Backcountry huts to be built by province in Castle Wildland Park
Alberta is promising to build three backcountry huts in a new park established last year to protect fish and wildlife habitats, the first to be built in a provincial park.
“Albertans are accessing the backcountry in record numbers,” said Alberta Environment Minister Shannon Phillips. “To have a hut-to-hut system really meets that demand.”
The huts in Castle Wildland Park in the province’s southwest will provide shelter and cooking facilities to backcountry users. They will be able to accommodate about a dozen users at a time.
One is to be located and designed to be as accessible as possible to people with mobility issues.
Two are to be built in the south Castle area and one is slated for near Bovin Lake. All will be about 10 kilometres apart and will be connected by a trail system.
They will open in the fall and will be available year-round for non-motorized access.
The huts will cost a total of $700,000 and will be managed and operated by the Alpine Club of Canada, which already maintains an extensive system of huts in the Rocky Mountains.
Monday’s announcement comes as the government gradually rolls out its plans for Castle Wildland Provincial Park and Castle Provincial Park, a vast area covering 1,000 square kilometres of mountains and valleys that are home to 180 species of plants and animals considered endangered or threatened. It’s a busy landscape. Popular with skiers, hikers and horseback riders, it also supports forestry, oil and gas and agriculture.
The biggest human impact is off-highway vehicles. A recent study found at least 1,700 kilometres of trails, far outstripping logging or energy roads and a trail density at least twice as high as other Alberta provincial and national parks.
Scientists have suggested such vehicles are the area’s largest cause of environmental damage.
The New Democrats have proposed banning motorized recreation from large parts of the Castle and managing it carefully elsewhere.
Albertans are accessing the backcountry in record numbers. To have a hutto-hut system really meets that demand.