Blackstrap Provincial Park

Blackstrap Lake is a man-made lake that was created in 1967 as a water reservoir for agricultural, industrial, and recreational uses. Saskatoon was awarded the 1971 Canada Winter Games and land was acquired along the reservoir to build a man-made mountain, Mount Blackstrap, for the downhill events. In 1986, much of the eastern shore of the lake, including Mount Blackstrap, became the provincial park. Water used to flood and maintain the lake is gravity fed via an earthen aqueduct from Lake Diefenbaker. Local legend claims that the name for the region is derived from an incident involving the breaking of a barrel of blackstrap molasses during transport through the valley, thereafter becoming known as Blackstrap. In 2013, the provincial government announced that two private companies would spend $2.6 million on a new marina and cabins in the park. == Attractions and amenities ==

Blackstrap Provincial Park has a wide variety of amenities throughout the park. This includes campgrounds, picnic sites, hiking and biking trails, boat launches, cross-country ski trails, beaches, and an aquatic adventure park. While there are no docks for fishing, there is Fisherman's Point which is a rocky point that juts out into the lake that can be fished from. Near the boat launch is a fish filleting station. Camping There are three main campgrounds totalling over 150 individual campsites. The northern most, and closest to the main beach, is Hazelnut Grove Campground. About half of Hazelnut Campground's sites are along the lake shore. The Kevin Misfeldt Campground is farther south along the lake, well past the main beach. While Hazelnut is entirely electrified, the Kevin Misfeldt sites are a mix of electrical and non-electrical. The Misfeldt Campgrounds also include showers, a playground, a sani-dump station, and a small beach. It is named after a conservation officer, Kevin Misfeldt, who had his career cut short by a fatal accident on 24 January 1997. On that date, he and two others, wildlife biologist Wolly Kost and pilot Brett Thomas, died in a plane crash near Manitou Sand Hills, near Lloydminster. The only full service campsites in the park are at Sunset Ridge Campground. Sunset Ridge is the newest campground and it is set up on the top of the ridge overlooking Blackstrap Lake. File:Sunset Ridge Campground 02.jpg|View of Sunset Ridge Campground from across a coulee File:Kevin Misfeldt Campground 01.jpg|A campsite at Kevin Misfeldt Campground File:Kevin Misfeldt Campground 03.jpg|Campsites at Kevin Misfeldt Campground File:Kevin Misfeldt Campground 04.jpg|View of Kevin Misfeldt Campground from the lookout File:Kevin Misfeldt Campground beach 01.jpg|Kevin Misfeldt Beach Picnicking There are multiple picnicking sites throughout the provincial park. Near the main beach, there's Aspen Grove Picnic Area, Lakeview Picnic Area, and Mountain View Picnic Area. Farther down the lake by the boat launches, there's Lakeside Picnic Area. Other areas of the park are also set up for picnicking, such as at Fisherman's Point and Kevin Misfeldt Campground. Trail system The provincial park and the lake are set in the Blackstrap Coulee, which is a long valley with steep sides. Along the valley, there are several smaller coulees that flow towards the lake as well. In several places along the valley wall and in the smaller coulees, biking and downhill biking, hiking, and cross-country ski trails are set up. Sask Aquatic Adventures At the main beach, Sask Aquatic Adventures has a water adventure park set-up just off shore. It is one of several such water adventure parks in Saskatchewan. == Mount Blackstrap ==

Mount Blackstrap, also known as Blackstrap Ski Hill, is a man-made skiing and snowboarding hill located approximately south of Saskatoon, east of Highway 11. It is one of only a few man-made mountains in the world and is a unique feature on Saskatchewan's prairie landscape. The ski lodge was destroyed by a suspicious fire in September 2009. A month later, the provincial government announced that the remaining ski equipment at the hill would be dismantled and sold. By the end of 2012, three developers had approached the government with proposals to develop a recreation area. Requests for proposals were accepted until the spring of 2013. One developer, British Columbia's Torey Spink, withdrew his proposal over financial concerns, while the other two submissions did not include redevelopment of the ski hill.{{cite news == Fish species ==

Fish species in Blackstrap Lake include walleye, yellow perch, northern pike, burbot, white sucker, and whitefish. == Gallery ==

File:Sask Aquadic Adventures 01.jpg|Sask Aquatic Adventures File:Coulee beside Sunset Ridge Campground.jpg|Coulee beside Sunset Ridge Campground File:Mount Blackstrap 04.jpg|Abandoned service tunnel, Mount Blackstrap File:Mount Blackstrap 05.jpg|Abandoned ski lift, Mount Blackstrap == See also ==