Eagle Creek is a river in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

. The watershed of Eagle Creek is within the semi-arid

Palliser's Triangle Palliser's Triangle, or the Palliser Triangle, is a semi-arid steppe occupying a substantial portion of the Western Canadian Prairie Provinces, Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba, within the Great Plains region. While initially determined to be uns ...

and is the major drainage system in mid-western Saskatchewan between the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

and

North Saskatchewan River The North Saskatchewan River is a glacier-fed river that flows from the Canadian Rockies continental divide east to central Saskatchewan, where it joins with the South Saskatchewan River to make up the Saskatchewan River. Its water flows eventual ...

s. Eagle Creek begins at the eastern end of Eaglehill Lake and travels through a glacier-cut valley in the moist, mixed grasslands ecozone of Canada en route to the North Saskatchewan River. The North Saskatchewan River merges with the South Saskatchewan River farther downstream to become the

Saskatchewan River The Saskatchewan River (Cree: ''kisiskāciwani-sīpiy'', "swift flowing river") is a major river in Canada. It stretches about from where it is formed by the joining together of the North Saskatchewan and South Saskatchewan Rivers to Lake Winn ...

. There are three communities, one regional park, and several highways along the river's course. The communities include

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

, Herschel, and Anglia. Highways 51, 31, 4, and 14 are significant highways that cross the river.

Description

For much of Eagle Creek's course, it follows a

meltwater channel A meltwater channel (or sometimes a glacial meltwater channel) is a channel cut into ice, bedrock or unconsolidated deposits by the flow of water derived from the melting of a glacier or ice-sheet. The channel may form on the surface of, within, b ...

that was formed near the end of the last ice age. Both this channel and the North Saskatchewan River meltwater channel to the north were important in draining the land to the west – present-day

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. As the glaciers were receding, several large

proglacial lake In geology, a proglacial lake is a lake formed either by the damming action of a moraine during the retreat of a melting glacier, a glacial ice dam, or by meltwater trapped against an ice sheet due to isostatic depression of the crust around the ...

s were formed near Eagle Creek, including Glacial Lake Red Willow to the north-west, Glacial Lake Unity directly north, and to the east, Glacial Lake Saskatchewan. These lakes and meltwater channels also left large volumes of

glaciolacustrine deposits Sediments deposited into lakes that have come from glaciers are called glaciolacustrine deposits. These lakes include ice margin lakes or other types formed from glacial erosion or deposition. Sediments in the bedload and suspended load are carried ...

behind. By about 10,000 BC, the course of Eagle Creek had become ice-free and by about 7000 BC, the drainage basin and

Geomorphology Geomorphology (from Ancient Greek: , ', "earth"; , ', "form"; and , ', "study") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical, chemical or biological processes operating at or n ...

began to resemble that of present-day. At the southern most point of Eagle Creek is the Stranraer Terrace. The northern slopes of the Stranraer Terrace, which rises above the surrounding terrain, flow into the river. The terrace is considered to be the northern extreme limit of the

Missouri Coteau The Missouri Coteau, or Missouri Plateau, (french: Coteau du Missouri) is a large plateau that stretches along the eastern side of the valley of the Missouri River in central North Dakota and north-central South Dakota in the United States. In t ...

Course

Image of the buffalo jump at Ancient Echoes Interpretive Centre in 2017

Eagle Creek begins at the eastern end of a small (), narrow lake called Eaglehill Lake in the RM of Tramping Lake No. 380. The river's course from beginning to end has a "U" shape to it. From Eagle Hill Lake, the river flows into the valley formed from glacial meltwaters and meanders southward where it widens to form Tramping Lake. Tramping Lake, at , is a long, shallow, and narrow lake that snakes along the valley floor. From the southern end of Tramping Lake, Eagle Creek carries on southward and flows into the 1383-hectare, man-made

Opuntia Lake ''Opuntia'', commonly called prickly pear or pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae. Prickly pears are also known as ''tuna'' (fruit), ''sabra'', ''nopal'' (paddle, plural ''nopales'') from the Nahuatl word f ...

. From the Opuntia Lake, the river heads south-east towards the Stranraer Terrace and the

communities A community is a Level of analysis, social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place (geography), place, Norm (social), norms, religion, values, Convention (norm), customs, or Identity (social science), identity. Communiti ...

, Herschel, and Rosetown. At Herschel, there's the

Ancient Echoes Interpretive Centre Ancient Echoes Interpretive Centre is a community-based museum and interpretive centre, founded in 1994, that educates, conserves, protects, and promotes the history, the peoples and the assets of the land forming the Eagle Creek Valley and Coal ...

and a

buffalo jump A buffalo jump, or sometimes bison jump, is a cliff formation which Indigenous peoples of North America historically used to hunt and kill plains bison in mass quantities. The broader term game jump refers to a man-made jump or cliff used for hun ...

at Coal Mine Creek

coulee Coulee, or coulée ( or ) is a term applied rather loosely to different landforms, all of which refer to a kind of valley or drainage zone. The word ''coulee'' comes from the Canadian French ''coulée'', from French ''couler'' 'to flow'. The ...

. After Rosetown, Eagle Creek heads east and flows out of the valley and into the flatter prairie. From there, the river re-enters a valley and begins its northward journey towards the North Saskatchewan River. Along the river's course, in the RM of Harris No. 316, is Eagle Creek Cement Bridge. It was built in 1925 and is on the

Canadian Register of Historic Places The Canadian Register of Historic Places (CRHP; french: Le Répertoire canadien des lieux patrimoniaux), also known as Canada's Historic Places, is an online directory of historic sites in Canada which have been formally recognized for their her ...

. The bridge is a reinforced concrete, double-span bowstring bridge, one of nearly 90 such bridges constructed on the 1920s and 1930s in southern Saskatchewan.

Eagle Creek Regional Park

Eagle Creek Regional Park () is a

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distri ...

along the course of Eagle Creek in the RM of Eagle Creek, north-west of

Asquith Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, (12 September 1852 – 15 February 1928), generally known as H. H. Asquith, was a British statesman and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party politician who served as Prime Minister of ...

. It was founded in 1963 and refurbished in 1985. In 1994, a local bridge was moved to the park to cross the river and, in 2004, a church was moved to the park from Kinley. A hall with a full kitchen and deck for entertainment was also moved to the park. Other facilities include a campground, trout pond, golf course, mini golf, disk golf, ball diamonds, and three hiking trails. Access to the park is from Highway 376. The campground has 67 electrical sites and 22 non-serviced and tenting areas. Potable water, washrooms, and showers are available at the campground. The man-made trout pond is stocked and has a dock for fishing. Fishing in the river is also permitted. The 9-hole golf course has artificial greens and is a par 35 with 2,295 total yards.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Rivers of Saskatchewan Tributaries of Hudson Bay Eagle Creek No. 376, Saskatchewan Tramping Lake No. 380, Saskatchewan Harris No. 316, Saskatchewan

Description

Course

Eagle Creek Regional Park

See also

References

External links