Qu'Appelle River - Recreation and Environment

Recreation and Environment

In addition to the popularity of its lakes as summer recreational locales, the valley also contains popular venues for winter sports including the following:

• White Track ski resort on Buffalo Pound Lake
• Mission Ridge Winter Park, a popular skiing and snowboarding destination on the south shore of Mission Lake immediately adjacent to Fort Qu'Appelle
• Last Oak Golf Course to the north of Broadview, some 80 miles (130 km) east of Regina

• Hang gliding (and, less often, paragliding) from the valley slopes, especially in the Crooked Lake and Round Lake regions. In this area the valley is up to 450 feet (140 m) deep and a mile wide, allowing for strong, smooth airflow up the side of the valley and ample landing areas on top and down in the valley, and providing a strong upward component of wind as it flows over the (in some places) optimally rounded valley edge, allowing pilots to soar in the "ridge lift" for many hours at a time. Pilots commonly travel from Manitoba and Alberta and of course other locations in Saskatchewan to fly this natural wonder of the Prairies.
• The river valley contains relatively undisturbed grassland and coulees which provide habitat for native plant and animal species, such as the Loggerhead Shrike and the coyote (locally /ˈkaɪ.oʊt/). The easternmost slopes contain bur oaks, the only natural occurrence of oak trees in Saskatchewan.