Spring Creek Airport

A combination of economic and policy-related factors. As a government-owned airstrip in a remote location, the high cost of maintenance for relatively low traffic volumes likely became difficult to justify. Furthermore, its location within the protected Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park probably contributed to a policy decision to decommission the facility in favor of environmental preservation and reducing human infrastructure within the park's boundaries.

The airport is fully decommissioned and non-operational. The physical outline of the runway is still clearly visible from satellite imagery, but it is unmaintained, overgrown with grass, and is slowly being reclaimed by the natural parkland of Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. All airport-specific infrastructure has been removed. The site is now simply part of the park, accessible by a nearby road (Spring Creek Road), and may be used for informal recreational activities like hiking.

Spring Creek Airport was a public-use gravel and turf airstrip that served as a vital access point to the remote Cypress Hills area of southeastern Alberta. Its primary operations included general aviation for recreational pilots visiting the park for sightseeing, camping, and hiking. It also played a crucial role in government and emergency services. The airstrip was likely used as a forward operating base for aerial firefighting aircraft (water bombers) to protect the extensive lodgepole pine forests of the park, and for other provincial operations such as wildlife surveys and park ranger access. It was notable for being one of the highest elevation airports in Canada east of the Rocky Mountains.

There are no known official plans, proposals, or prospects for reopening the Spring Creek Airport. Given its location inside a protected Interprovincial Park, the significant financial investment required to restore the runway, and the original reasons for its closure, reopening is considered extremely unlikely.