Indian Battle Park

Indian Battle Park occupies the floor of the Oldman River valley below downtown Lethbridge, a 150-acre green space that combines walking trails with one of the more significant historical sites on the Canadian prairies. The valley walls rise steeply on both sides, the river winds through cottonwoods and willows, and the High Level Bridge towers overhead — the contrast between the industrial scale of the bridge and the quiet valley floor is one of the more striking things about Lethbridge.

The park contains Fort Whoop-Up, trails along the river, and access to several viewpoints looking up at the High Level Bridge. Walking the Coal Banks Trail from here follows the river for 30 kilometres through the coulee system, connecting several parks and passing through landscapes that look much as they did before European settlement. The park is easily accessible from downtown — just head for the valley rim on Scenic Drive or take the road down into the coulee from Mayor Magrath Drive.

things to do sight
A story
The Battle of the Belly River took place here in October 1870, the last major armed conflict between First Nations peoples on Canadian soil. A large Cree and Assiniboine war party attacked a Blackfoot camp in the valley; the Blackfoot, though outnumbered, were armed with rifles obtained from Fort Whoop-Up traders, and they routed the attack. Estimates of the dead range from 200 to 600 — a catastrophic loss that permanently ended Cree expansion into Blackfoot territory.

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