Whiteshell Provincial Park

Whiteshell Provincial Park is a 2,721 km2 park centrally located in Canada in the province of Manitoba. The park is located in the Canadian Shield region and has many rivers, remote lakes, boreal forest and bare granite ridges.

Whiteshell has rare archeological sites of petroforms on flat granite ridges. The park is used year-round for nature-oriented recreation activities. It was designated a provincial park by the Government of Manitoba in 1961. The park is considered to be a Class II protected area under the IUCN protected area management categories.

Whiteshell includes Falcon Lake, Caddy Lake, Star Lake and West Hawk Lake. West Hawk Lake was created from a fallen meteor composed of mostly granite. Granite cliffs surround parts of the lake which makes up part of the Canadian Shield that was formed billions of years ago.

The range of wildlife includes deer, wolves, otter, fox, beavers, eagles, turtles, snakes and bats that live in the boreal forest and near the rocky granite outcroppings. Parts of Whiteshell park has elaborate petroforms that were made by First Nation peoples, possibly over a thousand years ago. There are petroform shapes of turtles, snakes, humans and geometrical patterns, often found on pink granite ridges.

Falcon Lake
Falcon Lake is a resort village located on the shores of Falcon Lake in the 270,000 hectare Whiteshell Provincial Park. Falcon Lake is a home base for services and amenities located on Trans-Canada Highway.

Resources

 * Whiteshell Provincial Park
 * IUCN protected area categories
 * Falcon Lake (Manitoba)
 * https://www.travelmanitoba.com/places/must-see/whiteshell/