Cypress Hills

My family and I headed out to Cypress Hills (Centre Block) on the Labour Day long weekend. The park offers tourists an abundance of activities. Here are six of my favourite and highly recommended pastimes and attractions of that weekend:

Canoeing

Loch Leven is a small but serene lake. It is fun to paddle around in or sit back, relax, and enjoy the sights and sounds of nature.










Animal Watching

Throughout the weekend we observed a variety of animals. We chased deer, squirrels, wild turkeys, pelicans, ducks, and many other birds.


Star Gazing

On Saturday night we headed to Lookout Point for some star gazing. The park is a Dark-Sky Preserve; an area free of man-made light. Just with the naked eye there were thousands of stars visible. A couple of local astronomers had telescopes set up and were pointing out cosmic wonders. We saw Jupiter and four of its moons, the Andromeda galaxy, Sagittarius, Cassiopeia, the Ring Nebula, and Capella. Dress warm if you undertake this activity! Sorry I only have pictures of Lookout Point during the day.










Geocaching

Geocaching, for those unfamiliar with the term, is locating containers of knickknacks using a GPS receiver. We searched successfully for three geocaches throughout the weekend, although there are over twenty caches hidden within the park.


Hiking

We definitely got our fill of exercise by hiking on the park's many trails. We covered at least four paths ranging in distance from eight hundred metres to five kilometres. Very refreshing and rewarding!










Conglomerate Cliffs

Late Saturday afternoon we traveled to the Conglomerate Cliffs in the western portion of Cypress Hills. I would not recommend driving from Centre to West Block via Gap Road. Gravel, cobblestone, and cattle make for a slow, bumpy ride. The cliffs are over one hundred and fifty feet high and offer a great view of Adams Lake and the rolling landscape. Dad's attempt to trek to Adam's Lake was hampered by the terrain and the fading sunlight. I would love to explore this area more on the next trip.