The Mystery Rocks of Saskatchewan near the Cypress Hills – a strange place
Very little is known about these rocks. Located on private land, permission is required to access them.
This story starts out long ago. The Native Americans who lived in the area back in the day would not set up camp anywhere near them. Teepee rings can be found all over the land, but not by the rocks. Some people believe these are one of a few magical vortex power spots on the earth, others located across the globe like Stonehenge. Acedemics and visitors have debated the origin of these rocks for years.
I first learned about them in Boyscouts. Wilderness Rendezvous, a survival camp in the West Block of Cypress Hills was how I spent 9 days of my summer each year. The year our group was old enough to hike to this general area, we were warned by our scoutmaster Jeff “Don’t go to the Mystery Rocks”.
Like a scene out of “Stand By Me” – we took the detour, and found the mystery rocks. No permission granted.
We could not believe what we were seeing. Or feeling. Something did not feel right. It felt odd. One of the kids said “I don’t like this, I’m heading back to the trail” That is where my memory of the mystery rocks ends. We never went back there ever again.
For the last 3 years I have been on a bit of a quest to find them again. I contacted an old friend who worked for Sask Environment in that area, and he gave me the phone number of the land owner. I gave him a call – he invited me out to his home, gave me directions to his house, said he’d show me the easy way in.
I went the next day. I found his house. Skulls of all kinds of animals decorated the yard. My kind of guy! I opened the closed gate that his old dog easily walked through to meet me and knocked on the door. No one was home. I’m not sure what that gate was meant to keep in… or out… as the dog came back in quite easily.
I stuck around for a while, and realized no one was coming home.
On my way out I met a neighbor, whose family had lived there since 1899. He knew where the mystery rocks were located, but he did not feel right sending me to them.
He told me of a short cut to get to another area I remembered via public roads. I drove for 20 minutes when I had a feeling come over me. I stopped the truck and scanned the hills.
There they are!! The mystery rocks!!
I flew my drone over that way.
These are the pics I took.
You decide. Naturally occurring geological formation? Man Made? Aliens? Or something else.
I started to take some pictures of the rocks and the full battery in the drone drained almost to zero. I assumed this was a mistake, but the drone started to fly back to me, as it should if it is actually getting low on power. I landed it, the battery was in fact drained.
Update Sept 22 2018!! I went back to the rocks 2 years later.
This time I took video! Click here to view.
Hi, Thanks Ryan for taking such beautiful pictures of the rocks. I’ve always meant to go out there. Now I really want to go!
Last year I went to Ireland and took a tour to the Cliffs of Moher and before we got there we stopped for a break at an area with similar rocks. Looked like a perfectly cut cake. Very interesting. These rocks were located by the ocean.
Your pictures have always included a bit of mystery and beauty. Nice work, Ryan!
That sounds really interesting. There is another spot north of me that I want to take the drone to. Thanks.
I have never heard about this.Very interesting Ryan.Thank u for taking the time to share.Hoping u will further investigate this & let us know what U find.I am intrigued
now !!
Through a little research you will find native stories of giants they ruled the area. Possibly even a burial site for one or more of these said giants. More research is needed. Permission to dig would be epic…
It’s a handlaid walkway to the top of the hill; for a sacret ceremony of the surrounding native tribes, the participant sat on the hill for 4 days with no food or water and had a ‘calling out to the Creator/Great Spirit’ for whatever the reason they chose to do the fasting/vision quest sort of speak, and the reason no tipi is rings are found their is because that person needed silence away from the people…it was just that person and the Great Spirit…the stones are the oldest entity next to water on earth so the stones are like a “spirit bridge” of sacretness to those who walk upon them….pure in Spirit, pure in Mind, pure in Body must be the Rule/Way for that person….then again..it just could be someone love to watch stars from that hill and made an awesome walkway for night watching….
💗💗such a perfect explanation 💗💗💗 Thank you for you knowledge
My people come from this great continent that we have always called HOME…thanks to people who take even a moment to recognize what this land has to offer in one way or another in a holistic and healing manner….your welcome….
There is a medicine wheel if that is the proper name a short distance from here, It was barely visible 40 years ago.
Never had heard of this area. Thanks for sharing this phenomenon.
Wow! I never knew we had such an phenomenon. That’s interesting….. beyond belief. Thanks Ryan for sharing.
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment.
