We're still in Saskatchewan after visiting Regina for a few days so if you haven't
watched that episode don't forget to do so but now we're back on the road again
heading south to Grasslands National Park but before that, we heard about
another place called Big Muddy and it's supposed to be really beautiful and
historic so we're gonna stop there first
Just twelve miles away from the US border lies Canada's wild west
Saskatchewan's big muddy valley where its remote Badlands proved an ideal
hideout for fame bandits such as Sam Kelly, Dutch Henry, and the Sundance Kid
in the late 1800s and early 1900s
An easy place for bank robbers and horse
thieves to disappear with its wind carved buttes and sandstone ravines
It's a beautiful place to see wide-open spaces that never seem to fade while
imagining horse-stealing stories from the Wild West days, admiring indigenous stone
effigies and learning about the prosperity of small mining towns that
are slowly fading away.
We're here in Big Beaver at Aust store which opened up in 1959
and if they don't have it, you don't need it.
Here we are in the heart of the Big Muddy Valley and nestled in the
valley is Castle Butte.
only about five minutes to the top and you'll be greeted with views like this
well we just arrived in the East Block of Grasslands National Park right before
sunset and we're gonna be staying in an oTENTik for the first time it's like a
half house half tent inside we have power which is awesome electricity
a table and a bunch of beds that sleeps up to six people
we're getting ready to go
on our first hike here in Grasslands National Park, it's called Valley of
1,000 Devils sounds pretty awesome this is one of the most challenging trails in
the park it can be up to ten degrees hotter than anywhere else there but
we're looking forward to it so let's just hope we don't find any rattlesnakes
there's no rattlesnakes here. There is.
Well thank you so much I'm not sure where we are right now
we were actually on the wrong trail going to Red Butte but luckily we ran
into Parks Canada so they offered to give us a ride to a place that would get
us there quicker than if we went back
we're not sure if we found the right trial but we found the Valley of the 1,000 devils
What's the temperature Karla here in Saskatchewan in mid-September. It's 32 Celcius and so hot
Another cool thing to do here in the East Block is the Badlands Parkway so this is an
11-kilometer paved road that takes you to a variety of viewpoints of the Badlands so
there's like just small hikes along the way to get to the red chairs or to the
viewpoint but it's pretty easy and accessible for everyone we already did a
long hike so now we're gonna enjoy the views this way
We're at the last viewpoint here on the Badlands Parkway Drive in the iconic
Parks Canada red chairs overlooking the Magnificent badlands and it really
is beautiful especially at sunset but a great way to spend our last night
because tomorrow we head to the West Block
We're here at the visitor centre for the West block of Grasslands National
Park in Val Marie just picked up all our maps for the hikes we're gonna do
the key for our oTENTik but before we go there just it's still a 40-minute
drive we're gonna actually take a shower cuz that's something you can do here in
town and go to the grocery store to pick up food supplies we still need so let's
get going
Before heading to the campsite we decided to do a small hike so here's
where the Eagle Butte and the 70 Mile Butte trails starts. But we're gonna do the
70 mile is one of the best hikes in the West Block as it's kind of a short hike
it's up to two hours and you can get amazing views of the Frenchman River Valley
we made it to the top and this was such an easy hike what a difference it makes when
the temperature is a little bit cooler. It's even raining right now so yeah we're here
and the views are amazing.
What's your favorite view so far Matthew my favorite view it's always tough
because I love all these views but I think I'm gonna go with the Badlands of
the East Block I don't know why I just they look much more dramatic this is
pretty good too.
well we just passed a headless rabbit for some reason I don't
know of any animals that just take the head but.... kinda creepy
Grasslands National Park is the only National Park in Canada that represents the prairie grasslands
natural region of which over 70 percent has disappeared from North America as
they are attractive to development and settlement
we love hiking the different trails enjoying the different views and
the vastness of this serene land.
But this mixed grass prairie ecosystem is more
than just grass it is home to a wide variety of plants and animals including
some that are found nowhere else in Canada a reminder of a thriving land for
the First Nations who left behind over 12,000 teepee rings and pre-contact resources.
Gonna fuel up and probably go do the Eco
tour which is a driving tour. It's two to three hours depending on how much you stop
it's another great way to see the park and some prairie dogs
this is the Larson Dogtown
colony. You can see there are prairie dogs all around us and they live in different
colonies. They actually are social animals so they like to live together
and create their own dog towns but we're actually starting at number seven
instead of number one because it's the closest to of our campsite so we're
doing it in reverse but normally you could start at number one and work your
way down the Eco trail but it doesn't really matter
Look, they're kissing. Oh my god.
This is the home of Walt Larson he was the one who used to be a rancher here
who owned this land and which eventually led to its creation as Grasslands
National Park and one of the homes over here it was also home to the legendary
Will James to the well-known author and illustrator of books on the western
style of life
One of the amazing things about this park is thinking back to the history of
it when the first nations were here the bison roaming around and part of that
history is right here this is a teepee ring there's thousands of them in the
park and you'll find them on a variety of hikes so whether you explore this
unique park by hiking or driving you may come to understand and appreciate the
significance of this rare and protected area
It's time for supper right now and the previous nights have been cloudy and
it's been raining so we're really hoping that tonight we can get very good shots
of the stars because Grasslands National Park has one of the darkest dark sky
preserves yeah so a dark sky preserve is basically a place with no light
pollution there's a whole bunch of them in Canada from what we've heard
grasslands is number one.
Unfortunately our visit to Grasslands National Park
has come to an end but we're so happy that we came and explored these beautiful
landscapes unique wildlife and plants and the beauty of the dark skies because
you see tons and tons of stars and staying here in the oTENTiks is a great
option it's super comfortable it is very comfortable and all of southern
Saskatchewan is such a beautiful place to explore from the Badlands in the East
block to the prairies in the West block and all the history of this province is
really incredible so we hope inspired you to take your own road trip
to Saskatchewan and if you liked this episode give us a thumbs up hit
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