Camping & Hiking · Scenic Views · Saskatchewan
A large, well-equipped interprovincial park south of Maple Creek, Saskatchewan, with pine-covered hills, groomed trails, a beach, a dark-sky preserve and free showers. Many campsites are open with little privacy.
Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park rises out of the prairie south of Maple Creek, and visitors keep coming back for the views, pine forest and cooler air at elevation. Several call it their favourite park in Saskatchewan, with enough to do that one reviewer suggested at least four nights. Weather can turn quickly, with one July visit bringing hail and cold.
The Saskatchewan side is well serviced. There's a general store, restaurants, a gas pump, a golf course and an ice cream shop, and campers praise clean washrooms, free warm showers and free firewood. Staff are consistently described as friendly. Some find it more commercial than the Alberta side around Elkwater, so it suits people who want amenities more than seclusion.
Activities are the big draw. Groomed hiking and biking trails lead to viewpoints like the Conglomerate Cliffs and Bald Butte, Loch Leven is good for paddling, and watercraft rentals are reasonably priced. There's a beach, playgrounds and sports courts for kids, zip lining, geocaching and guided night walks, plus an observatory in the dark-sky preserve. Fort Walsh makes a worthwhile trip.
The main complaint is privacy. Sites in loops such as the Meadows have little tree cover and can be sloped, so book outer-edge sites. One tenting family had loud neighbours with no quiet-hour patrols, so earplugs help. Deer are everywhere on the trails, and so are ticks, and there's limited lake water beyond the one small lake.
Summarised from visitor reviews on Google Maps. Based on 95 Google reviews. Details change — confirm hours, prices and bookings with Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park - Saskatchewan directly.