I think the crooked bush in Saskatchewan might be linked to these mystery rocks
I have never heard of this before. Saskatchewan is amazing, thank you for sharing with us.
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment.
Sweet story.. I believe they are man made..obviously many years ago..as far as your drone battery draining it may have a magnetic field as many places do…they are really quite interesting to visit..to bad you couldnt go to them have two people stand at opposite ends on the rock and you would certainly know for sure!!
That is interesting, how would you know that by having 2 people stand at opposite ends?
I was wondering the same thing.
maybe they meant to say, “with compass’s”.
Just a stab in the dark. Boy Scouts, SCUBA diver, Surveyors assistant, mariner, etc.
Extremely fascinating and possibly worth a trip. Lived in Swift Current all my life and this is the first I’ve heard of this. Awesome photos. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for taking the time to read and comment.
Went to these rocks at least once every summer while I growing up. To me they were like big loaves of bread, used to be so amazed at the names carved into them from the 1800’s. Grew up in that area and should go and see again.
Sharon (Frame) Osborne
I also remembered some odd writing that i didn’t recognize, but it was a long time ago when I was there on foot.
Yes, I’ve been there lots, but don’t remember them looking like that. I thought they were just ordinary rocks, not shaped like that. I’ll have to go back.
This one is easy to solve…it’s simply a very modest dwelling that fell down the hill. The concentrated area of rocks which fell in perfect formation, is an outside wall that fell inward, onto the flat, living space of the dwelling. There is an identifiable “slit” window located where the bush grew. The apposing wall fell outward, down the hill. The rocks spread easily with the momentum from the fall.
There are many early rock build structures scattered through the country. Immigrants from Europe commonly build dwellings with rocks. These contractors were skilled at fracturing rocks to fit perfectly in place. Fracturing rock by hand is a lost art but much is written about it.
There is no sign of a roof/cover since it was most likely built from degradable materials that eventually blew away or pulled out of place as the stone configuration was discovered and became more interesting.
The fact that the permanent structure is located on a hill, with good 360 degree viewing says it is most likely a homesteader. Especially since it is a single structure and not part of a village which should give you a reliable date. It should be easy to find the original land owner. The structure is not consistent with trapping or the fur trade industry, they were always on the move. Nor is it consistent with First Nations since they were migrants and followed their food sources. They typically erected transportable structures. They set them up on the top of the hills in the summer, to get away from the bugs and moved them to the bottom of a draw, to stay out of the cold winds in the winter.
If it was built by man, that is a great engineering feat. The rocks are huge and very heavy.
It obviously never fell down a hill, as it is on the crest…as well look at the size of the trees in comparison to the stones. They are large. I can’t see any homesteader building up on a hill away from water sources. Just my opinion, but you are way off.
Homesteaders generally built on hills slightly away from water sources on the chance that said water source would flood and destroy their house and supplies. Hills were ideal because they’d protect you from any type of flooding in the valleys (whether a river flooded or a large rainfall created flooding before draining into the river). Hills were ideal places for homesteaders because they had a good view of the surrounding countryside (and any friends or foes arriving) and safe from floods and wildlife that often went down to the river. No self-respecting homesteader would have built his home on the valley floor in easy reach of the river/stream/creek/whatever – who wants to open your door and be faced with wolves or coyote (or bears in other areas) that are down at the river? As well as the aforementioned flooding. And having the high ground gives you an advantage in terms of defending yourself, what with the 360° view, as well as the advantage you have in terms of gravity (it’s easier to attack going downhill than attacking uphill. Someone attacking uphill is going to tire out faster than someone attacking downhill. Just like it’s easier to go down stairs than climb stairs. Before the age of aircraft, having the high ground was seen as essential in *any* type of martial matter). And if you’re wanting to defend your new land you’re gonna want to have the high ground for defensive advantage, and if you’re wanting to survive for longer than a year you’re gonna want the high ground so you’re house and supplies don’t go floating down the river come spring flooding. Any half-decent homesteader who understood homesteading would absolutely build on a hill. It is by far the BEST place to build for multiple reasons. On a personal note, my (great?) great-grandparents homestead south of Mankota was built on the side of a very large hill – on the side rather than the top to help block wind (and there was a convenient, flat, little “shelf” that is the perfect size for a house and yard) and to stay up and away from the creek that floods every year. The barn is a bit closer to the creek, but there’s a large bank on the barn side that protects it from all but the record-breaking years. Walking down the hill every morning to collect water was (and still is, in some places) just a completely normal morning activity for mothers and children around the world. Some people would make sure there was enough water for the morning so they could put off water gathering until it got lighter out, others just went out first thing every morning (and many, many more probably altered their routine depending on the season – it’s a lot easier to get up and go outside first thing in the summer, whereas the winter you’re likely to make sure there is warm-ish water available for first thing in the morning).
