Medicine Hat has a good thing going in winter. It gets 330 sunny days annually, and the season is regularly tempered by warm Chinook winds. At the same time, it's less than an hour from Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, the highest Canadian point between the Rocky Mountains and Labrador. Finding a snow day even when Medicine Hatters are revelling in patio weather is no problem. Doing winter here is all about combining the cozy quirkiness of the city with the call of the wintry Canadian Badlands.
Best Ways to Spend Winter in Medicine Hat
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Visitors have the best of both worlds when exploring Medicine Hat in winter. This Southern Alberta city offers year-round patio weather and easy access to the mountains.
- Learn how to throw pottery at a National Historic Site.
- Downhill and cross country ski or sled at an uncrowded ski resort.
- Soak up the hyper local coffee culture with a java or three.
Get your hands muddy in the Historic Clay District
When the Canadian Pacific Railway came through these parts in the 1880s, they started digging wells in search of water. Instead, they found natural gas. Medicine Hat quickly became rich. Turns out, keeping the gas streetlights lit all night was cheaper than paying someone to douse and relight them.
"Gas City" also happened to grow up around a particular clay, which turned out to be perfect for brickmaking. And not far away in Saskatchewan, another type of clay was ideal for ceramics. With affordable energy and raw materials nearby, brickmaking and pottery factories found a welcome home in Medicine Hat. Today, the former pottery factory Medalta is a museum of the Historic Clay District, and it makes a fantastic tour. You can even book a Saturday class to learn how to throw pottery. Your creation can be glazed and fired on-site.
Pottery in Medicine Hat is bountiful beyond the kiln walls at Medalta. Don't be surprised if you find yourself eating lunch off a plate handmade by a local. Expect to find the wares for sale in lots of local shops and restaurants. Generations of pottery history means that Medalta workers brought their craft home, teaching it to their children. A love of working with clay has been instilled throughout the small city.
Police Point Park
When nature has seen fit to blanket Medicine Hat with mounds of fluffy snow, go play at Police Point Park. It's one of those loveable, sprawling urban parks that make you forget you're in a city.
Affordable cross-country and snowshoe rentals from the Nature Centre in the park make it easy to tour the park. The scenery around here is unlike other parts of the province. The undulating coulees (deep ravines carved out in the last ice age) are pretty, even under a layer of snow. The city has more than 115 km (71.5 mi) of trails to explore, with or without winter implements on your feet.
Cypress Hills
To dig even deeper into winter, head east to Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. The elevation on the highest plateau is 700 metres (2,297 ft) above Medicine Hat—similar to what you find in Banff. At Hidden Valley Ski Resort, the skiing will blow your mind this far from the Rockies. It's a particularly great hill for beginner to intermediate skiers and boarders, as well as families.
For a less vertical activity, but no less glee, head to the "snow luge." Expect to experience more twists and turns than your typical sledding hill. Rent ice skates from the park's visitor centre and glide around an ice loop that goes through the campground. The skate loop is right next to a warming hut where you can build a fire and break out some snacks. If you're looking to explore further afield, rent snowshoes or cross-country skis from the visitor centre. Simply check the trail maps to choose your own adventure.
Grab a coffee and take in downtown Medicine Hat
Medicine Hat's history is mortared all over its buildings. They're built with bricks fired in town from clay that was blown out of the nearby hills with dynamite. Make sure to wander to the pedestrian underpass near 3rd Street SE. It slips pedestrians beneath the railroad and is filled with at-times psychedelic street art—excellent selfie material. Downtown Medicine Hat is known for its cozy coffee shops. There's no shortage of local shops for your caffeine fix, you can be sure. Try Inspire Café & Gallery for a dose of coffee and culture or The Station Coffee Co. for delicious drinks and sweets.
