Turtle Mountain Provincial Park

Last updated
Turtle Mountain Provincial Park
Turtle Mountain Provincial Park, Manitoba.jpg
Canada Manitoba location map 2.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationManitoba, Canada
Nearest townBoissevain, Manitoba
Coordinates 49°3′0″N100°15′1″W / 49.05000°N 100.25028°W / 49.05000; -100.25028 Coordinates: 49°3′0″N100°15′1″W / 49.05000°N 100.25028°W / 49.05000; -100.25028 [1]
Area186 km2 (72 sq mi)
Established1961
Governing bodyGovernment of Manitoba
www.gov.mb.ca/sd/parks/park-maps-and-locations/western/turtle.html

Turtle Mountain Provincial Park is a provincial park located in the southwestern portion of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Within it are the Adam Lake and Max Lake campgrounds. The park is known for its bike trails, fishing, back country cabins and canoe routes. The park is very popular with families and outdoor enthusiasts.

Contents

The park is named after the numerous painted turtles found in the area. [2] The turtles can be seen throughout the warmer months sun bathing near permanent ponds or lakes in the park. In late spring and early summer the females can be seen laying eggs in sandy soil throughout the park. [ citation needed ] The turtles live in the shallow lakes in the park. [3]

Turtle Mountain Provincial Park was designated a provincial park by the Government of Manitoba in 1961. [4] The park is 186 square kilometres (72 sq mi) in size. [4] The park is considered to be a Class II protected area under the IUCN protected area management categories. [5]

It is adjacent to the international border between Canada and the United States. Its southeast corner is adjacent to the International Peace Garden which is located in both Manitoba and the U.S. state of North Dakota. To the east is the William Lake Provincial Park, home to the William Lake Campground, and the Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration. To the north is the town of Boissevain, with the city of Brandon farther north. Most of the park is situated in the southwesternmost section of the Municipality of Boissevain – Morton, while the rest of it lies in the southeast corner of the Municipality of Deloraine – Winchester. [ citation needed ]

The park is nearly coterminous with the slightly larger Turtle Mountain Provincial Forest. The only difference is a small section of the forest lying east of Manitoba Highway 10 at the southeast corner of the forest (near the International Peace Garden), which is outside the park's territory. [ citation needed ]

Canada Manitoba relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Turtle Mountain
Red pog.svg
Riding Mountain
Red pog.svg
Duck Mountain
Red pog.svg
Porcupine Hills
Red pog.svg
Pembina Valley
class=notpageimage|
Manitoba Escarpment

History

Early history

Following the last ice age, Turtle Mountain Provincial Park became the first inhabited location in Manitoba. [2] It is also the biggest remaining natural deciduous forest in southwestern Manitoba. [6] Once coniferous forests grew and animals were attracted to the area, nomadic hunters soon followed. [2] Stone tools have been found, confirming their presence. [2] Based on the exhumed artifacts, archaeologists have concluded these people were hunter gatherers, not farmers. [7]

Turtle Mountain can be found on the Palliser map of 1865. [8]

In 1875 George Mercer Dawson became the first geologist to travel through Turtle Mountain Provincial Park. [3] Dawson noted the glacial deposits throughout the park. [3]

Indigenous peoples

Métis from the Red River Colony travelled to Turtle Mountain Provincial Park for annual hunting trips between 1810 and 1870. [2] After the buffalo hunt ended many Métis built homesteads within the park. [2] The location was known by the Métis as Tête de Tortue, seeing a resemblance to the buckler of a turtle, its head being represented by the conical mound standing out from one end (CPCGN files). [8] Two notable cultural sites are the Dunseith Trail and Oskar Lake archeological site. [6] The Dunseith Trail was the first trail across Turtle Mountain, and the archeological site was used by Cree hunters over 400 years ago. [6]

Use and activities

Formerly, the park was predominantly used for agricultural purposes due to the presence of hardwoods. [6] The area is no longer dependent on Turtle Mountain for timber, so it is now mainly used for recreation and ranching. [6] There is a trail system used for biking, hiking, and horseback riding. [2] There are also various beaches, playgrounds, and picnic areas for recreational use. [2] The eutrophication of many of the water bodies can make it difficult for recreation in the summer. [6] The most common type of farming is grain farming. [7]

Geography

Ecoregions of Manitoba Ecoregions of Manitoba.png
Ecoregions of Manitoba

Turtle Mountain Provincial Park is situated on the Turtle Mountain (plateau), one of a number of significant geographic features located along the Manitoba Escarpment, the Canadian portion of the Pembina Escarpment. [ citation needed ] It is located in the Southwest Manitoba Uplands Ecoregion, within the Canadian Prairies. [9] The park is situated at an elevation of 245 metres. [10] This region is covered by glacial till and fluvioglacial deposits, which remain from the pleistocene ice age. [9] A study of dinoflagellates confirmed the paleocene age of the Turtle Mountain formation. [11] Once deglaciation finished 14,000 years ago the irregular melting pattern left the area covered in hummocky terrain. [6] The soils are mainly grey and black chernozems. [9] There are grey luvisols at higher elevations. [9] The bedrock in the park is composed of sandstone, shale, lignite coal. [6] There are over 200 lakes and wetlands in this region. [10] Many of the shorelines are covered in thick vegetation due to the littoral zone cattails. [6] This park is home to the largest oak trees in Manitoba, which are the lone survivors of a fire that occurred in the early 20th century. [2] Many of the water bodies are less than 15 feet deep, which often results in a winter decline in fish populations due to lack of oxygen. [6]

