We departed Grasslands National Park and made our way to Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, AKA CHIPP.
Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park is an area in southwestern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta and has the highest point between Labrador and the Rocky Mountains. It is a unique topography as the pine forest hills jut out in the middle of the prairies at a much higher elevation. It offers a full array of camping, lodging, services, and both summer and winter activities. The park is divided into 3 different sections, the East Block and Centre Block in Saskatchewan, and West Block – Saskatchewan/Elkwater in Alberta. The East Block is leased grazing land with no visitor facilities. Only the Centre Block and Elkwater provide services. The West Block and Elkwater will be covered in future posts. Confusing? Yes!
Cypress Hills Centre Block has over 6 campgrounds and close to 700 sites along with a variety of group camping areas. We checked and the only campground we could get a site in was The Meadows so that’s the campground we stayed in. We lucked out and got a perfect site. We were glad we made reservations at this was the height of the season!
Campground: Meadows Campground
Location: Maple Creek, Saskatchewan
Site: M62 (back-in)
Cost: $47 (CAD) – Includes $12 (CAD) reservation fee and an $8 (CAD) day use (per day)
Services: E (30 AMP)
Comments: This campground has a variety of site shapes and sizes and offers services and dry camping. One section has easy to access pull thrus and the other sections are on narrow roads with all sorts of different site sizes. The campground is heavily used in the summer and reservations are recommended.
The Meadows Campground has over 100 sites and they vary so there is something for everyone.
The core area by the entrance to the park has a variety of amenities and activities. There is a grille, an ice cream bar, a general store, a swimming pool, a lake with boat rentals and a swimming beach, and the visitors centre. There is also a go kart track outside the entrance to the park. The nice thing about Cypress Hills in Saskatchewan is they offer free firewood. They hope to prevent people from transporting firewood and spread tree disease and/or insects. You just have to go to the firewood alley and pick up your own firewood. YAY!
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