Medicine Hat

The town of Elkwater is the gateway to Cypress Hills Provincial Park and a base camp for year-round outdoor recreation in South East Alberta. Elkwater can be reached in a 45 min drive from Medicine Hat, and you’ll find basic amenities in town along with the Fuel Stop and 12-34 Café and Pub.

Explore the Town of Elkwater Camp at one of five RV-friendly campgrounds and you’ll have easy access to playgrounds, hiking and biking trails, Elkwater Lake with its sandy beach, as well as the visitor centre where you can enjoy interactive displays on the Cypress Hills area.

My family enjoys riding our bikes along the shoreline trail between the west and east day use areas. Along the way, you pass boardwalks for birdwatching, playgrounds, a mini golf course, and a disc golf course.

Stay at the Elkwater Lake Lodge and Resort If you don’t want to camp, the Elkwater Resort has 31 lodge suites and 23 condo suites for year-round accommodations. There are also six cabins open through the summer season. From the resort you can walk down to the lake, rent a canoe, kayak, or stand up paddleboard from the marina, or just spend the afternoon relaxing on the beach.

Enjoy other Recreational opportunities near Elkwater Once you drive higher up into the provincial park, you can access dozens of trailheads for hiking, mountain biking, or There are also several other campgrounds to choose from in the provincial park including a few group use areas if you want to camp with friends or host a family reunion.

horseback riding. My family enjoys driving to the Horseshoe Canyon Viewpoint where we can hop on our bikes and ride back down to town on the Horseshoe Canyon Trail. We also like driving out to the Reesor Viewpoint to bike or hike down to Reesor Lake along the TransCanada Trail.

Other activities include fishing, hunting, and a variety of water sports on Elkwater Lake including waterskiing and wind surfing. There’s also a great golf course south of Elkwater with no tee times so just drop in when you’re in the area.

Winter in Elkwater It is my favourite season in Elkwater because you can spend a day exploring over 30 km of groomed cross-country ski trails, ski or hike into backcountry cabins, go skating in the Old Baldy Campground on a 1.5 km long skating loop, or play on the luge track outside the Learning Centre in town.

There are many ways to experience Elkwater in the winter including fat biking, snowshoeing, ice fishing, or kicksledding (and you can even rent a kicksled from the Visitor Centre.) The Hidden Valley Ski Resort is also located south of town.

Reducing Southern Alberta’s environmental footprint one charging station at a time, Peaks to Prairies electric charging stations is a regional innovative charging network coming to Southern Alberta in 2019. The project was spawned by a group of partners including: ATCO, Medicine Hat College, Southgrow Regional Initiative, Alberta Southwest Regional Alliance and the cities of Calgary, Lethbridge, and Medicine Hat.

There are presently eight stations along the Peaks to Prairies network, located in Canmore, Lethbridge, Cardston, Fort Macleod, Pincher Creek, Nanton, Longview and Bearspaw fully energized and ready for service. There are two types of station, fast charging and level two charging. These are located in tourist friendly towns.

Spread all throughout southern Alberta from Canmore to Calgary, Vulcan to the Crowsnest Pass, these charging stations will allow tourists to travel through the province, experiencing the beauty of the Rocky Mountains and Prairies, all the while reducing their environmental impact. Provinces are looking at climate change and greenhouse gas emissions and the transportation sector is a large contributor of those emissions. Alberta is close to five years behind other provinces and the United States in this developing industry. It’s a trend quickly expanding globally and Peaks to Prairies saw an opportunity to accelerate electric vehicle tourism in the area. Offering positive benefits in the communities having stations, through economic development and the reduction of emissions, it’s also increasing the tourism economy. Furthermore, focusing on the commitment to power these stations with local, renewable energy highlights the resources available in this great region.

The cost for the use of these stations is relatively low. The fast charging station is offered at $20 per hour, whereas the level two chargers, equivalent to a 220 volt plug in a home, is about two dollars an hour. Many of these towns have much to see and do within walking distance, allowing tourists to charge their vehicles within 30-45 minutes, while sight-seeing and enjoying the unique experiences each town has to offer. By: Amanda Knippshild

Sunny Medicine Hat will surprise you with its coffee culture, microbreweries, burgeoning art scene, and recreational opportunities.

