Saskatoon Island Provincial Park
Last Review/Updated: May 10, 2002
© Alberta Government |
This scenic area, once an island in Saskatoon Lake, now consists of a land bridge separating Saskatoon and Little lakes. The park includes several habitats: aspen forest, wetlands, grassland patches and the best remaining example of saskatoon shrubland in northern Alberta. The dense shrubbery is loaded with delicious berries in July.
Bird watchers will enjoy viewing the large numbers of grassland, forest and lakeside birds. A bird-viewing platform by Little Lake, complete with telescope, overlooks the nesting areas of several species of waterfowl including the rare trumpeter swan. Decreasing lake levels threaten the swans' habitat, but immature trumpeter swans may still be seen on either lake. In autumn, hundreds of trumpeter and tundra swans converge on Saskatoon Lake for three weeks before their migration south.
The park is a year-round home to snowshoe hares, weasels, woodchucks, muskrats, beavers and deer, and is visited frequently by coyotes. Muskoseepi Park is located in the heart of nearby Grande Prairie. A trail winds along the Bear Creek Ravine, offering an attractive nature walk. The park pavilion is the centre for interpretive displays and family events year-round.