I live in SC and never knew anything about these at all! These are so cool, maybe we’ll have to go check them out next summer!
Thanks so much for sharing these pics Ryan – all new to me and very interesting as are all the comments.
Saskatchewan Stonehenge
I agree. Reminds me of what’s discussed in Fingerprints of the Gods a book by Graham Hancock.
Thank you Ryan for sharing your photos. So interesting. Especially that SK is my home province. Do you know the author Sharon Buttala? I think I have spelled her name right. She has written about some of that south SK natural ranch lands. This all ties in together. Look her up.
Thanks a lot, I will look her up.
Good call, Grant.
Logical and makes sense.
Still kinda neat. 🙂
As I stated earlier, look at the size of the rocks in relation to the trees…and as Ryan tried to explain, the rocks are much too large. It would also be surprising to you to see how few ranch houses in this area are built on top of hills..I guess they just didn’t like hauling water and humongous stones up hills.
And what a view!
I can understand why they chose to build there.
I thought something similar: that it was a vertical rock formation that had fallen. It reminded me of the petrified forest where the former trees appear to be logs.
I agree. That’s the first thing I thought when I saw the pics – a fallen wall. Hearing the reasoning behind that theory makes perfect sense. Maybe the names on the rocks are family members that lived in the house ?
These are not house size stones unless there was a giant flouting about.
https://readreidread.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/mystery-rocks-blog-20003.jpg
Oh dear. I don’t think you understand the size of these stones. At all. This was no homesteaders house. If you are going to follow that line of thinking it would be more apt to suggest a fallen castle. But even your average European castle wouldn’t fit the bill as even they didn’t use stones anywhere near as big. No, you would have to suggest a fallen wall of an Egyption or Mayan temple if you want to account for stones the size of automobiles. A homesteader who has to get his home completed before winter would definitely have frozen to death if he was silly enough to construct something of this scale.
At any rate, most of the ranchers in this area are families that have been there in place since the time of white settlement. If any of their ancestors had built a stone house that fell down, they would undoubtedly know about it. That goes quintuple if great-grandad had built a temple to Osiris.
Visited this spot may many times. Know what I’m talking about.
Oh my! You’ve just destroyed all of the scientific content. I’d love to believe there were ancient “people” in Canada and moreover North America who left a mark. But moreover, I choose to believe that the North American Native populations (other than anihilting(bad spelling) one another, really did believe that they only lived and stayed in a territory (but it was theirs) for whatever time they inhabited it – certainly there were territorial wars, but what was agreed was law. Certainly Native people lived here for centuries before ‘being discovered”. Your photos of the “sacred rocks” or whatever people call them are fascinating, thank you for educating me. I really don’t think they look like a fallen down stone home – the Brits and Scots and Irish didn’t venture that far west. Thank you!
Not to mention that many homesteader houses in that area are wood construction.
As the pictures show there are many trees available to build houses with. Would seem to be the most really available resource.
David: Thank you for the laugh! hahaha!
The question that I would then ask you is why the battery drain? How do you explain that?
I know of The Viking Ribstones near Viking, Alberta that I have visited that gives off the similar vibes or as I call it High Energy! The First Nations folks there are very aware of the site. The actual spot is not the stones themselves but a location very near by.
My blackberry battery goes from 100% to 0% in a few minutes these days. I guess everywhere I go must be mystical.
Good answer. Just when I was getting intrigued.
We used to go there as a kid. Those rocks are 6 feet thick. If this was a dwelling, it was a collapsed castle. This area was missed by the glaciers when they formed the prairies. The rocks are from before the glaciers.
The glaciers did not form the prairies. 150 thousand years ago, the prairies were a sea bed. The glaciers did form moraines, long hills made up of dirt and rocks deposited by the retreating ice.
And that’s my guess about these rocks. They were probably one very large flat rock before the last ice age or the one before that, and was picked up and shattered by the ice over the course of an ice age. When the ice melted, the shattered remnants settled down next to each other on one of the group of moraines we call Cypress Hills.
