Moose Mountain Provincial Park is a provincial park, located in south-eastern Saskatchewan 24 km north of the town of Carlyle on the Moose Mountain Upland. It is one of Saskatchewan's few parks with a community inside the park as there are several subdivisions with both year-round and seasonal residents. The village of Kenosee Lake is completely surrounded by the park but is not part of the park. History Long before the park was established, the forest and lakes on the plateau that the park is on had been an important source of resources for the local Indigenous people and early settlers. The forests provided shelter, firewood, fishing, and game. The lakes, especially Carlyle and Fish, provided recreation as, starting in the early 1900s, cabins, stores, and dance halls were being built. Seeing the importance of a "forest island" in the middle of the bald prairie, the Canadian government in 1906 designated the upland as a forest reserve under the Dominion Lands Branch through the Dominion Forest Reserves Act. In 1908, it was re-designated as Moose Mountain Forest Preserve to protect the forests from being cleared for farm and pasture land. The Act also ensured the forest could be managed sustainably. In 1911, the federal government created the Dominion Parks Branch. Moose Mountain Forest Preserve came under management of the Dominion Forests Division of this new Dominion Parks Branch. In 1930, the federal government transferred control of natural resources over to the western provinces under the Natural Resources Acts. The Saskatchewan government then set up its own Department of Natural Resources. With the Great Depression causing high unemployment, many government work programmes were set up, including the creation of six provincial parks. Moose Mountain Provincial Park was among these six original parks. Founding of the park Moose Mountain Provincial Park was designated a park in 1931. From then until 1935, several work projects around the park were completed. Work began in the spring of 1931 with the building of Moose Mountain Chalet, landscaping, building of Main Beach on Kenosee Lake, and a road going south connecting the park to Carlyle Lake and the town of Carlyle, and going north to Kennedy. Construction of an 18-hole golf course began in 1932 and was completed by 1933. The park was officially established on 1 July 1932 with Saskatchewan Premier J.T.M. Anderson present at the construction site for the ribbon cutting and official opening.