Turtle Mountain Provincial Park, Manitoba
Climate chart (explanation)
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
 
 
23
 
 
−9
−19
 
 
21
 
 
−5
−16
 
 
23
 
 
0
−9
 
 
30
 
 
10
−2
 
 
66
 
 
18
5
 
 
84
 
 
22
10
 
 
75
 
 
25
13
 
 
67
 
 
25
12
 
 
48
 
 
18
6
 
 
43
 
 
11
0
 
 
28
 
 
−1
−9
 
 
23
 
 
−8
−17
Average max. and min. temperatures in °C
Precipitation totals in mm
Source: Environment Canada

Flora and fauna

Turtle Mountain Provincial Park is located within the temperate deciduous forest, and is predominantly covered by Populus tremuloides (trembling aspen). [9] Other vegetation species include balsam poplar and bur oak. [9] Turtle mountain is home to many wildlife species such as moose, white-tailed deer, beaver, raccoons, and various types of birds. [10] The lakes contain various fish species such as rainbow and brown trout. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles


Turtle Mountain is a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created with the westward expansion of the province's boundaries in 1881, eliminated by redistribution in 1968, and re-established in 1979, formally returned to the electoral map with the provincial election of 1981, was dissolved for the 2011 election and returned once again for the 2019 Manitoba general election.

Riding Mountain National Park National park in Manitoba, Canada

Riding Mountain National Park is a national park in Manitoba, Canada. The park is located within Treaty 2 Territory and sits atop the Manitoba Escarpment. Consisting of a protected area 2,969 km2 (1,146 sq mi), the forested parkland stands in sharp contrast to the surrounding prairie farmland. It was designated a national park because it protects three different ecosystems that converge in the area; grasslands, upland boreal and eastern deciduous forests. It is most easily reached by Highway 10 which passes through the park. The south entrance is at the townsite of Wasagaming, which is the only commercial centre within the park boundaries.

Birds Hill Provincial Park is a provincial park in Manitoba, Canada located in the Boreal Plains ecozone. The park protects areas representative of Aspen/Oak parkland, as well as provides opportunities for recreation. It is located 24 kilometers north of Winnipeg on Highway 59, and covers approximately 8,300 acres or 35.1 km2.

Whiteshell Provincial Park Provincial park in Manitoba, Canada

Whiteshell Provincial Park is a 2,721 km2 park centrally located in Canada in the province of Manitoba. It is found in the southeast region of the province along the Manitoba-Ontario boundary, approximately 130 km east of the city of Winnipeg. The park is located in the Canadian Shield region and has many rivers, remote lakes, boreal forest and bare granite ridges. It has rare archeological sites of petroforms on flat granite ridges. The park is used year-round for nature-oriented recreation activities.

Turtle Mountain (plateau)

Turtle Mountain, or the Turtle Mountains, is an area in central North America, in the north-central portion of the U.S. state of North Dakota and southwestern portion of the Canadian province of Manitoba, approximately 62 miles (100 km) south of the city of Brandon on provincial highway 10. It is a plateau 2,000 ft above sea level, 300 ft to 400 ft above the surrounding countryside, extending 20 mi (32 km) from north to south and 40 mi (64 km) from east to west. Rising 1,031 feet (314 m), North Dakota's most prominent peak, Boundary Butte, is located at the western edge of the plateau.

Hamber Provincial Park Provincial park in British Columbia, Canada

Hamber Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada, located 130 kilometres (80.7 mi) north of Golden. Straddling the Great Divide on the provincial boundary with Alberta, the park is surrounded on three sides by Jasper National Park and protects the headwaters of the Wood River at Fortress Lake.

Kikomun Creek Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada.

Geography of Manitoba

The geography of Manitoba addresses the easternmost of the three prairie Canadian provinces, located in the longitudinal centre of Canada. Manitoba borders on Saskatchewan to the west, Ontario to the east, Nunavut to the north, and the American states of North Dakota and Minnesota to the south. Although the border with Saskatchewan appears straight on large-scale maps, it actually has many right-angle corners that give the appearance of a slanted line. In elevation, Manitoba ranges from sea level on Hudson Bay to 2727 ft (831 m) on top of Baldy Mountain. The northern sixty percent of the province is on the Canadian Shield. The northernmost regions of Manitoba lie permafrost, and a section of tundra bordering Hudson Bay.

Pembina Escarpment

The Pembina Escarpment is a scarp that runs from South Dakota to Manitoba, and forms the western wall of the Red River Valley. The height of the escarpment above the river valley is 300–400 feet (91–122 m).

