Recreation and Places to Visit

Water sports and fishing and hunting are among the most popular recreational activities in Saskatchewan. A chain of lakes on the Qu’Appelle River and Madge, Kenosee, and Carlyle lakes draw many visitors in the south. The northern wilderness attracts increasing numbers of visitors to Lac La Ronge, Île-à-la-Crosse, and a vast network of lesser-known lakes. Visitors can fish for pike, pickerel, whitefish, lake trout, and perch. An abundance of wildlife, particularly in the forested regions, provides hunting in season for deer, antelope, moose, and elk. Also hunted are geese and ducks in the swamps and lakes, game birds in the prairies, and caribou in the north. During the long, cold winters the frozen lakes are used for ice hockey and curling, Saskatchewan’s most popular sports.

National Parks

Saskatchewan has two national parks. Prince Albert National Park, north of the city of Prince Albert, covers 3,874 sq km (1,496 sq mi) of lakes and forests. The undeveloped Grasslands National Park is located in the southwestern prairies near the U.S.-Canadian border.

Provincial Parks

Most of Saskatchewan’s 34 provincial parks are in wooded uplands, such as Moose Mountain, Duck Mountain, and the Cypress Hills, or around lakes, such as the parks around Greenwater Lake and Lac La Ronge. Katepwa, Crooked Lake, and Echo Valley provincial parks, east of Regina, and Buffalo Pond, west of Regina, are all in the beautiful Qu’Appelle River valley. Facilities for winter sports are provided at Cypress Hills, Greenwater Lake, and Moose Mountain. In addition to the provincial parks, the province maintains more than 130 recreational sites.

Museums and Libraries

Wildlife, First Nations, and earth science exhibits are housed in the Royal Saskatchewan Museum in Regina. Regina Depot, one of the training colleges of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, has a museum containing uniforms, weapons, and other historical information about the force. Materials of the homestead era are on display at the Saskatchewan Western Development Museum (WDM), which has branches in Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Yorkton, and North Battleford. The Battleford, Batoche, and Fort Walsh national historic parks each have museum collections. The major art museums include the Mackenzie Art Gallery in Regina (originally a part of the University of Regina), the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon, The Little Gallery in Prince Albert, and the Estevan Art Gallery in Estevan.

Saskatchewan’s public library system consists of two municipal libraries, in Regina and Saskatoon, and seven regional libraries. These libraries receive grants administered by the Provincial Library in Regina, which also provides a central reference library and traveling libraries. The University of Regina, the University of Saskatchewan, and the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST) each maintain libraries. Among the specialized libraries are those at the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre in Saskatoon, and the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool Library in Regina.

Other Places to Visit

National historic parks or sites have been established at Fort Battleford and Fort Walsh, posts of the old North-West Mounted Police (now the Royal Canadian Mounted Police), and at Batoche, the site associated with the Northwest Rebellion in 1885. Dozens of historic sites have been marked by national, provincial, and local agencies.

Source: MSN Encarta: Online Encyclopedia