Ten thousand years ago the glaciers of the last ice age retreated from the area that is now Prince Albert National Park. The landscape must have looked pretty bleak, but it formed a sound foundation upon which nature has built the comely park that visitors see today. Spruce, birch, aspen, ferns, moss, and other plants now green the terrain, and the park sparkles with ponds, bogs, marshes, and at least 1,500 lakes and streams.

The park’s rich variety of plants and animals stems not only from its size and wildness but also from its diversity of habitat. Prince Albert National Park lies within a southern mixed-wood region that shifts from aspen parkland to boreal forest. And do not forget the southwest corner and a few other southern pockets, where rare untouched fescue grasslands add a whisper of the prairie.

Prince Albert is an easy park to visit. Parks Canada provides assistance in many forms: an information centre, a nature centre, interpretive programs, well-maintained hiking trails, and established canoe routes. The presence of the little town of Waskesiu also smoothes the way for visitors.