Cypress Hills Provincial Park – Winter Edition

We try to do a winter weekend every year, and 2021 was no different!

As per usual, our planning was last minute. We went with Cypress Hills for a few reasons.

• Availability
• Had Never Visited (specifically Lori)
• Weather was looking 👌🏻👌🏻

We were able to get a hotel room for 2 nights at The Resort at Cypress Hills, we were hoping for a cabin, but they were booked (the joys of last minute planning). At the time of the trip we had a 5, 3 and 14 month old.

I researched the winter programming for the park, and planned as best we could.

To save on meals we tried to pack groceries for breakfast and lunch. Also the resort restaurant did not open until 10 am , so packing for breakfast was a must (so glad I did my research).

As per usual we had to bring everything we own – stroller, hiking backpack, sleds, skates, hockey sticks, fire items. All. Of. The. Things.

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I don’t know how I found the brewery, but maybe the brewery found me.

When we saw that there was a brewery in Maple Creek, we added a pit stop to our itinerary. Ty and I like to say that Rafter Brewing was the favourite part of our trip. We added a growler to go for the weekend. While the children peaked from a juice box sugar high, we were almost at our destination.

The first night I think we just tried to survive. The fancy feeling of a hotel has been passed on to our children. Bed time is a nightmare, it doesn’t really exist – we just hope they eventually fall asleep and it’s not super late. We aim low.

Because we were only there 2 nights, we really only had one full day to enjoy. So in that day we tried to do EVERYTHING.

Looking back at the time stamp on my photos we were at the sliding hill by 9 am. There was also a “luge” track – being the end of February and the sun shining it was getting a little beat up, but that was ok because that slowed the kids down.

We squeezed in a hike before lunch.

We prepared lunch by campfire. There are fire pits located around the resort for guests to use – first come first serve. Wood is provided, but you’ll need to bring lighters, fire starter, kindling, ax, etc…

We had a car nap.

We went skating, and sat around a fire.

We prayed the children would go to bed.

The morning we were checking out we did a few more trips down the sledding hill, checked out the lake, and had a tailgate lunch before hitting the road.

Although our time spent here was short, it was quite lovely. I knew I wanted to return in the summer. The weather was beautiful, and there were enough activities to entertain the whole family. Plus it’s really just a beautiful place. THE TREES. Heart eyes.

Things to Note:

• Nothing other than the Resort is open in the actual park.
• Maple Creek is a short drive away (20 mins)
• Minimal businesses are open in Maple Creek on a Sunday
• Sliding hill – warm up shack and washrooms available

Other activities to be enjoyed:

• Cross Country Skiing (rentals available)
• Snow shoeing (rentals available)
• Snowmobiling (BYOS)

Linked: Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park Winter Guide

Sask ya later.