List of protected areas of Alberta

Alberta Parks
Location and extent of parks in Alberta
Type	Number	Area km2 (sq mi)
Provincial Parks	76	2,214 km2 (855 sq mi)
Wildland Provincial Parks	31	17,314 km2 (6,685 sq mi)
Provincial Recreation Areas	208	899 km2 (347 sq mi)
Wilderness Areas	3	1,010 km2 (390 sq mi)
Ecological Reserves	15	268 km2 (103 sq mi)
Natural Areas	139	1,299 km2 (502 sq mi)
Heritage Rangelands	2	120 km2 (46 sq mi)
National Parks	5	63,045 km2 (24,342 sq mi)
Total	476	90,747 km2 (35,038 sq mi)

Dinosaur Provincial Park

Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park

Fish Creek Provincial Park

Greene Valley Provincial Park

Little Fish Lake Provincial Park

Lakeland Provincial Park

Pembina River Provincial Park

Peter Lougheed Provincial Park

Pigeon Lake Provincial Park

Spray Valley Provincial Park

Williamson Provincial Park

Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park

This is a list of protected areas of Alberta. Protected areas are managed by the Government of Canada or the Government of Alberta. The provincial government owns 60% of Alberta's landmass but most of this has not been formally protected. The total protected area throughout Alberta including federal and provincial protected areas is approximately 90,700 km² (35,000 sq mi).

International recognition

Six of Canada's 14 UNESCO World Heritage Sites are entirely or partially located in Alberta:

• Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks (shared with British Columbia)
• Dinosaur Provincial Park
• Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
• Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park (shared with Montana, United States)
• Wood Buffalo National Park (shared with Northwest Territories)
• Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park

Alberta also contains the following UNESCO Biosphere Reserves

• Waterton Biosphere Reserve (since 1979)
• Beaver Hills Biosphere Reserve (since 2016)

Federally protected areas

Five National Parks of Canada (Banff, Elk Island, Jasper, Waterton Lakes and Wood Buffalo), managed by Parks Canada are located in the province. Several former national parks (such Buffalo National Park, Wawaskesy National Park, and Nemiskam National Park) formerly existed in Alberta, but were delisted in 1947.

There are several National Historic Sites of Canada in Alberta, but only two are operated by Parks Canada: Rocky Mountain House, which features an indoor interpretation centre and year-round in-person interpretation, and Frog Lake which has only outdoor interpretive panels to mark the site.

Alberta is also home to Suffield National Wildlife Area, a protected area within the military reserve at CFB Suffield.

Provincially protected areas

There are several different departments and agencies that deal with land use in Alberta, however Alberta's provincial parks are managed by Alberta Parks, which since 2022 is part of the Ministry of Forestry, Parks and Tourism whose mandate is to protect the province's natural landscapes in Alberta, as well as the Ministry of Environment and Protected Areas. Seven categories of protection exist, provincial parks being one. These categories are:

• Ecological reserves
• Wilderness areas
• Wildland provincial parks
• Provincial parks
• Natural areas
• Heritage rangelands
• Provincial recreation areas

As of 2016, the province of Alberta managed 76 provincial parks, 32 wildland provincial parks, 208 provincial recreation areas, 15 ecological reserves, 3 wilderness areas, 139 natural areas and 2 heritage rangeland. Although these areas are the responsibility of the Alberta government, private companies have been contracted to handle various aspects of the operation of many parks (e.g. maintenance and campground operation).

List of wilderness areas

Wilderness areas have the strictest level of protection, no development of any kind is permitted, and travel is only permitted by foot.

• Ghost River Wilderness Area
• Siffleur Wilderness Area
• White Goat Wilderness Area
• Willmore Wilderness Park

