Grasslands National Park, otherwise known as Parc National des Prairies, is located in southern Saskatchewan, about an hour and a half south of Swift Current.
I went to Grasslands National Park in July 2018, on a part-urban, part-nature road trip in Saskatchewan that combined Regina, Moose Jaw and this park. No regrets: this park is awesome.
How to get to Grasslands National Park
Let’s talk about the scenery on the road first. Sakstachewan’s motto is Land of the Living Skies. Look at this, it looks like a Windows wallpaper:
On the road to Grasslands National Park, we found:
- Ardill, a ghost town with a crowded bar;
- prairies dogs;
- hills;
- trains ;
- breathtaking views.
If you are not camping, it is possible to sleep at the motel in the small town of Assiniboia but this adds to the drive to get to the park.
Grasslands National Park
The park is divided into two blocks, with an East block and a West block. We only went to the East block due to lack of time, but the West one looks just as interesting, with bison, loads of animals, hiking trails and a scenic drive.
Hiking in Grasslands National Park
On the East side, when we visited in 2018, we had the choice of a short easy trail of just over a mile, a moderate 11 km trail, and a difficult 16 km trail. We had chosen the medium difficulty one, which was then called the Zahursky ridge trail. However, it no longer appears to exist today, it looks like it has become the Badlands Parkway Scenic Route.
The beginning of the trail was not marked at all, I had to go get a Parks Canada ranger to find out in which direction to go. The Park sheltering quicksand and rattlesnakes, I was not necessarily confident at the idea of leaving the path by mistake.
After a chaotic start, we were on the trail. It was just beautiful. We start the hike under a beautiful blue sky.
There are a few flowers on the trail and even some cacti, which I love, we don’t see enough of them in Manitoba… As we advance, alone on the path, we start to see the storm in the distance.
By the time we reach the red chairs, the wind is unleashed and the rain is pouring down.
All hikes, the visitor’s guide, campsites and all important information about Grasslands National Park can be found on the Parks Canada website. I am in any case wondering if Saskatchewan would not be the most photogenic province of Canada… what do you think?