As for the battery drain, I wouldn’t be surprised if another rock dropped there by the ice was causing that – a meteorite.
Really interesting about a meteorite causing battery drain. I had not realized something on the ground could cause a battery to drain like that.
It can, if a meteorite is made of nickel and iron (as many are). Such a meteorite can put out a strong magnetic field. On Mars, the only magnetic fields are around a few craters where such meteors impacted.
Pretty large rocks for a “very modest dwelling”.
This is fantastic Ryan – thanks. I have sent it on to my “Space, Place, Landscape” students after seeing “Picnic at Hanging Rock” today.
Excellent, I hope they enjoy it.
Yeah I read the booklet about it being connected to aliens or Aztecs or whatever. I figured he was just another dippy local idiot. Its a natural rock formation – period.
I’d love to see a copy of that book.
Erich Von Daniken’s Chariots of the gods
Wow very interesting place. Great write up too!
Thanks Ryan
I would be excited to look at these they could be Igneous like the Sweetgrass hills but not seeing up close? do you have any close ups?
Not real close, i will crop a few i have and send them your way.
Are you the Ryan Wunsch that grew up in Hanley Sk.
We lived in Hanley in the 1980’s, and our son Brad was on the same hockey team as a Ryan Wunsch.Love your photos
Norma Flemming
No, I grew up in Leader. I did not know there was another Ryan, I have met Treana from Hanley. We aren’t related to those Wunsches. Thanks Norma.
You should see what Scott Wolter the Forensic Geologist on TV has to say about this.?
I’ve already heard from one Geologist friend who saw the pictures and says it is a naturally occuring formation.
Aliens
I’m not saying it was Aliens…. But it was Aliens.
Aliens does not necessarily mean from outer space, it can also mean from a different area. If this is man made I would have to say whomever created it had a way of moving large rocks like in Egypt. It almost looks like a landing strip or direction of travel point.
This is amazing. I never knew about this. Although I have been to Cypress Hills, the highest point of land in Canada. There I saw interesting trees and landscape. I really would like to know more about this. I have a teacher friend who took her class camping there some time ago but she never mentioned these rocks. Thank you for sharing .
Not many people know about the rocks, and they are on private land, not in the park.
The Cypress Hills are the highest point between the East Coast and the Rocky Mountains. They aren’t the highest point in Canada. In 2011, we spent several afternoons looking for the actual high point in SK, with our GPS, but it wasn’t marked at all, and is in a private pasture on the Bench. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cypress_Hills_(Canada) Great pictures, Ryan!
the highest point is within the park at Bald Butte or Lookout Point.
No, it’s not Laurel. The highest point in SK is on the plateau west of Fort Walsh (unmarked, hence our trip with the GPS) and the highest point in the Cypress Hills is in AB, at the western end of the hills.
There are a lot of strange things we really know nothing about so perhaps this rock formation are related to the formations in South America. I’ve always been fascinated by such findings. I was about ten and one calm day with a very low ceiling strange musical sounds floated across the sky above us. There was no motor noise. You figure it out……
The world is an amazing place.
…and look at all the amazing dialogue your pictures have sparked 🙂
Wow, absolutely fascinating! I had never heard of them before. Thanks so much for bringing this story to the public. Looking at them, I could not fathom a natural process that would have created them. The circular depressions seem to be an important part of the story. Good luck in your research!
Since making this post I’ve learned of some interesting ancient theories about them, and I’ve also heard from geologists saying it is natural.
electromagnetic?
AWESOME pictures!! Thanks for sharing. Whatever they are, they are definitely fascinating.
Thanks Peggy.
Beautiful pictures and what a great write-up. I’ve also never heard of them. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Sandy.
Spectacular photos! I have never heard about this either! Very interesting, would love to go and see…
Thanks Carrie.
Can I repost some of your photos?
Great photos.
Thank you.
There are various sharing features on this page. I’d prefer to keep the stories with the pictures.
Hi Ryan thank you for submitting your photos of these interesting rocks or perhaps more accurately rock formation. In my opinion I believe this rock formation was caused by an ancient lava flow coming into contact with water. The resulting stone formation is referred to as “pillow rock”. Found in many places around the globe these formations are often mistaken for roads and walls. The way in which the formation is stretched along the top of the ridge is interesting. It is hard to tell if this was caused by glaciation or gravity or both. I wonder iof anyone has ever measuŕed to see if the formation is moving. Perhaps a next year visit to take some photos.