List of provincial parks

Park	Nearest community	Established	Coordinates	website (ID)
Antelope Hill Provincial Park	Hanna	2014, 4 December	51.722°N 111.937°W / 51.722; -111.937 (Antelope Hill Provincial Park)
Aspen Beach Provincial Park	Bentley	1932, 21 November	52°27′28″N 113°58′39″W	1
Beauvais Lake Provincial Park	Pincher Creek	1954, 1 February	49°24′39″N 114°06′33″W	6
Big Hill Springs Provincial Park	Cochrane	1957, 22 November	51°15′6″N 114°23′18″W	12
Big Island Provincial Park	Edmonton	2023, February	53°26′26″N 113°38′45″W
Big Knife Provincial Park	Forestburg	1962, 2 October	52°29′25″N 112°13′15″W	11
Bow Valley Provincial Park	Canmore	1959, 27 July	51°04′5″N 115°02′47″W	293
Bragg Creek Provincial Park	Bragg Creek	1960, 19 January	50°56′30″N 114°35′14″W	324
Brown-Lowery Provincial Park	Turner Valley	1992, 29 October	50°48′58″N 114°26′4″W	16
Calling Lake Provincial Park	Athabasca	1971, 20 July	55°10′51″N 113°14′40″W	248
Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park	Canmore	1988	51°05′53″N 115°23′23″W	294
Carson-Pegasus Provincial Park	Whitecourt	1982, 19 May	54°18′16″N 115°38′30″W	247
Castle Provincial Park	Crowsnest Pass	2017, 17 February	49.444°N 114.117°W / 49.444; -114.117 (Castle Provincial Park)
Chain Lakes Provincial Park	Nanton	1969, 23 December	50°12′24″N 114°11′47″W	19
Cold Lake Provincial Park	Cold Lake	1976, 18 August	54°27′38″N 110°07′12″W	22
Crimson Lake Provincial Park	Rocky Mountain House	1955, 22 November	52°27′0″N 115°2′0″W	27
Cross Lake Provincial Park	Athabasca	1955, 22 November	54°38′17″N 113°48′52″W	28
Crow Lake Provincial Park	Fort McMurray		55°47′47″N 112°10′54″W	574
Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park	Medicine Hat		49°34′31″N 110°00′23″W	29
Dillberry Lake Provincial Park	Provost	1957, 8 January	52°35′47″N 110°04′51″W	38
Dinosaur Provincial Park	Brooks	1955, 27 June	50°45′44″N 111°31′5″W	246
Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park	Trochu	1970, 15 December	51°56′10″N 112°57′41″W	39
Dunvegan Provincial Park	Fairview	1992, 21 May	55°55′24″N 118°36′2″W	40
Eagle Point Provincial Park	Drayton Valley	2007, 29 August	53°14′40″N 114°52′28″W	589
Fish Creek Provincial Park	Calgary	1975, 10 June	50°54′11″N 114°00′55″W	45
Garner Lake Provincial Park	Vilna	1953, 14 July	54°10′59″N 111°44′22″W	49
Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park	Calgary Cochrane	2008, 17 April	51°10′1″N 114°23′34″W	593
Gooseberry Lake Provincial Park	Consort	1932, 21 November	52°07′4″N 110°45′6″W	51
Greene Valley Provincial Park	Peace River	2000, 6 June	56°11′53″N 117°14′30″W	147
Gregoire Lake Provincial Park	Fort McMurray	1969, 21 October	56°28′23″N 111°11′55″W	52
Hilliard's Bay Provincial Park	High Prairie	1978, 24 October	55°29′57″N 116°01′10″W	3
Jarvis Bay Provincial Park	Sylvan Lake	1965, 8 July	52°21′59″N 114°07′56″W	61
Kinbrook Island Provincial Park	Brooks	1951, 14 November	50°26′52″N 111°54′40″W	65
Lakeland Provincial Park	Lac La Biche	1992, 16 January	54°47′24″N 111°29′17″W	280
Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park	Slave Lake		55°25′3″N 114°48′39″W	68
Little Bow Provincial Park	Champion	1954, 20 January	50°13′10″N 112°57′56″W	69
Little Fish Lake Provincial Park	Drumheller	1957, 8 April	51°22′18″N 112°11′54″W	71
Lois Hole Centennial Provincial Park	Edmonton St. Albert	2005, 19 April	53°36′22″N 113°40′41″W	437
Long Lake Provincial Park	Boyle	1957, 25 March	54°25′32″N 112°45′26″W	72
Midland Provincial Park	Drumheller	1979, 5 June	51°28′41″N 112°47′13″W	78
Miquelon Lake Provincial Park	Hay Lakes	1958, 20 May	53°14′51″N 112°53′15″W	81
Moonshine Lake Provincial Park	Rycroft	1959, 21 April	55°55′31″N 119°13′51″W	82
Moose Lake Provincial Park	Bonnyville	1967, 19 April	54°15′50″N 110°55′55″W	83
Notikewin Provincial Park	Manning	1979, 20 November	57°17′19″N 117°09′3″W	87
Obed Lake Provincial Park	Edson		53°33′19″N 117°07′44″W	203
O'Brien Provincial Park	Grande Prairie	1954, 29 June	55°03′49″N 118°49′28″W	88
Park Lake Provincial Park	Lethbridge	1932, 21 November	49°48′14″N 112°55′30″W	143
Pembina River Provincial Park	Entwistle	1953, 21 September	53°36′18″N 114°59′57″W	92
Peter Lougheed Provincial Park	Kananaskis	1977, 7 October	50°41′0″N 115°13′35″W	307
Pierre Grey's Lakes Provincial Park	Grande Cache		53°54′23″N 118°35′18″W	209
Pigeon Lake Provincial Park	Wetaskiwin	1967, 26 May	53°01′35″N 114°08′4″W	98
Police Outpost Provincial Park	Cardston	1970, 21 April	49°00′22″N 113°27′32″W	108
Queen Elizabeth Provincial Park	Grimshaw	1956, 1 March	56°13′43″N 117°41′22″W	110
Ram Falls Provincial Park	Nordegg		52°05′21″N 115°50′11″W	213
Red Lodge Provincial Park	Bowden	1951, 7 May	51°56′38″N 114°16′11″W	114
Rochon Sands Provincial Park	Stettler	1957, 8 January	52°27′51″N 112°53′27″W	116
Rock Lake Provincial Park	Hinton		53°28′2″N 118°15′10″W	215
Saskatoon Island Provincial Park	Wembley	1932, 21 November	55°12′20″N 119°05′6″W	118
Sheep River Provincial Park	Turner Valley		50°38′49″N 114°38′43″W	330
Sir Winston Churchill Provincial Park	Lac La Biche	1952, 29 September	54°49′45″N 111°57′45″W	120
Spray Valley Provincial Park	Kananaskis	2000, 1 December	50°50′14″N 115°14′48″W	308
Strathcona Science Provincial Park	Edmonton Sherwood Park	1979, 12 December	53°33′39″N 113°23′2″W	123
Sundance Provincial Park	Edson	1999, 28 April	53°38′29″N 116°52′47″W	142
Sylvan Lake Provincial Park	Sylvan Lake	1980, 16 January	52°20′43″N 114°10′11″W	125
Thunder Lake Provincial Park	Barrhead	1958, 28 January	54°07′59″N 114°43′57″W	137
Tillebrook Provincial Park	Tilley	1965, 20 July	50°32′16″N 111°48′30″W	138
Two Lakes Provincial Park	Grande Prairie		54°22′22″N 119°45′31″W	222
Vermilion Provincial Park	Vermilion	1953, 29 May	53°21′53″N 110°52′55″W	152
Wabamun Lake Provincial Park	Wabamun		53°33′58″N 114°27′16″W	154
Whitney Lakes Provincial Park	Elk Point	1982, 23 June	53°49′48″N 110°29′48″W	158
William A. Switzer Provincial Park	Hinton	1958, 22 December	53°32′34″N 117°48′20″W	159
Williamson Provincial Park	Valleyview	1960, 7 November	55°04′52″N 117°33′26″W	165
Willow Creek Provincial Park	Stavely	1957, 10 December	50°06′54″N 113°46′14″W	167
Winagami Lake Provincial Park	Donnelly	1956, 13 November	55°37′45″N 116°40′41″W	169
Woolford Provincial Park	Cardston		49°10′33″N 113°11′20″W	173
Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park	Coutts	1957, 8 January	49°04′49″N 111°38′21″W	177
Wyndham-Carseland Provincial Park	Strathmore	1979, 2 May	50°49′47″N 113°26′59″W	178
Young's Point Provincial Park	Valleyview	1971, 3 August	55°07′3″N 117°33′29″W	180