Duck Mountain Provincial Park is a provincial park, located in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan 14 km east of the town of Kamsack and stretches about 12 kilometres eastward to the Saskatchewan / Manitoba boundary. The park covers approximately 150 square kilometres. Road access to the park is via Highway 57, which connects Saskatchewan Highway 5 to Manitoba Highway 83.

Duck Mountain Provincial Park (Manitoba) Provincial park in Manitoba

Duck Mountain Provincial Park is a 1,424 square kilometre provincial park in western Manitoba. The park is located within the larger and similarly named Duck Mountain Provincial Forest. Duck Mountain Provincial Park was designated a provincial park by the Government of Manitoba in 1961. and is considered to be a Class II protected area under the IUCN protected area management categories. The park is unincorporated, not lying within the borders of any of Manitoba's rural municipalities.

Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation Indian Reservation in northern North Dakota

Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation is a reservation located in northern North Dakota, United States. It is the land base for the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. The population of the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation consists of Plains Ojibwe and Métis peoples; the reservation was established in 1882.

Boreal Plains Ecozone (CEC) An ecozone

The Boreal Plains Ecozone, as defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), is a terrestrial ecozone in the western Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. It also has minor extensions into northeastern British Columbia and south-central Northwest Territories. The region extends over 779,471 km2, of which 58,981 km2 is conserved.

Pembina Valley Provincial Park

Pembina Valley Provincial Park is a provincial park in southern Manitoba, Canada. It is located 47 kilometres south-west of Morden, Manitoba, Canada on Highway 3, Highway 31, and Highway 201, and covers approximately 1.8 square kilometres. The park is considered to be a Class III protected area under the IUCN protected area management categories.

The Manitoba Watershed District Program is a provincial-municipal partnership directed to the conservation and management of water and soil resources. There are 14 watershed districts including more than 130 municipalities covering almost all of the agricultural areas of Manitoba, Canada. The Province provides substantial funding and general guidance but the programs are developed and administered locally. The districts spend more than $8 million each year on a wide variety of conservation programs.

Beaudry Provincial Park

Beaudry Provincial Park is an approximately 953.4-hectare (2,356-acre) park located along the Assiniboine River west of the town of Headingley, Manitoba.

William Lake Provincial Park is a provincial park located in the Rural Municipality of Morton, in southwest Manitoba on Turtle Mountain. Its sister park, the much larger Turtle Mountain Provincial Park, lies to the west.

Birch Island Provincial Park is a remote provincial park located on Lake Winnipegosis in Manitoba, Canada. The park is bordered on its western boundary by the Swan-Pelican Provincial Forest and on its eastern side by Chitek Lake Anishinaabe Provincial Park.

Birch Point Provincial Park

Birch Point Provincial Park is a provincial park located on Buffalo Bay, Lake of the Woods in Manitoba, Canada., about 160 kilometres (99 mi) southeast of Winnipeg. It is 13.1 hectares (0.051 sq mi) in size. It was designated as a Provincial Park in 1961.

Porcupine Hills Provincial Park is the newest provincial park in the Canadian Province of Saskatchewan. It was created in 2018 through the amalgamation of five pre-existing provincial recreation sites south-east of the town of Hudson Bay. The park is in the Porcupine Provincial Forest in the Porcupine Hills, which is a geographical feature in eastern Saskatchewan and western Manitoba. The hills are part of a range of hills called the Manitoba Escarpment.

References

  1. ↑ "Turtle Mountain Provincial Park". Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Turtle Mountain Provincial Park".  The Canadian Encyclopedia, 23 May 2019, Historica Canada. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/turtle-mountain-provincial-park. Accessed 24 September 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Braman, D., Sweet, A., & Lerbekmo, J. (1999). Upper Cretaceous - lower tertiary lithostratigraphic relationships of three cores from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 36(5), 669-683.
  4. 1 2 A System Plan for Manitoba's Provincial Parks (PDF). Government of Manitoba. March 1997. p. 55. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  5. ↑ "Turtle Mountain Provincial Park". Protected Planet. United Nations Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre. Retrieved 3 July 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Turtle Mountain Provincial Park Management Plan. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.gov.mb.ca/sd/parks/pdf/planning/turtle_mountain_management_plan.pdf
  7. 1 2 Eilers, R.G., et al (1978). Soils of the Boissevain Melita Area, Manitoba Department of Agriculture, Report No. 20.
  8. 1 2 Hamilton, William (1978). The Macmillan Book of Canadian Place Names. Toronto: Macmillan. p. 66. ISBN   0-7715-9754-1.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Smith, R.E., H. Veldhuis, G.F. Mills, R.G. Eilers, W.R. Fraser, and G.W. Lelyk. 1998. Technical Bulletin 1998-9E. Land Resource Unit, Brandon Research Centre, Research Branch, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Report and map at 1:1 500 000 scale
  10. 1 2 3 Turtle Mountain Provincial Park. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.gov.mb.ca/sd/parks/park-maps-and-locations/western/turtle.html
  11. ↑ McIntyre, D. (1999). Campanian to Paleocene dinoflagellate assemblages from the Turtle Mountain core hole, Manitoba, western Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 36(5), 769-774.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.