Badlands to Elkwater
Alberta | 135 km
Start this quick day out with a browse at Badlands Harley-Davidson in Medicine Hat before hitting the Buffalo Trail down to Cypress Hills Provincial Park.
“Hills” is quite an understatement here, as this alpine region is actually the highest between the Rocky Mountains and Canada’s East Coast. It offers a cool woodland respite in the middle of the Prairie. Elkwater, the park’s lakeside townsite, is the perfect place to stop for a swim or hike if you want to stretch your legs.
To maximize the mountain views, take a short detour to the Horseshoe Canyon Lookout for sightlines back towards Medicine Hat or to Head of the Mountain Viewpoint to look over the Prairies all the way into Montana – this is the highest point in the park. Then head down Willow Creek Road and connect to Eagle Butte Road via Thelma Road. Pause at the tiny St. Margaret’s Church, built in 1907, before riding through the glacial meltwater channel of Medicine Lodge Coulee and on through the rolling hills to Bullshead Reservoir on your way back to town.
Bypassed by glaciers
The retreating glaciers that flattened the Prairies during the last Ice Age missed the area of Cypress Hills, giving it a unique terrain complete with lakes, lodgepole pines and orchids.
First published in 2025.
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