Other parks

• Birch Mountains Wildland (wildland)
• Caribou Mountains Wildland Park (wildland)
• Chinchaga Wildland Park (wildland)
• Dillon River Wildland Park (wildland)
• Fidler-Greywillow Wildland Park (wildland)
• Gipsy-Gordon Wildland Park (wildland)
• Hay-Zama Lakes (wildland)
• Kakwa Wildlands Park (wildland)
• Kananaskis Country (not a park but a provincially run tract of land containing several parks)
• Kazan Wildland Park (wildland)
• Richardson Wildland Park (wildland)

Other provincial lands

Approximately 60% of land in Alberta is public land owned by the Alberta government. For administrative purposes, the province is divided into two broad land use areas: the Green Area (forested land, almost entirely provincially owned) and the White Area (other). The Rocky Mountains Forest Reserve was created by the Forest Reserves Act of 1964. There are also 32 provincial grazing reserves located throughout Alberta. They are administered by Alberta Sustainable Resource Development.

Municipal parks

Main article: Urban parks in Canada

See also

• List of Canadian provincial parks
• List of provincial parks in Alberta
• List of National Parks of Canada
• Buffalo National Park (delisted national park)

External links

• About Alberta's Parks
• Alberta Parks -list of provincial parks
• Alberta Community Development - Parks and Protected Areas Land Reference Manual