| Moose Mountain Creek | |
| Map: | Sourisrivermap.png |
| Map Size: | 250px |
| Pushpin Map: | Saskatchewan#Canada |
| Pushpin Map Size: | 250px |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of the mouth in Saskatchewan |
| Subdivision Type1: | Countries |
| Subdivision Name1: |  Canada |
| Subdivision Type2: | Province |
| Subdivision Type5: | Communities |
| Discharge1 Location: | Souris River, west of Oxbow |
| Source1: | Chapleau Lakes, near Montmartre |
| Source1 Location: | Saskatchewan |
| Source1 Elevation: | 668m (2,192feet) |
| Mouth: | Souris River |
| Mouth Location: | South-west of Oxbow, Saskatchewan |
| Mouth Coordinates: | 49.2154°N -102.1963°W |
| River System: | Red River drainage basin |
| Tributaries Left: | Wolf Creek, Crooked Creek, Swift Creek |
| Tributaries Right: | Morrison Creek, Cowper Creek, Shepherd Creek |
| Extra: | [1] [2] |
Moose Mountain Creek is a river[3] in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Its source is the Chapleau Lakes near Montmartre and it is a tributary of the Souris River, which, in turn, is a tributary of the Assiniboine River. The whole system is part of the Red River watershed, which is part of the Hudson Bay drainage basin and in a region called the Prairie Pothole Region of North America, which extends throughout three Canadian provinces and five U.S. states. It is also within Palliser's Triangle and the Great Plains ecoregion.[4]
The entirety of Moose Mountain Creek is in Census Division No. 1. The river passes through two Indian reserves, Ocean Man and Pheasant Rump, and eight rural municipalities including the RMs of Montmartre, Chester, Golden West, Tecumseh, Brock, Moose Mountain, Moose Creek, and Enniskillen.[5] While there are no communities along the banks of the river, there are four within two kilometres of its banks: Montmartre, Kisbey, Alameda, and Oxbow. The original location of Carlyle, NW 26-07-03 W2, was located near confluence of Moose Mountain, Swift, and Morrison Creeks.
Moose Mountain Creek flows generally in a south-easterly direction, starting north-west of Moose Mountain Upland and ending up at the Souris River near Oxbow. The western and southern regions of Moose Mountain fall within the river's watershed, which is part of the Upper Souris watershed. The northern most point of Moose Mountain Creek's watershed is near McLean, which is only 41 kilometres away from Saskatchewan's capital, Regina.[6] [7]
There are two major dams along the river. The first one is Moose Mountain Dam and the second is Grant Devine Dam, both of which created large reservoirs along the course. Both reservoirs have parks; Lost Horse Hills is on Moose Mountain Lake and Moose Creek Regional Park[8] is on Grant Devine Reservoir.
The Chapleau Lakes[9] are a chain of two lakes that run diagonally in a valley north to east. The northern most of the two lakes is the source of Moose Mountain Creek. From the outflow of that lake near Highway 48 and Highway 606, the river travels in a south-easterly direction until passes through the Saint Clair National Wildlife Area and Highway 711. From there, it empties into Moose Mountain Lake, which is a man-made reservoir.[10] Moose Mountain Dam, which was built in 1937, is at the south-east corner of the lake, near Lost Horse Hill. From there, the river continues to flow south-east through Ocean Man Indian Reserve then Pheasant Rump Indian Reserve until it crosses Highway 13 about half-way between Forget and Kisbey, where it takes a more easterly route. It's around this area, west, south, and east of Kisbey, that the river's course flattens out creating a broad floodplain. Dykes and culverts were built south of Kisbey to protect the village and control the river's flow. South of Forget, there were also culverts and other flood control measures built to control surface water before it reaches the river. From south of Kisbey, the river roughly parallels Highway 13 towards Arcola where it leaves the floodplain and flows into a valley, the Moose Mountain Creek Spillway. It continues east until it crosses Highway 9, at which point it takes a more southerly route and flows into a Grant Devine Reservoir. In 1994, the Alameda Dam was built along Moose Mountain Creek's course, near the point where it meets the Souris River, creating a large reservoir called Alameda Reservoir. In 2017, the name of the reservoir and dam were changed to Grant Devine Dam and Grant Devine Reservoir, in honour of the premier of Saskatchewan who was responsible for its construction, Grant Devine. Moose Mountain Creek is the primary inflow and outflow of the reservoir and meets the Souris River[11] about three miles south of the dam in the Souris River Valley, near the town of Oxbow.
Moose Mountain Creek Spillway is a valley that was formed during the last ice age as the path taken by melting glacial waters between two glacial lobes, the Weyburn Lobe and the Moose Mountain Lobe, en route to the Souris Spillway. On the southern side of Moose Mountain Upland, in the interlobate area, a short lived glacial lake named Lake Arcola formed along the current path of Moose Mountain Creek. Glacial moraines can be found throughout the area.[12]
Saint Clair National Wildlife Area is one of 27 Prairie National Wildlife Areas in Saskatchewan.[20] The park is at the northern end of Moose Mountain Lake, on the north side of Highway 711, about three miles west of the Highway 47 and 711 intersection. Moose Mountain Creek cuts through the park from the north-east to the south-west corner at which point it goes under Highway 711 and into the lake. It is about one square mile in size and sits in the valley at the confluence of Moose Mountain and an unnamed creek that comes in from the west.[21]