Varying landscapes await visitors
IAN STALKER
There is no shortage of great opportunities to see the Great Outdoors in Saskatchewan.
Brooke Lochbaum of Tourism Saskatchewan told delegates to Rendez-vous Canada 2023 in Quebec City that the large province has great expanses of wilderness, with prairies only accounting for about a third of its territory.
“No matter where you are in Saskatchewan, nature is always in your backyard,” she said during her late May presentation.
Saskatchewan is home to some 100,000 lakes and rivers.
Boreal forest accounts for much of the province’s terrain, and Lochbaum said southern Saskatchewan’s Badlands provide intriguing landscapes. “The buffalo still roam and the night skies are at their darkest,” she said of a region labeled Living Skies and Badlands.
Living Skies and Badlands is home to the largest Dark Sky Preserve in this country and area wildlife includes bison, pronghorn antelope and burrowing owls.
Lochbaum also said Saskatchewan visitors will also encounter the “open vastness of the Prairies.”
She said northern Saskatchewan can provide “extraordinary views of the Aurora Borealis.”
Little Manitou Lake can be viewed as “Canada’s Dead Sea,” she continued. The lake, found about 120 kms southeast of Saskatoon, has a remarkably high salt content.
Little Manitou Lake visitors can enjoy spa treatments among other things.
Among Saskatchewan claims to fame is the RCMP’s academy being in Regina, Lochbaum noted.
Lochbaum also referenced Saskatchewan’s “cultural diversity,” which includes a very visible Indigenous side.
Among lodging options in the province is Indigenous-owned Dakota Dunes, found about 20 minutes from downtown Saskatoon. Dakota Dunes features include golf, fine dining, a casino, and its architecture has Indigenous influences.
Lochbaum also added that Saskatchewan has a flourishing craft brewery scene.
