Explore the region’s public lands
The Bighorn Backcountry is more than 5,000 square kilometres of public lands east of the mountain national parks, covering most of our region.
Most of our region falls under what is known as public land use zones, aka PLUZ. These zones are different than what we usually refer to as crown-land, based mostly on how they are managed by Alberta Environment.
The Bighorn Backcountry is divided into six PLUZ, with four of them covering most of our region:
- Blackstone Wapiabi
- Job/Cline
- Kiska/Wilson
- Upper Clearwater/Ram
Each of the PLUZ has a slightly different set of rules when it comes to recreation with some allowing motorized activities where other areas are primarily opened to activities like hiking, snowshoeing and paddling.
You can find out more about recreation in the PLUZ on the Government of Alberta website.