We headed south on Hwy 36 just east of Forestburg (on Hwy 53) to make our way to Milk River. The road and the drive were lovely and represented some wonderful Alberta prairies scenery. It took us through the Brooks area and Taber (don’t forget to get some corn). Further south of Taber was the Chin Lakes Campground along the water with some lovely sites probably used mainly for fishing but it looked idyllic to me. A beautiful drive and it sure beats driving through Calgary!
The town of Milk River and the actual Milk River itself are located in southern Alberta near the Montana border. The Milk River is best known for two things, one being the milky color of the water resulting from the clays and silts suspended in its waters, and the other being it is one of the few Canadian rivers which flow southward into the Missouri River in the US. The river forms in Glacial County in Montana and flows east and then north and east into Alberta whereby finally heading south again into Montana to eventually join up with the Missouri River.
The Gold Springs Park Campground is situated on both the Milk River and Gold Springs Lake. There are campsites along the River and along the lake on a small peninsula/island.
While most people make this a destination campground for water activities, we just did a quick stopover. The campground is less than 10km from the US border which gave us time to finish up our fresh vegetables and alcohol and gave us time to make lists of items purchased before the border crossing in the morning at Coutts/Sweetgrass. It was really hot during our visit but with that came a beautiful evening and wonderful sleeping weather.
Campground: Gold Springs Park Campground
Location: South of Milk River, Alberta about 4 miles
Site: 89
Cost: $30 ($CAD)
Services: E (15 AMP)
Comments: A cute little campground with a variety of waterfront sites and types of hookups. A nice place to enjoy the water and the solitude.
The campground rents paddle boats and canoes and many people were in swimming and fishing.
The campground is about a 30-minute drive to Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park which provides camping amenities along with aboriginal rock carvings and paintings and is one of the largest preserved prairie parks in Alberta. It has been on our list for a few years but just never seem to have enough time to do everything. Another park on our list is Cypress Hills Provincial Park which borders on Saskatchewan. One day we will get to these parks.
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