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| Ranking Among Countries: #46 |
| Venturers: 4 |
| Mid-Venturers: 5 |
| Centrics-Venturers: 5 |
| Centrics-Authentics: 4 |
| Mid-Authentics: 3 |
| Authentics: 3 |
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| • Royal Canadian Mounted Police trains recruits in Regina. |
| • The province produces more than half of Canada’s wheat. |
| • Saskatchewan means the river that flows swiftly. |
| • The province’s official sport is curling. |
| • The original name for Regina, the capital, was Pile o’ Bones. |
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| The southern half of Saskatchewan, located north of Montana and North Dakota, is an extension of the prairies of the central United States: flat, wheat-growing country as far as the eye can see. In fact, the province accounts for about two-fifths of Canada’s farmland. The population thins out farther north, where the landscape, still looking much as Mother Nature made it, is more rugged, covered with forests and blessed with more than 100,000 lakes. The area offers some of North America’s best fishing and hunting.
Two medium-sized cities, Regina and Saskatoon, provide good bases for exploring the rest of the province and are centers for cultural activities. Regina reigns over the wheat-growing area and Saskatoon to the north is home base for the wilder part of the province. Many consider Saskatoon one of the prettiest cities in Canada. The story of this province is that of courageous Native Americans who adjusted to the changes imported by equally daring European farmers, traders and trappers. Batoche National Historic Park near Saskatoon tells the saga of the Metis (people of mixed European and Indian background), whose rebellion under Louis Riel is a drama that few Americans know.
Saskatchewan doesn’t attract large numbers of U.S. leisure travelers, but it is a province with five million acres of parkland and is the scene of numerous fairs, festivals, pow wows and rodeos. The province also is a place where you may try a few new and curious things, like bowling in the snow, kick sledding, pattern dancing, skijoring and the Red River Jig. The most likely visitors to Saskatchewan are outdoorsmen who like a Canadian flavor to their activities. More generally, the province is great for anyone who appreciates people offering good-mannered hospitality. Summer temperatures hover in the 70s, and most tourists like to visit in June through August. Winters are dry, often sunny, but can be very cold.
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Enter an arm-wrestling competition or maybe the beard-growing competition at the annual Prince Albert Winter Festival in a town called Prince Albert. Or learn the Red River Jig (jigging is a type of dance that originated with the Metis, meaning individuals of mixed European and Indian ancestry), or try snow bowling.
Fly into fishing camps that sit alongside lakes that have no names.
Go windsurfing or waterskiing on pristine lakes.
Try dog sledding, kick sledding (pushing a sled with one foot while the other foot rides a sled runner) and skijoring (riding your skis while being pulled by a sled dog or horse). Also, you can see horse logging demonstrations.
Enter any of several ice fishing derbies. In summer, there are warmer-weather fishing derbies, too.
Sample the free haggis and chocolate stout birthday cake at Robbie Burns/Bushwakker Birthday Bash in Regina.
Camp in a teepee village in Muskoday.
Take a journey by dog sled. Or, choose the snowmobile and follow some part of the Trans-Canada Snowmobile Trail.
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Go sailing on any of Saskatchewan’s 100,000-plus lakes; take sailing lessons if necessary.
Canoe on the Churchill River.
Go hiking or mountain biking on the trails at Christopher Lake. In winter, make that cross-country skiing.
Go bird-watching, or fishing, or cycling, or camping in Prince Albert National Park.
Take a powerboat across Crean, Hanging Heart, Kigsmere, Sandy or Waskesiu lakes.
Go cross-country skiing on groomed trails, ice skating and tobogganing in the Meewasin Valley.
Attend the Wanuskewin Heritage Park National Aboriginal Day and Pow Wow in Saskatoon, scheduled to coincide with National Aboriginal Day (June 21); or select another pow wow that fits your schedule. Larger pow wows attract representatives of numerous Canadian and American Indian tribes.
Take a ranch vacation that may include a selection of the following: ATV tours, hiking, horse-drawn wagon treks, pow wows, riding lessons, rodeo events, roping lessons and trail rides. You may be able to join in cattle drives and other activities of a working ranch, too.
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Live on the water for several days in a houseboat.
In Moose Jaw, take a narrated boat tour along the Wakamow River.
Visit the living history museum, the Western Development Museum/1910 Boomtown, in Saskatoon.
Arrange a spa experience at Manitou Springs or Temple Gardens.
Go to Saskatoon for the summertime SaskTel Saskatchewan Jazz Festival.
Attend a rodeo; there are several to choose from.
Attend dinner theater in Creelman, Saskatoon or Watrous.
Swing the clubs at the Waskesiu Golf Course in Prince Albert National Park.
Watch pattern dancing (team dancing in which the steps for the dance is set by a leader) at the Pattern Dance Saskatchewan Meeting in Watrous. Participate in square or pattern dancing events.
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For more information, consult Tourism Saskatchewan at www.sasktourism.com
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