Birds Hill Provincial Park 5.36

Birds Hill Provincial Park is a provincial park in Manitoba, Canada. It is located 24 kilometres north of Winnipeg on Highway 59, and covers approximately 8300 acres (35.1 square kilometres).Birds Hill Provincial Park was designated a provincial park by the Government of Manitoba in 1964. The park is considered to be a Class III protected area under the IUCN protected area management categories.The area (and park) is named after Dr. Curtis Bird, first speaker of the Manitoba provincial legislature in 1873, whose father had been a factor in the Hudson's Bay Company and received a large land grant at this location. Since the area is higher than the surrounding terrain, what is now Birds Hill Park served early settlers as a refuge from flooding in the years 1826 and 1852. It is part of the RM of Springfield, with a relatively small portion lying within the Rural Municipality of St. Clements. The provincial park features a mixture of aspen and oak forest with open prairie/savannah, spruce, bog areas and mixed boreal forest communities, not commonly found so close together.OverviewThe park has a large campground, a horse stable, and many trails designed for hiking, biking and horseback riding. An artificial lake of approximately 80 acres (30 ha) with four miles of shoreline supports swimming and water recreation.