfect oasis in the desert," the area was
called Cypress Hills by French fur traders, who mistook the lodgepole pines
found there for the cypress or jack pines of Quebec.
Cypress Hills is the highest
Canadian land elevation east of the Rockies and west of Labrador. It consists
of three
separate blocks or hills, one in Alberta and two in Saskatchewan. It rises
600 metres above the surrounding plains and is home to freshwater streams
and creeks, lakes, forests, rare fescue grasses, meadows, marshlands and
ranch lands. People flock here year-round to take advantage of breathtaking
trails for cycling, hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and horse back
riding. It's an area rich with human and natural history, and it's our next
stop along the Trans Canada Trail.
Location
The Cypress Hills area is found in Southwest Saskatchewan and Southeast Alberta, straddling
the border and covering 20,250 hectares. In Saskatchewan, Cypress Hills is 27 kilometres south of Maple Creek. You can
take the Trans Canada Highway from the north or Highway 13 from the south to get to Highway 21, which will take you to
Cypress Hills. In Alberta, take Highway 41 South off the Trans Canada Highway and drive for 20 minutes to get there.
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