The Medicine Lodge Hills Natural Area provides a scenic and mostly undisturbed setting ideal for exploration. With sandy soil and mixed forest cover, it is best enjoyed in the fall. The area’s unique topography and limited ATV traffic make it a worthwhile visit.

Geologically, the Medicine Hills soil is very sandy with a clay base, almost akin to what you find north of Edmonton. The site is covered with a mixed forest of evergreens and deciduous trees.

There are at least three distinct historical cut lines; a hiking loop is possible. The cutlines are overgrown and slowly returning to nature.

1. Inspection Report
2. Images from Inspection

Inspection Report

Question	Q##	Response
		General Information
Date/Site/Submitter:	Q21/22/12	2024-08-14: Medicine Lodge Hills (NA); Phrank P.
Guest Names	Q14
SAPAA Member	Q16	Yes
		Over all Impression of the Site
What is the Naturalness of the Site? 4=Great, 0=Terrible	Q31	4 – Great
How Natural?: comments	Q32	There are at least distinct historical cut lines, two running east-west from Range Road 31 with another running north-south about 100m in from this road. A loop of sorts is possible with a return (or start) walking along the road to the neighbouring farm to the south. The cutlines are over grown and returning to a natural state.
		How was your visit to the PA?
Trip Duration	Q41	1-2 hours
Why Did you Go?	Q42	Visit nature, Hiking, Historical/Cultural (e.g. signed nature trail), PA Site inspection for SAPAA, Other (see comments)
Visit Details	Q43	YEGVille site visit and exploring central Alberta.
		What is in the Site?
Ease to Visit	Q51	None of the Above.
Biological Observations	Q52	Very dense mixed parkland forest. No beasts spotted.
Submissions to iNaturalist	Q53	No, did not see anything of note
Geological Observations	Q54	Soil is very sandy underlying a very thin forest floor. Area is hilly.
Designation as a Protected Area	Q55	Signage
Comments	Q56	Three signs noted.
		Human Activities/Disturbances
Agricultural Activities	Q61	None noted
Resource extraction	Q62	None Noted
Motorized disturbances (ATV or vehicle activity).	Q63	Off Highway Vehicles (e.g. quads, motorbikes)
Animal or self propelled activities	Q64	Hiking Trails
Gathering and Dumping Activities	Q65	None Noted
Infrastructure encroachment	Q66	Cut lines, Pipelines
Comments	Q67	The cutlines have seen very limited ATV traffic, at least for the year of visit. They are over grown and slowly returning to nature.
		What Needs to be Done?
Remediation/Protection Activities Needed	Q71	Fencing, Educating Neighbours about Site Usage
What Have you Done Recently to Help the site?	Q72	Visit and Submitted This Report!
Nearby Stewards?	Q73	Neighbour to the south, did not visit them however.
Comments	Q74	None.
Last Words	Q82	A very nice site. Highway 12 west of the Highway 2 offers incredible rural vistas. Range Road 31, north of Highway 2 is gravel and may be challenging in the winter or when wet. Consider doing along with Sylvan Lake to the south or Gull Lake to the Northeast.

SAPAA Site Inspection Report: 2024-08-14: Medicine Lodge Hills (NA); Phrank P.

Images from Inspection