Saskatchewan — Where to Go
Top Things to See
Mounties
The provincial capital of Regina, named after Queen Victoria, is the home of Canada's world-famous Mounties, with the country's only training academy for Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the RCMP Heritage Center(www.rcmpheritagecenter.com).
Wascana Center
Regina's centerpiece, the Wascana Center (www.wascana.sk.ca), is a huge urban park containing the MacKenzie Art Gallery and the Conexus Arts Center, and providing an impressive setting for the Legislative Building, the Royal Saskatchewan Museum and the Kramer IMAX Theater at the Saskatchewan Science Center.
Prohibition rum-runners
The quiet town of Moose Jaw achieved notoriety in the 1920s for hosting gangsters, including Al ‘Scarface' Capone, and playing a pivotal role in the distilling, bootlegging and rum-running business. Follow the story on a tour of the Tunnels of Moose Jaw.
Temple Gardens
Stressed-out urbanities take the waters in the hot indoor and outdoor mineral pools at Moose Jaw's Temple Gardens Mineral Spa and Resort (www.templegardens.sk.ca), drawn from porous rock formations more than 1,350m (4,500ft) below ground.
Scenic drive
The Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) cuts through the cavernous Qu'Appelle Valley, a sunken garden studded with lakes that runs across much of the province.
Lovely lakes
Fort Qu'Appelle overlooks two shimmering and serene lakeside provincial parks, Katepwa Point and Echo Valley. Further east, Good Spirit Lake Provincial Park is also very pretty.
High point
Surprisingly, Saskatchewan is home to the highest point of land between Labrador and the Rocky Mountains, where you can look upon the forested oasis of Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park.
Ukrainian heritage
Ukrainian settlers played a prominent role in Saskatchewan. Following the Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16), running eastwards from Saskatoon to Yorkton, near the border with Manitoba, is a good way to tour the grain belt and see the area's many silver-domed Orthodox churches, such as that at Veregin.
Prince Albert National Park
This park (www.pc.gc.ca) is a hilly, forested area with hundreds of lakes, ponds and rivers. Wildlife includes bison, white pelicans (Lavallée Lake), lynx, timber wolf, elk, moose and black bear. Waskesiu Lake has accommodation and camping.
Top Things to Do
Birdwatching
The south of the province is particularly good for birdwatching. The Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network sites of Chaplin Lake and Quill Lakes (www.quill-lakes.com) are home to more than 300 species including rare ferruginous hawks, peregrine falcons and Hudsonian godwits.
Fishing
The season runs from May to March, and ice fishing is popular in winter. There are more than 68 species found in Saskatchewan's 100,000 lakes, rivers and streams. Standout fishing opportunities are available on Lac La Ronge and on the Churchill River.
Wintersports
Skiing, skating and ice hockey are all available. There are at least 13 downhill and more than 25 cross-country skiing areas. Curling is also so popular it has been named the official sport of Saskatchewan.
Parades and rodeos
Buffalo Days (www.evrazplace.com) in the capital, Regina, is a festival lasting several days in late July and early August. On the west side of the province, Swift Current also hosts an annual Frontier Days Festival.
Spas
Manitou Beach has the Manitou Springs Mineral Spa (www.manitousprings.ca), where you can relax and float effortlessly in the salty, warm, mineral-rich waters, which are pumped from Little Manitou Lake into pools in the spa and are believed to provide relief from a variety of ailments.
