Home » Regions » North America » Great Plains » Temperate Prairies » Northern Glaciated Plains

Northern Glaciated Plains

Last updated: February 9th, 2026

To check where a specific point lies, you can look it up in our Ecoregion Locator.

↑Map Legend & Subregion List

This list will help you navigate the regions in case you have problems with viewing or clicking the interactive map above.

Name	†	Color on Map	EPA Code‡
Pembina Escarpment	○		46a
Turtle Mountains	○		46b
Glacial Lake Basins	○		46c
Glacial Lake Deltas	○		46d
Tewaukon/Big Stone Stagnation Moraine	○		46e
End Moraine Complex	○		46f
Northern Black Prairie	○		46g
Northern Dark Brown Prairie	○		46h
Drift Plains	○		46i
Glacial Outwash	○		46j
Prairie Coteau	○		46k
Prairie Coteau Escarpment	○		46l
Big Sioux Basin	○		46m
James River Lowland	○		46n
Minnesota River Prairie	○		46o

† Status: ✓ = Complete ○ = Needs Image … = Incomplete ∅ = Stub Only

‡ This code refers to the US EPA's Level 4 ecoregion codes for the continental U.S., see here.

↑Progress

↑About the Northern Glaciated Plains

The Northern Glaciated Plains are a long, narrow, curved region covering a band through southern Alberta, east into southern Saskatchewan, southeast through Manitoba and North Dakota, and into eastern South Dakota and slightly into westernmost Minnesota. This region is the coldest, northernmost portion of the North American Great Plains that was naturally covered in open grasslands with scattered tree groves. Nowadays it is heavily utilized for cropland. The Canadian portion of this region is called the Aspen Parkland in some documents, although some sources also use that term to refer to a larger region that also includes a discontiguous area to the northwest not included in our region.

The climate is transitional between the dry end of a humid continental climate, and the humid end of a mid-latitude steppe climate. Temperature swings can be extreme, and there can be unusual hot, cold, wet, or dry spells at any time of year. In the north end of the region, snow cover is nearly continuous in the winter. Continental influence is generally greater in the southeast of the region, and decreases to the northwest. Hemperatures, especially winter lows, tend to increase moving westward, which is why most of this region has a northwest-southeast orientation. The southeast of this region tends to have hotter summer highs, but similar temperatures in winter. The southeast also has slightly higher rainfall, leading to similar levels of moisture availability in the growing season, which also explains the cohesiveness of this region over its length. At the westernmost end of this region there is a change in the seasonality of rainfall moving south, with the southern portion (near Calgary) experiencing a precipitation peak earlier, in June, before the temperature peaks, much like the rest of the region, whereas in the far northwest (near Edmonton), the precipitation peaks later, in July, coinciding with the temperature peak.

The terrain ranges from flat to gently rolling hills. This region was completely glaciated, and the landscape is almost exclusively glacial in origin, with lacustrine deposits formed under glacial lakes in the lower, flatter areas, and moraines in the hillier regions. The bedrock is mostly a mix of sandstone and shale, but it is deeply buried by glacial deposits in most places. Soils here tend to be highly fertile, and are mostly mollisols, which formed under prairie or grassland.

The drainage network is irregular, typical of a glaciated region, with a low density of streams and rivers, but a high density of small depressions, most of which form temporary, seasonal wetlands, and only a smaller portion forming permanent ponds or small lakes with fluctuating water levels and seasonal wetlands around the margins. The seasonal wetlands create valuable habitat for waterfowl, both during nesting season and migration. The lake and wetland density is varied, with a high density in some parts of the region, but better drainage and fewer depressions in others. This density is largely driven by the depth and particle size of the material deposited by glaciers, with wetlands and lakes absent from areas with deep, well-drained soils, but common in areas where poorly-drained material near the surface blocks the drainage.

Prior to European colonization, region was covered in a mosaic of vegetation types, mostly with open groves of trees interspersed with fescue-dominated grasslands. Tree groves supported quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides), bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) on drier sites in the southeast, and a variety of tall shrubs. The northernmost reaches of this region had open grassland transitional to the conifer-dominated boreal forests to the north and west. Some sites had prairies transitional between tallgrass and shortgrass prairie, with dominant grasses including big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), green needlegrass (Nassella viridula), blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), western wheatgrass (Pascopyrum smithii), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). Unfortunately, little of the original vegetation cover remains.

This region is heavily utilized for agriculture, with cropland dominating the landscape. Crops are diversified but focus on grain. Major crops include spring wheat, flax, rye, barley, oats, corn, soybeans, and sunflowers. There is also significant forage production and a number of specialty crops. Although average productivity of the cropland here is high, productivity also varies greatly year-to-year due to the unpredictable climate fluctuations. The northwesternmost end of this region is unusually populous relative to how far north it is, with the cities and metro areas of Calgary and Edmonton, both in Alberta, located here. The rest of the region has no larger cities and is mostly sparsely populated. Larger communities in the rest of the region include Watertown, SD, Aberdeen, SD, Huron, SD, and Mitchell, SD. Yankton, SD also is located at the southeasternmost end of this region, on its border. The largest city in North Dakota's portion is Minot, followed by Jamestown. Spirit Lake Reservation is located here, in North Dakota, and is home to the Spirit Lake Tribe or Mniwakaƞ Oyate or Mni Wakan Oyate.

There are small areas of protected public land here; in the north there are more recreational areas reflecting proximity to population centers, whereas in the south the public lands are mostly managed waterfowl production areas for hunting.

Along its length, this region is bordered to the south and west by the Northwestern Glaciated Plains, which tends to be slightly higher, hillier, and drier, and has poorer soils and thus a lower density of cropland, and sparser population as well. In the east, there is a small border to the east and northeast with the Lake Agassiz Plain. The southernmost portion of this region borders the warmer Western Corn Belt Plains to the southeast. The northern end of this region borders the Mid-Boreal Uplands and Peace-Wabaska Lowlands to the north, a colder region mostly covered in coniferous forest. In the southernmost part of this region's west end, there is also a small border to the west with the Clear Hills and Western Alberta Uplands, a region which is hillier and transitional to the Canadian Rockies.

Plant Lists & In-Region Search