Under an hour drive from Medicine Hat brings you to the beautiful rolling hills of Cypress Hills Provincial Park.
Along with sitting lakeside, camping, paddling the water, and hitting up the trails, there are free activities throughout the week to explore the area on a guided tour or learning a new adventurous outdoor skill.
FREE PROGRAMS:
Learn to Mountain Bike (youth)
Saturdays & Wednesdays until August 31, 2024
Want to hit the trails? Join a professional mountain bike instructor. This introductory level program will erase those city cycling habits that make trail riding so hard. Come learn about bikes, brakes, and body position before you go! (psst – this will help you go faster too!)
Learn to Mountain Bike (adult)
Saturdays & Wednesdays until August 31, 2024
Have questions about mountain biking you don’t want to ask in front of kids? Join a professional mountain bike instructor. Come learn about mountain biking techniques that will help you feel more in control of your bike and help you keep up with your kids!
Wednesdays & Saturdays until August 31, 2024
Name something more quintessentially Canadian than canoeing. Join us for an evening paddle on Elkwater Lake.
Saturdays until August 31, 2024
There is something about knowing the name of plants that causes you to care more about them. Come for a walk with a local taxonomist and share knowledge, stories, and learn about this botanical island.
Saturdays until August 31, 2024
Have you ever looked up at the night sky in wonder? Join Rod DeVries as he takes you on a tour of the night sky in Cypress Hills Dark Sky Preserve. Discover stars, planets, and other astronomical wonders. Program runs clear skies or cloudy!
Movie Night at the Amphitheatre
Saturdays until August 31, 2024
The Elkwater Community Associaiton Presents... Movie Nights at the Outdoor Ampthitheatre! Movies are held Saturday night on the dates listed below. Movie will start at about 9:00pm. Bring blankets, bug spray, a flashlight and Snacks!
Sundays until September 1, 2024
Take a 2km stomp through a shady spruce forest and back through a hilly aspen meadow, to explore the flora and fingers-crossed fauna along Beaver Creek.
Sundays until September 1, 2024
Explore the principles of island biogeography, glaciation and the fantastic creatures found within, through fun games and activities.
Sundays until September 1, 2024
You’ve seen it on TV! Come for a family oriented challenge using elements from our school programs! The race around the Visitor Center, Learning Center, beach, and town site will get your head thinking and your heart pumping!
Mondays until September 2, 2024
Do you like searching for hidden treasure? Get off the beach and into the
backcountry with geocaching. Let’s lay down some coordinates and start searching. GPS units provided!
Mondays until September 2, 2024
Slow down, you move too fast. Let’s make this moment last and appreciate our natural environment with water color, wood burning, rubbings or an art scavenger hunt. Materials are provided!
Tuesdays until August 27, 2024
A lot of wisdom comes from poor judgement. Preferably from the poor judgement of others. Come learn about navigation, shelter building, and weather permitting, fire starting!
Thursdays until August 29, 2024
Elkwater hosts some of the greatest diversity of species of birds anywhere in the province. Join us for a 3km walk along the lakeshore.
Thursdays until August 29, 2024
Picture this, Pokemon for adults, the same joy of catching them all, but in real life, recording animals, insects, plants and fungi, helping discover species and contributing to science. Join us at the Visitor Center and become Citizen Scientist, bring a phone and let’s go catch them all, on an iNaturalist adventure.
Fridays until August 30, 2024
Explore the rainbow of wildflowers found in the Cypress Hills. Join us for a 2.7km loop, heading up the grassy slopes of Old Baldy, then down and around through an aspen forest along Cougar Ridge.
Fridays until August 30, 2024
Join us for an evening around the campfire to hear stories, sing songs and learn about the animals that call the Cypress Hills home. Be sure to bring a camp chair and a blanket.
watch our reel featuring a handful of free activities in Cypress Hills Provincial Park
EVENTS:
Union All-Terrain Obstacle Course Race
August 3, 2024
An All-Terrain Obstacle Course at Hidden Valley Snow Resort. Please visit the union races event page for more information.
Back-Country Trail Run and Mountain Bike Race
August 4, 2024
Union Races back country trail 5k or 10k trail run and back-country mountain bike race. Please see the union races event page for more details.
August 24, 2024
Epic weekend of mountain bike racing and great food in Elkwater, Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park on August 24th, 2024. Check out the Battle Creek Showdown and Mountain Bike Race and Festival facebook page for more details.
September 7, 2024
This year's Futterwacken Trail Run will celebrate our 9th Year at Elkwater Alberta! The event will take place on September 7th and all participants will receive a finisher medal once again. Registration opens June 1st, with early bird pricing until July 31st, after which, the costs will increase by $10 until it closes on September 6th or when we reach 100 participants, so act fast! This year's event will consist of three routes (2km, 5km and 10km) for the distance options. If you are planning to walk most of the event, we encourage you to enter the short loop. Once the routes are finalized, links will be advertised here and on Facebook. The run starts at 11:00 and the course cut off is 1:00. Please visit the Futterwacken Trail Run website for more details.
