Tag Archives: National Parks

Commentary, nature, Photography

Wood Buffalo National Park

26 Comments

The correct name for the animals is “bison,” but the park’s official name hasn’t been changed yet.

This park was established in 1922 to protect the seriously dwindling bison herds but also became invaluable to protecting the whooping cranes, as well.

At just under 45,000 km², Wood Buffalo is the largest national park in Canada and the second largest in the world. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and in 2013, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada designated it as the world’s largest dark sky preserve to protect the habitat of bats and other night-time animals and also to ensure the visibility of the Aurora Borealis.

There’s lots of hiking and camping, including back country camping sites and many kilometres of day hiking trails available.

Happy Sunday.

musings, Photography, Uncategorized

Wood Buffalo National Park

12 Comments

Wood Buffalo National Park is one of the largest preserves in the world.

M and I recently drove through a small part of it.

We saw bison (buffalo) of course but also bears.

And a sink hole.

It was the middle of May but there was still a little ice and snow at the bottom of it.

We didn’t see any whooping cranes – this park has one of the largest whooping crane nesting sites in the world – but had a very interesting short visit to an environmentally sensitive and important area.

Have you been to a park lately?