That is interesting, thanks for taking the time to make the post. I will have to google that.
Thanks for Sharing Man! It brought back a flood of memories and someday I have to get back there.
I think it was in 3rd year we went there. I can’t remember Jeff’s last name. If you do, email me ryanwunsch@gmail.com
Obviously, a room with a view on the top of the hill. Fascinating. I knew the Cypress Hills are the highest point of land in Canada east of the Rockies. Are they THE Highest Point of all?
Others have mentioned the same thing. It took me a while to “see” that. Interesting observation.
No, they aren’t THE highest point of all – just East of the Rockies (to my knowledge). According to Google, Mt Logan in the Yukon is the highest point in Canada (and also the 2nd highest in N America!) at 5925 metres at Philippe Peak.
Forgive my ignorance”! I’m from Ontario – have visited BC several times and enjoyed the views. Not into mountains, oceans – only the scenery from afar. Just a wimp. Seeing these rock formations and reading – modern day man should step back and accept that whoever we are on this part of the planet, we should listen and accept the stories of all the people who have lived here and survived the “white-man’s arrival”. If you speak to the native people in the area they will tell you so much more about those perfectly placed rocks and where they came from. They lived here in those days. History has never died, Native people, if they want to share, will tell you the truth.
Didn’t know this existed, very different formation. Spent a lot of time at Cypress when growing up in Southern Sask., loved it
It is a great place, It was good to go back.
A naturally occurring geological formation and geologists saying it is natural is simply too uncanny for it to be that basic. There are things here on earth that no one has yet been fully able to explain with sound theories that prove factual. As certain stories do get imbellished or recalled the way whom ever is stating them thinks is accurate. Looing at these rock formations tells me that they were not just naturally occurring as they are placed to conveniently in a pattern of sorts.
Thank You for posting this Ryan Wunsch as this location is now on my “bucket list”
I am going to do more research for sure, Thanks.
I see the image of man in the last photo. A head, neck, shoulders, chest,stomach and waist. A sleeping stone giant ready to wake.
A few other people have mentioned that, I see it. I had not noticed it before. Thanks.
Across from our house when I was growing up in La Ronge was bush. There was a rock cliff that as kids we went to. It was perfectly set up like a living room. Not sure how that was. But in order to get to it, you had to go thru the quicksand spot. It was a little pool of wet sand, and always given a wide berth. Later, it was cleared and blasted and rock and cement apartments were built over top of it all. The apartments stand today and I`ve heard of no problems with them or of any bad ground, but it always seemed like one of those places.
As an adult, I moved with my children to the Nelson, BC. I was told that the lake (Kootenay)was cursed and that`s why you wouldn`t see too many Native people in the area. Not exactly sure why it was cursed, but I always thought of it as a dark place.
Pretty cool that these rocks and your story bring back my thoughts of these two spots for me. Love your pictures. Especially love them on the walls at work. Thanks for doing what you do Ryan.
Thanks for commenting. It is too bad the rock cliff was cleared in La Ronge, that sounds pretty cool.
Hi Ryan….. have you ever heard of the Crooked Trees of Mayfair? Creepiest place I’ve ever seen. Poplars that grow normally until they get a foot tall , then they hang a 90 degree angle and grow horizontally. It’s a circular patch maybe … 100 feet in diameter when I saw it years ago. Not a bird or other animal except spiders (ugh) in it. Yet , not 50 feet away in another stand of Bush…. all kinds of birds. Absolutely bizarre. You should check it out.
I have heard of them and have never been there. I think I will add that to my list, i’d really like to go after the leaves fall off. Thanks for the tip.
Would be interesting to talk to an elder about these. Not sure if nekaneet reservation would be a good resource. Native Americans have a rich oral history.
It would seem highly unlikely that it is a European homestead for many reasons.
That is a good idea, Nekaneet has land close by. I’d love to know what their elders thought of them.
Stunning pictures thank you for sharing. It’s wonderful to still find mystery’s right here in Canada. Someone made them is my guess, but which someone in our ancient history. Like Stonehenge the path way will engage your mind.
