Narrow Hills Provincial Park is a northern

boreal forest Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, ...

provincial recreational park 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 ...

. It is located in a hilly plateau called the

Cub Hills The Cub Hills are a hilly plateau located south-east of the geographical centre of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The hills are in the boreal forest ecozone of Canada and the landforms of the hills were shaped more than 10,000 years ...

and contains several recreational facilities and over 25 accessible lakes within its boundaries. The geographical features of the park, including the lakes, valleys, and lowlands were formed over 10,000 years ago during the last ice age. The town of Smeaton is the closest community and it is located to the south. The park was established in 1934 as Nipawin Provincial Forest (later renamed Nipawin Provincial Park), and was renamed Narrow Hills in the 1990s. The park's boundaries were also changed with the renaming.

Hanson Lake Road Highway 106, the Hanson Lake Road, is a fully paved provincial highway, with no cell service the entire way, in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It runs from Highway 55 The following highways are numbered 55: International * European rou ...

, which begins at Smeaton, is the main highway through the park. Other highways in the park include 120, 913, and

920 __NOTOC__ Year 920 ( CMXX) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * December 17 – Romanos I has himself crowned co-emperor of the Byzan ...

Recreation

Narrow Hills offers a variety of recreational facilities and opportunities. These include

sport fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit; or subsistence fishing, which is fishing ...

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

, and

camping Camping is an outdoor activity involving overnight stays away from home, either without shelter or using basic shelter such as a tent, or a recreational vehicle. Typically, participants leave developed areas to spend time outdoors in more nat ...

. The park contains 25 bodies of water suitable for fishing and another 30 within an hour's drive. In addition to the native

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...

, whitefish, and

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus '' Esox'' (the pikes). They are typical of brackish and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). They are known simply as a ...

, the park contains stocked trout species including

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

brook A brook is a small river or natural stream of fresh water. It may also refer to: Computing *Brook, a programming language for GPU programming based on C *Brook+, an explicit data-parallel C compiler *BrookGPU, a framework for GPGPU programming ...

, cutthroat,

rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

, and

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

. Some of the bodies of water that are stocked or otherwise accessible for fishing and recreation include

McDougal Creek McDougal Creek is a river in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The river's source is at the southern end of Divide Lake at the northern end of Narrow Hills Provincial Park in a hilly plateau called Cub Hills. The landforms of the Cub H ...

, Lost Echo Creek, Upper and Lower Fishing Lakes, the Gem Lakes, Summit Lake,

Lost Echo Lake Lost Echo Lake is a lake in the east-central part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in Narrow Hills Provincial Park. It is situated in a glacier-formed valley in the Cub Hills and the boreal forest ecozone of Canada. It is located ...

Zeden Lake Zeden Lake is a small recreational lake known for its trout fishing in the east-central part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in Narrow Hills Provincial Park. It is situated in the Cub Hills and the boreal forest ecozone of Canada. ...

, Laycock Lake, Fairy Glen Lake, and Stickley Lake. The southern tip of

Little Bear Lake Little Bear Lake is a lake in the boreal forest ecozone in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The lake is in a hilly plateau called Cub Hills and the landforms, such as the lakes and streams, of the Cub Hills were formed over 10,000 years ...

is in Narrow Hills Provincial Park and just north of the park boundary on the eastern shore of the lake is Little Bear Lake Recreation Site.

Piprell Lake Recreation Site Piprell Lake is a lake in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in the boreal forest ecozone of Canada. The lake is located in the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District, just south of the geographical centre of Saskatchewan in the Cu ...

is immediately west of the park boundary at the northern end of

Piprell Lake Piprell Lake is a lake in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan in the Boreal forest of Canada, boreal forest Ecozones of Canada, ecozone of Canada. The lake is located in the Northern Saskatchewan Administ ...