As we descend into the South Saskatchewan River Valley, I’m struck by the cliffs and countless coulees that define the landscape. Just as nature shaped the land, it also shaped history. While waterways and a sheltered valley brought people and migrating buffalo here, in later years, the vast discoveries of abundant natural gas and clay brought growth and prosperity to Medicine Hat and its communities.

Different forces are at work these days. The ‘Hat’ is outgrowing “The Gas City” moniker and becoming a cultural hub. At first glance, the historic downtown looks much like it did in the early 1900’s with its brick buildings and old fashioned street lamps. Take a closer look and you discover the art galleries and studios, independent coffee shops, eclectic eateries, and a microbrewery. Colourful murals adorn brick walls; the Royal Liquor Store mural quotes author Rudyard Kipling: “This part of the country seems to have All Hell for a basement, and the only trap door appears to be in Medicine Hat.” Can you guess where Hell’s Basement, Alberta’s first craft brewery, got the inspiration for its name? At Inspire Studio, Gallery and Café, I sip a fragrant cup of tea surrounded by local artwork. Meanwhile, artist and co-owner, Maureen Newton, paints peacefully in the adjacent studio. Inspire is not only for artisans and those who appreciate art; it’s also for lovers of comfort food and good coffee and tea. Whether you are on a self-guided Medicine Hat Art Walk (mid May to late September), or Medicine Hat Progressive Café Tour, you will end up at Inspire, inspired to pick up a paintbrush perhaps, or stay a little longer in this friendly city.

If you stay, explore the city by bike or Sunshine Trolley. With 115 km of bike paths and free loaner bikes at the Visitor Centre, it’s easy to get around safely by bicycle. The Sunshine Trolley, new in 2019, is a seasonal hop on, hop off shuttle from major hotels to historic downtown and MedAlta Potteries.

My kids giggle as they punch their timecards at MedAlta Potteries, the historic factory-turned-museum, including huge beehive kilns. Even if you have never worked with clay before, it is fascinating to learn how everyday items are made. Maybe

take a crash course in wheel throwing (making something on a pottery wheel), sign up for the Saturday Samplers class.

Our next stop is The Esplanade, an architectural wonder that houses an art gallery, museum, archives, and state of the art 700-seat theater. Check their events calendar for art shows, dance and theater performances, and concerts. Over lunch at trendy Local Public Eatery, Med Hat resident Abby Czibere tells me how she, “moved here for school, fell in love with the place, and never left.”

Evening finds us at the Medicine Hat Family Leisure Centre’s free public skate. We plan on bringing swimsuits next time for the amazing aquatic park! More fun things to do with kids include: glow bowling at Panorama Lanes, solving an escape room, or watching a movie at Monarch Theatre, Canada’s longest running movie theatre (est. 1911).

Enjoy live music at Industry on Friday nights; beer tastings at Medicine Hat Brewing Company, Hell’s Basement Brewery, or Travois Aleworks; or music festivals. Don’t miss the Tongue on the Post Folk Music Festival: a week of Café Concerts followed by Concerts in a Kiln and festivities at renowned MedAlta Potteries. The summer festival season kicks off with Medicine Hat Jazz Fest in June: eight days ofintimate concerts in local breweries, pubs, cafés, and eateries.

When I ask what she loves about Medicine Hat, besides the good eats and brews (beer and coffee), Czibere shares how easy it is to get close to nature:

• Police Point Park has a nature centre and “tons of walking trails.” • Echo Dale Regional Park is “great for families” with its beach, fishing pond, paddling pond, and picnic areas. • “We have over 100 km ofbike paths... and free loaner bikes” at the Visitor Information Centre. • Kin Coulee Park has an awesome toboggan hill. • Cypress Hills Provincial Park is Medicine Hat’s playground, only 45 minutes away. Hike, mountain bike, camp, or stay in a cozy hut!

There’s much to love in this vibrant little city with its sunny personality. Once you visit The Hat, you’ll want to go back!

Photos and Story By: Karen Ung