Hi Ryan…I used to live I’ve in the town north of Cyress and never knew about these rocks…I also traveled up to the reserve and there was knowone that ever mentioned about these rocks…they look beautiful Ryan…great pictures as well…
Very interesting…. I wonder what is beneath it? Maybe our very own Macchu Piccu?
Very interesting pictures. I have also seen similar formations in Ireland. The stories are fascinating too. Also never heard of this place though have been to cypress hills camping years ago. Thanks for sharing pictures & stories.
Beautiful photos. What a great story. I would love the opportunity to see these wonders up close. Thanks for sharing this with us!
So interesting! I’m not sure what they are, but they look huge!
It reminds me of Easter Island, and stone henge… those having been made obviously by the nephilim, who were giants during the time before the flood. They measured 300 cubits, which is roughly the size of the ark that Noah built. (read the book of Enoch, which was in the bible originally, and is still found in the etheopean bible as they never agreed to remove it) In the book of Enoch it explains where the nephilim came from, and what they were like…
I wonder what is underneath them? More of the same? or just dirt???? What ever the case is I would never have any fear of these rocks… because when you have Jesus as your Saviour, you need not fear any evil.
1John 5:9 says…(concerning discerning spirits…)
And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is HE that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world, and the world heareth them.
Hi Julie. I remember reading an article or 2 about the Nephilim and the book of Enoch. In the article, the person believed that “bigfoot” or “sasquatch” are Nephilim, and that is why people will never find one. An interesting take on it for sure.
Saskatchewan is a great place! We also have sand dunes which a lot of people don’t know about. They are by Leader.
I live in Leader, I want to get some shots of them with the drone some evening.
Ryan, I have relatives in Saskatechwan and I keep in touch with them, as I live in Illinois. He sent this to me and I did so enjoy seeing it and reading about it.What fun it must have been to see it and the pics your drone took. Thanks, Bernie Kling
Saskatchewan never fails to amaze me. Thank you Ryan, for sharing your gift.
I did not know this existed in my home province but I would truly love to see this area . Thank you for sharing your pictures and telling me we have interesting things at home
That is not ‘pillow rock’. This cannot be a volcanic phenomena at this location because you can see from the pictures that they are blocks on top of the hill and these hills are sedimentary, not igneous formations. They are too symmetrical and there are no other similar outcroppings seen on other hills in the region. This is a unique formation. Man was here.
Good guess! Honestly don’t think any one man would expect people to put together his jigsaw puzzle, no matter how demented he was. Nope – it’s a natural phenomenum,(sorry about the spelling) we will never understand, we will know that it has always been there, our elders know way more, sometimes if you are a special person, they will teach you.
Very interesting area I too did not know that these existed I am curious to know what the holes in the tops of the rocks signify if anything they do look unusual to me!
Seeing as how its on an ester I think it is simply lake or ocean bottom rocks left by a glacier. They look exactly like the shoreline of GeorgianBay..as tho someone had deliberately laid a tile floor.
There are a lot of areas in BC where rocks (giant rocks) have been pushed into interesting formations (ie. a lot of squares and straight lines) when glaciers pushed through during the last ice age. I think we as humans can attach a lot of mystery to things that can quite often be explained by nature. Either that or aliens 😉
😉
Very interesting. I have read all the comments to here. Would love to see it someday. Didn’t know about this. Thanks for sharing. I did visit the Crooked Trees.
thanks for sharing, very interesting,
Wow! these are cool, i’m from the churchill river i remember an old story from our elders, about the “flying rocks” they were seen everyday flying south, to where is what i want to know. Also a rock painting that is said to be a site the local people observed beings cutting the rocks into square slabs. Have you heard about these events?
No, I’ve never heard of that. That is really interesting, i’d love to hear more about that. Thank you very much for sharing.
As most people in Sk. I had no idea these stones existed. I lived a stones throw from the Crooked Trees, and down the road from the Largest Tree in SK. Just left of the Doukabor Caves, Saskatchewan is a wonderfully exciting place,you just have to do some homework and a bit of research to discover these places. Thanks for the awesome share Ryan, Iam going to investigate a bit more, Thank You.
I’ve wanted to visit the crooked trees for a while. Just week ago i was discussing the Doukabor Caves with someone who thought i’d be interested in them.
