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Introduction
Half of this vast province comprises designated provincial forest. There are 80 million acres (32 million hectares) of it north of the 54th parallel, offering unequalled opportunities for outdoor enthusiasts. The south and centre enjoy a more mellow landscape, ranging from prairie and grasslands to badlands and breathtaking river valleys.
REGINA: The provincial capital was once called ‘Pile of Bones’ but was renamed in honour of Queen Victoria. Its centrepiece is the Wascana Centre, a huge urban park (one of the largest in North America) containing the McKenzie Art Gallery and Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts. The park also provides an impressive setting for the Legislative Building, the Royal Saskatchewan Museum and the Kramer/IMAX Theatre. Regina is the home of Canada’s only training academy for Royal Canadian Mounted Police (‘The Mounties’) and the RCMP Centennial Museum offers a quirky insight into the development of Canada’s Wild West.
SASKATOON: Built on both banks of the South Saskatchewan River, Saskatoon is one of Canada’s fastest-growing urban centres. The Western Development Museum, Wanuskewin Heritage Park, Forestry Farm Park, Mendel Art Gallery and the Ukrainian Museum of Canada are its main attractions.
ELSEWHERE: The Trans-Canada Highway provides the best means of touring the far south, connecting the cities of Swift Current, Moose Jaw and Regina. Moose Jaw, once a quiet trading post, achieved notoriety during Prohibition in the 1920s, when it played host to gangsters, including Al ‘Scarface’ Capone, and played a pivotal role in the distilling, bootlegging and rum running business. The Tunnels of Moose Jaw tours provide an excellent account of the town’s turbulent and exciting history. Another popular Moose Jaw attraction is the Temple Gardens Mineral Spa and Resort. Visitors can take the waters (drawn from porous rock formations more than 1350m (4500ft) below ground) in the hot mineral pools. The Highway follows the cavernous Qu’Appelle Valley, a sunken garden studded with lakes that runs two thirds of the way across the province. East of Regina, Fort Qu’Appelle and the lakeside recreation parks of Katepwa Point and Echo Valley, as well as Buffalo Pound to the west are worth visiting. On the west side of the province is Swift Current, which hosts an annual Frontier Days Festival; and, further west across low-scrub prairie, the afforested oasis of Cypress Hills Park (the highest point of land between Labrador and the Rocky Mountains).
The Yellowhead Highway, running eastwards from Saskatoon to Yorkton, near the border with Manitoba, is a good way to tour Saskatchewan’s grain belt. This region was once settled by Ukrainians, as testified by the many silver-domed Orthodox churches, such as that at Veregin. Other attractions en route include the Duck Mountain and Good Spirit Lake Provincial Parks. There is a pioneer village at the Western Development Museum in North Battleford, northwest of Saskatoon, and Fort Battleford National Historic Park, is located 5km (3 miles) southeast of North Battleford. Manitou Beach has the Manitou Springs Mineral Spa, where visitors may relax and float effortlessly in the very salty, warm, mineral-rich waters which are pumped from Little Manitou Lake into pools in the spa and are supposed to provide relief from a variety of ailments. But Saskatchewan’s main attractions are the endless forests and thousands of lakes of the north, accessible by the Northern Woods and Water Route. There are few permanent settlements and many regions are accessible only by air. Prince Albert is the main gateway. The closest park is Prince Albert National Park, a hilly, forested area with hundreds of lakes, ponds and rivers, consisting of nearly 30 per cent water. Animal species that can be seen in the park include bison (in the southwest corner), white pelicans (Lavallée Lake), lynx, timber wolf, elk, moose and black bear. Its most developed area is at Waskesiu Lake, which has lodge and cottage accommodation and good facilities for camping, recreation and watersports, including water-skiing, sailing, canoeing and kayaking. Further off to the northwest is Meadow Lake, which has good accommodation and facilities for hunting and winter sports. The small airport at Lac la Ronge, about 238km (149 miles) north of Prince Albert, is the main base for flights to the very remote northern lakes, such as Wollaston and Athabasca. Excellent fishing and canoeing opportunities are available on Lac La Ronge and on the Churchill River which passes nearby, as well as many rivers and lakes throughout Saskatchewan.
Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd.
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