William A Switzer Provincial Park - Hinton, Alberta

Wanting to stay close to our KOA in Hinton, we decided to explore the William A Switzer Provincial Park, which lies just northwest of Hinton, AB.

This 36 square mile park, which would be equivalent to a State Park in the United States, offers great year-round outdoor recreation. It has five lakes which are connected by Jarvis Creek, 40 miles of trails for hiking, biking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing,

an interpretive canoe route along one of the most intact river valleys in Alberta's foothills, excellent wildlife watching opportunities,

picnicking in day use areas, and summer and winter camping facilities.

As we were looking for a recommendation on a short hike, we stopped at the Visitor's Center at the Kelley's Bathtub Day Use Area. The rangers recommended the Kelley's Bathtub and Friendly Vista Loop Trails. Meandering along the shoreline of Jarvis Lake and through the forest, the trails are known for excellent birding and wildlife viewing. Oh, and I should mention...there is no charge for using the park (camping areas are an exception)! If you are in the Jasper area, I'd highly recommend setting some time aside to explore this park...it's really exceptional! Had I known about it in advance, we probably would have camped here instead of the KOA.

So off we went to explore the recommended trails. Sure enough, while Scout was getting a drink from the lake, we saw movement a few feet away in the Jarvis Creek wetlands. It turned out to be an extremely close encounter with a Canadian Lynx! Fortunately, Scout never saw the Lynx, and we were able to walk slowly away without consequences. The Lynx kept its eyes locked on us and didn't back away, so we were glad to put some distance between us. Shortly after, we saw a small white-tail Buck. Pretty good wildlife for a short, mid-day hike! We reported the Lynx to the Rangers when we were done, and they were pretty excited. Apparently, it was a rare occurrence (they even listed it on the whiteboard they keep of wildlife that have been spotted in the park).

Following a picnic lunch at Kelley's Bathtub, we decided to explore a few other areas of the park. First up was the Wildlife Viewing Blind located in Winter Creek meadow, and just a short walk through the woods from the Cache Lake parking area. The blind was beautifully constructed, and we wished we had arrived in early evening as we would have sat for a few hours to see what walked by!

While driving through some of the park's campgrounds, we found the Beaver Ranch Trail. In the late 1940s some short-lived beaver ranching was attempted along Jarvis Creek, and foundations of the buildings can still be seen today. We hiked across the creek, and along Graveyard Lake to a viewpoint that showcased the surrounding wetlands. A beautiful way to close out our time in this lovely park.