Very Interesting . Doug Gibson posted what was going thru my head when i saw his idea. What really piqued my thought was wide rock, thin rock wide rock thin rock and repeated 4 times.Why ?Then another thought was the background showed there was a large amount of rocks in the background that seemed to be no thin line visible. That being said I feel some one did in fact place the rocks . The rocks appear to be limestone indicating a long ago ocean covered the area as it did worldwide eons ago. Thanks Ryan for your effort on this very interesting article.
Close up pictures in the article as well
Are they full grown trees or saplings? How big are the rocks?
Large trees, the rocks are the size of a car.
My family has land in Saskatchewan and an indian princess burial site was found on it. Many different native interactions with the land in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Interesting article!
Clearly the remnants of a dzunukwa tea house salon. You can tell because of the distinctive patterning of fat and thin rows of rocks. The rocks are very large, right? Did you see any pottery shards or calcified tea biscuits?
Before the collapse of their culture, it was common for the sasquatch matriarch in a region to construct a stone veranda high up on a hill to serve as an outdoor meeting place / apothecary, where medicinal teas were consumed and news of the day was exchanged.
I had never heard the term dzunukwa before. Learned something new.
Similar to the Giants Causway in Ireland but horizontal.
Very interesting and enlightening and informative comments on a (structure) I am a stranger to. Been to Cypress Hills but did not see this. Thank you for the information/
Hi Ryan, you sure stirred the imagination of your readers, thanks for that and your great pics. You should check out the Giant’s Causeway it’s an UNESCO site along the northern coast of Ineland. The thinking there is its caused by volcanic action 50 to 60 million years ago perhaps the same thing for your site. Anyway very interesting, hope you get a chance to go again and feel their magic and get more great shots!
Add me to the long list of those who never heard of this strange phenomenon before. Thanks for sharing. I look forward to seeing more of your work using the drone, sure beats hiring a cherry picker…
It never fails to amaze how so many people resort to fantastical hypotheses as soon as their personal knowledge and experience runs short, especially when there are other, and more likely, alternatives to chose from. It’s obvious that despite our confidence in a ‘modern’ education system, we still have a very long way to go to instill simple critical thinking skills in our citizens.
There’s a simple principle called Occam’s Razor that can be applied in situations like this. It suggests that we first entertain hypotheses that require the least number of speculative assumptions, or ‘leaps-of-faith’. That said, considering how many other similar indigenous constructions have been documented in this region (i.e., zero), this is very unlikely to be of indigenous construction. The same can be said for settler homesteads. But these hypotheses are also easily testable; simply examine the area for any other material culture that may support the hypotheses, since it would be highly unlikely that the location would be otherwise sterile of human presence or intent.
The simplest hypothesis of course (which is what Occam’s Razor encourages us to persue first) is that this is a natural formation of a type that most people are unfamiliar with (hence the wild speculation), so simply evaluate that hypothesis first. If that hypothesis can be eliminated (the scientific method [useful in such situations] works via elimination rather than speculation), then entertain other hypotheses.
With respect to the UAV battery, it sounds like the UAV has some built-in semi-autonomous features (e.g., it returns when its battery is low). Assuming the battery wasn’t merely partially charged to begin with, it’s quite possible that a ‘station-keeping’ (or something similar) routine could have been fighting air currents in order to stabilize the camera for the photography. Alternatively, is it possible that the battery capacity was affected by air temperature? Just some thoughts. Any speculation about anomalous magnetic fields in the area could easily be checked with a simple analogue compass.
But hey, people love a mystery, even if it is sometimes manufactured.
I enjoyed the photos of the lovely landscape.
Occam’s razor cuts away the intuitive to manipulate an adgenda.Consistant questions must continue to advance intelligence.Let us not sit on laurals.
Much of the Cypress Hills were unglaciated (one of the few areas on the prairies) which is why everything looks foreign. I’m assuming this was something that occurred during the glaciation along the edge of the hills. Cool area and cool pics!
It is an interesting area, a lot of plants that are not found anywhere else. Thanks Scott.
I visited the Cypress Hills site in 1981, with my two children. I am sure the information was removed from the tourist information before 198l because no one wanted to talk about it. My daughter saw it from a distant hill, we had to walk in ourselves, at that time.
Here is what we found! There were many date and names carved into the side walls of the giant stones from the 1800’s. All of those stones are now missing. The pictures we took
were developed in Maple Creek the next day– but not all the pictures or negative were returned to us. So, we were stopped by removing what we came to see!
