Big Knife Provincial Park — Attraction in Alberta

My wife and I both had fond memories of this place from when we were kids, so we brought our daughter here today. We had been excited to use the wading pool and the playground in the woods; unfortunately both of these wonderful amenities had been removed! Though there is still a map near the stairs that says they have a pool! They should really cover that up.

The park is beautiful and very well taken care of. I was impressed that there was almost no garbage anywhere! My daughter did enjoy the newer playground out in the field. We saw a variety of wildlife, including red squirrels, ground squirrels, darner dragonflies, deer, and my personal favorite, a black and orange garter snake. There were a variety of trails to explore, and we spent many hours hiking.

There is a safety concern I noticed here, though. Right next to the picnic area with the small hills in between the 2 patches of woods, there is a grassy area. Only a few steps in, it abruptly ends at a cliff. The cliff is well hidden by the grass. They really need to put up a sign warning people of this! If you have young children, keep a close eye on them near here.

It's a nice place overall....

I had the pleasure of visiting this hidden gem of a provincial park a couple of weeks ago and I really enjoyed the River Flats trail! The River Flats trail gives stunning views of Battle River while also showcasing the typical features associated with the Badlands, I am of course talking about the Hoodoos! The trail itself was not too strenuous and was very nice change of pace, I would highly recommend staying at the campground on site over a weekend as there is many other spots to explore in the local area.

I cannot highly recommend this park enough as it does not get the same amount of attention as other provincial parks with similar features [Dry Island, Midland & Dinosaur Provincial Parks come to mind]. If you are in the Forestburg area definitely give Big Knife a visit as it is well worth your time to visit...

Possibly the most underrated provincial park in Alberta. Neat, quiet, unserviced, first come first served campground with outstanding and well maintained trail system. Fantastic views. We go out of our way to stop here.

We talked to a senior couple who used to stay here when they were kids. They were sad there was no more wading pool and that the picnic area wasn’t the lively place it once was. I hope Alberta Parks realizes what they have here and what it could still be with the proper marketing and awareness as the demand for opportunities to connect with nature increases. Some people may disagree, and selfishly want these types of spaces to themselves, but what doesn’t get used by the public just gets delisted and turned over to industry - which is knocking on the door...