. Other nearby

provincial parks file:Ischigualasto national park.jpg, Ischigualasto Provincial Park A provincial park (or territorial park) is a park administered by one of the provinces of a country, as opposed to a national park. They are similar to state parks in other countr ...

include

Clarence-Steepbank Lakes Provincial Park Clarence-Steepbank Lakes Provincial Park is a remote wilderness park in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It is located in the boreal forest ecozone east of Prince Albert National Park and Montreal Lake, west of the Cub Hills and Narro ...

and

Candle Lake Provincial Park Candle Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park in the central region of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Prior to the park's establishment in 1986, it was a provincial recreation site. Located in the Rural Municipality of Paddockwood ...

Campgrounds

There are four campgrounds suitable for RV camping. These include

Baldy Lake Baldy Lake is a lake in the east-central part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in Narrow Hills Provincial Park. It is situated in the Cub Hills and the boreal forest ecozone of Canada. Baldy Lake is accessed from a secondary road ...

Campground,

Ispuchaw Lake Ispuchaw Lake is a lake in the east-central part of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in Narrow Hills Provincial Park. It is situated in the Cub Hills and the boreal forest ecozone of Canada. The lake is surrounded by a forest of matur ...

Campground,

Campground, and Lower Fishing Lake Campground. In addition to these, there are several tenting-only campgrounds throughout the park. Wilderness campgrounds can be found at

, and the lakes of Lost Echo, Stickley, Jade, Diamond, and Opal.

Resorts and lodges

Located on the southern shore of Upper Fishing Lake is Caribou Creek Lodge, which offers a motel, cabins, a dining room, fuel, and a convenience store. Pine Ridge Resort is located on Lower Fishing Lake and has beach access, a boat launch, cabins, RV camping, and a store.

Gem Lakes

The Gem Lakes are a cluster of seven deep, sand-bottom lakes at the north-west corner of Narrow Hills Provincial Park. The lakes are

closed basin An endorheic basin (; also spelled endoreic basin or endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water, such as rivers or oceans, but drainage converges instead into lakes ...

lakes that were formed more than 10,000 years ago during the last ice age. They are collectively called "Gem Lakes" because they reflect colours of emerald, jade, and aqua blue. The seven lakes include Pearl (), Opal (), Sapphire (), Jade (), Diamond (), Little Jade (), and Little Pearl (). A looping trail winds its way around all seven lakes with the trailhead and parking lot located at the north-west corner of Jade Lake. Along the trail, located at Jade, Diamond, and Opal Lakes, are eight wilderness campsites. The trail wanders along shorelines and up wooded ridges that provide lookouts and vantage points. There are several interpretive panels along the route and each lake is stocked with native fish species. Access to the lakes is from a secondary road off of Highway 913.

Flora and fauna

The forests of the Narrow Hills Provincial Park are classified as Mid-Boreal Upland and trees found in the park include

jack pine Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana'') is an eastern North American pine. Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and the north-central and ...

aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species; some, but not all, are classified by botanists in the section ''Populus'', of the ''Populus'' genus. Species These species are called aspens: *'' Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China ...

, birch, and

spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...

. There is a wide variety of animals that make the park home, including

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

elk The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...

, black bears, timber wolves,

lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

snowshoe hare The snowshoe hare (''Lepus americanus''), also called the varying hare or snowshoe rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet. The animal's feet prevent it from sink ...

beaver Beavers are large, semiaquatic rodents in the genus ''Castor'' native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. There are two extant species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers ar ...

, and

muskrat The muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over a wide range of climates and habitat ...

s. Bird species include the

loon Loons (North American English) or divers (British / Irish English) are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus ''Gavia'', family Gaviidae and order Gavi ...

and

red-tailed hawk The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members with ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Division No. 18, Unorganized, Saskatchewan Provincial parks of Saskatchewan Protected areas established in 1934 1934 establishments in Saskatchewan Northern Saskatchewan Administration District

Recreation

Campgrounds

Resorts and lodges

Gem Lakes

Flora and fauna

See also

References

External links