I was able to use my movie camera in 2003 to take good pictures and recorded my impressions and measurement of the stones. The site is much smaller now.
Interesting that in the matter of a two year timespan all the rocks with carved in names would have disappeared, especially when they are said to be the size of a car! That would be no easy take without heavy equipment leaving tracks!
I remember seeing the carvings when i was there as a kid. I have seen a few pictures of them as well. Do you happen to have some of the measurements of the rocks handy?
Were the stones with the writing, now missing from the group, at the edge of the formation? Could gravity have pulled them downhill?
This is very interesting, to say the least, and wonderful photography. I have also never heard of this before. For the past two years, I have been planning a trip to Cypress Hills but it has never worked out. Now I can add this on to the list!
I’d like to know the answer to how two people standing on each side would tell you about the magnetic field. I also seem to recall reading how Scott Wolter’s work is discredited, but I never delved very far into that, and of course you’ll find the same on just about anybody and anything.
I just bought, and am in the process of finishing, the Lovecraft compendium; so..I gotta say aliens! But then, the giant theory….hmmmm…
These look a lot like the tessellated rocks of Tasmania: http://www.amusingplanet.com/2014/01/the-tessellated-pavements-of-tasmania.html
That is interesting, thanks for sharing that.
Viewing this makes me wonder about both the age of the Saskatchewan rocks of of the mountains on which they rest? If the mountains are younger than the stone, almost a certainty, then the process that created the blocks could have happened in similar fashion at sea level?
I was thinking more of The Giant’s Causeway in Ireland. Overall, it seems the area is the top of a volcanic dike which has eroded and fractured. The basalt of The Giant’s Causeway has mainly fractured into hexagonal shapes. Here, the fractures are more square, like the Tasmanian formation. No doubt the region was affected by the ice sheet covering Canada prior to 14,000 years ago, and the glacial movements with the sheet melting helped disturb the area. It would be possible that the larger, more ordered zone of squares and rectangles was once a solid piece. The glacier moved it along with the other, more scattered pieced, then melted leaving them all in place. The large piece then broke along it’s rectangular fracture lines and weathered into the state you see today.
This place is so interesting and your photos are amazing! On the Saskatchewan farm where I grew up there is a rock formation very similar but on a much smaller scale.
i can tell you a little of what i was told about this area..its actually a burial place of a mythical being who is known only to the Nakoda of that area somewhere about 300 years ago..i can elaborate further if you’re interested
Please do, i’d love to hear more. Thanks.
Great pictures of an interesting place. Maybe it was a road as it is not unlike most of the other highways in Sask! 🙂 j/k
Haha, that is true!
This is intriguing and beautiful. Thank you for sharing. As a sciency person (not a geologist), I would ask how these hills were formed, how close to the surface is the bedrock in this area and what’s going on under the surface in nearby areas. Water is a powerful force, especially when you factor in freeze and thaw cycles.
Those are good questions, maybe a geologist will see this and answer them.
Great pictures Ryan, they bring back good memories about going there with the Cub Scouts. From what I remember the rocks are more like Sand Stone and the wholes in the top are just from water. If you look hard enough you might find my name carved there from the 1970’s. I think it’s a alien landing pad or a wall from a giants house.
That area still has the great smell I remember from camping as a kid. A geologist told me the holes were “mortar holes” used by the Native Americans.
Didn’t know that they do exist and it’s really beautiful and mystery. So interesting to know why they’re there ? Amazing pictures Ryan 😊
Thanks a lot Pamela.
I am amazed to have never heard about this place before seeing your photos. You leave me on my hunger … I am now haunted by the idea to visit this place. This road so looks like a Roman way.
What kind of rocks are they? Granite?
I’ve been told sand stone.
It’s limestone, a classic example of a limestone pavement. Google ‘karst topography’ and ‘limestone pavement’ and you’ll see. Malham in Yorkshire in the UK is one of the best places for it, but this is a very good example as well. Nice photos, using the drone gives an excellent view. Looks like it would be worth a visit 🙂
A geologist I know said they are “joint sets”, naturally occuring.
Now this is the kind of thing that I like popping up on my Facebook feed. Thank you for posting!!!!! Too cool..
Thanks Ryan for the great and very interesting pictures. I’ve lived in Sask. all my life and have never heard of this formation. Definitely worth a trip “down South”, as we live in central Sask. We have history all over this province.