Embrace Your Inner Cowboy On A Ranch Stay In The Cypress Hills InterProvincial Park

Having seen the cowboys (and girls) in action at the Strathmore Stampede on the first day of our family road trip of the Alberta Badlands and Canadian Prairies, we intended to continue the cowboy theme on our holiday. Determined to get on horseback at least once, we booked into the Historic Reesor Ranch in the Cypress Hills InterProvincial Park for a ranch stay and slice of cowboy lifestyle. (cover photo credit: Instagram @evacdnphotos)

Where is the Cypress Hills InterProvincial Park?

Cypress Hills InterProvincial Park straddles the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada, hence its name, InterProvincial.

We were travelling from Strathmore, Alberta, to our accommodation at the Historic Reesor Ranch in the Cypress Hills InterProvincial Park, which is takes about 3.5 hours to drive, or half an hour longer if you are coming from Calgary, Alberta.

Stops between Strathmore and the Cypress Hills InterProvincial Park

Medicine Hat & Saamis Teepee

After a hearty breakfast at the AirBnB in Strathmore, Alberta, we drove 2 hours 20 minutes south-east to Medicine Hat, a town also known as ‘gas town’ (population circa 68,000). Our intention was to fuel up on coffee and/or lunch in Medicine Hat before continuing our journey, however we happened to be travelling on a Canadian bank holiday and everything was shut (this had bypassed the planner!).

Saamis Teepee

All was not lost however in Medicine Hat as we were able to stretch our legs at the Saamis Teepee, the world’s largest teepee at 20 storeys high. You can see this enormous metal structure from the Trans Canadian Highway and, if you have time, drive right up to its base to see the structure up close and read the storyboards on the teepee legs – each board depicting an element of Native American culture and history. The Saamis Teepee is open to the public and free to visit.

Also, the Medicine Hat Visitors Centre is situated right next to the Saamis Teepee and had the most helpful and friendly staff I ever come across!

Elkwater Lake & Horseshoe Canyon Lookout

Our next pitstop was 44 minutes further south-east at Elkwater Lake, inside Cypress InterProvincial National Park. En route we passed flat landscapes with fields full of hay bales and wind farms. Elkwater Lake was very pretty and surrounded by trees, providing a very Canadian scene with kayaks for hire if you wanted to get out on the water.

After walking around the south section of the lake, we drove up the hills behind Elkwater to the Horseshoe Canyon Lookout with pretty views over the park, before continuing towards the Historic Reesor Ranch.

It wasn’t long until we came to the Reesor Lake Viewpoint, with even more impressive views over the valley stretched out in front of us. Then the road dropped down to Reesor Lake and we drove along the tree-lined lakeside.

The Historic Reesor Ranch

40 minutes’ drive from Elkwater brought us to the cattlegrid marking the entrance to the Historic Reesor Ranch, and the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan. No sooner had we gone over the cattle grid and started on the 1km approach road to the ranch buildings, than we were approached by a beautiful and very curious white horse, and then a curious cow – what a welcome!

The Historic Reesor Ranch was established in 1904 and comprises of several different buildings with pretty red roofs. It has been in the same family for 5 generations and is now run by Jason and his Mum who provide very welcoming ranch stays.

We had hired the Bunkhouse which slept 5 and was very cosy, with lots of cowboy decorations and detailing. The veranda of the Bunkhouse had a constant stream of visitors during our stay, either one of the ranch cats or one of the two ranch dogs (‘Charlie’ or ‘Cowboy’) – they just wanted to hang out and join our party!

Meals at Reesor Ranch

Dinner was served in the Ranch Hall at 6pm each evening, guests having chosen their meal option the night before (Steak or grilled chicken option served with jacket potato, salad and BBQ beans, or vegetarian option or pizza and ice-cream options for pudding). The food was homely and delicious with members of the family on hand for a chat.

A cooked breakfast is served in the Ranch Hall from 8.00am each morning, with the best breakfast potatoes (“with real potatoes”) known to man!

Activities at the Historic Reesor Ranch

Horse-riding

My daughter and I booked a morning horse ride at the Historic Reesor Ranch. After being assigned our horses, we were given an opportunity to groom them and saddle them up before heading out on for our ride. We then clip-clopped off over the fields and up to the ridge overlooking the valley, before returning to the ranch. The horses were so patient with us and accommodating – we didn’t want to give them back!

Note – You can book the horse riding even if you are not staying at the ranch so book early as slot can fill up.

Walking trails

Whilst we were horse-riding, my husband and son tackled one of the walking trails on the ranch property, called the Kinnikinick Cliff Trail. Whilst only a 3km loop, the walk gained 300 ft of elevation in less than 1km and so proved a little challenging.

Cypress Hills InterProvincial Park is the highest elevation between the Canadian Rockies and Labrador and the top of the cliff on this trail was at 4,476 ft. A hard climb but worth it for the beautiful views across the valley.

ATV Safari

We also ‘saddled up’ for a different type of ride at the ranch, this time on an ATV Safari. I think the boys fared better on the quad bikes than me, but it was an adventure up a steep, bendy hill to the top of the cliffs. Think I preferred the horse though.

Teepee Rings

There are some teepee rings near the ranch houses, but they are difficult to spot as they are covered in grass and flowers. We had some help though in the form of Charlie, the ranch’s black labrador, who tagged along with us on our walk and lead us to the teepee rings – even the ranch dogs are helpful at the Historic Reesor Ranch!

The teepee rings are rings of stones which once held down the edges of animal skins to form the sides of teepees, with a gap in stones at the east entrance. When the camp moved back in the day, then the teepees were taken down and moved but the rock circles were left behind.

Visit the nearby Fort Walsh Historic National Site

Not far from the Historic Reesor Ranch is the Fort Walsh Historic National Site, where the North West Mounted Police (precursor to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) were based from 1878. Here the NWMP helped manage the border (you are very close to the USA border here!), impose the Indian Policy of the 1870s and uphold Canadian Law.

We took the free tour of the Fort Walsh Historic National Site which was very informative and helped set the context for our trip to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police training depot in Regina, later in our road trip.

Reflections on our stay at the Historic Reesor Ranch

The warmth of the welcome, the cosiness of our bunk house, the animals, food, scenery and opportunity to get out into nature all made our stay here very special. To sit on our veranda listening to the sound of a woodpecker and horses whinnying in the fields with our morning coffee was very special and one of the strong memories that I will take away from the trip.

If you want to reconnect with nature then this is the place for you.

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