Where do you go when you want to switch off completely? For us the answer turned out to be a corner of southern Saskatchewan that almost nobody visits – big skies, golden grass, wild bison, and coyotes calling at seven o’clock every evening.
Grasslands National Park receives around twelve thousand visitors a year. Banff receives four million. As a result, visiting the Grasslands National Park feels special, undiscovered and incredibly peaceful.
Grasslands National Park is in southern Saskatchewan, on the Montana border, split into two separate blocks about 120km apart. The West Block, near Val Marie, has the bison, the prairie dogs and the Ecotour Scenic Drive. The East Block, near Killdeer, has the badlands and the Valley of 1000 Devils. It is Canada’s darkest Dark Sky Preserve. Give it two nights minimum, three if you want both blocks.
Grasslands is in the far south of Saskatchewan, running right up against the border with Montana. It covers over 900 square kilometres and protects one of the last intact stretches of mixed-grass prairie in North America, a landscape that once ran unbroken from the Gulf of Mexico into central Alberta.
It is the only national park in Canada dedicated to preserving grassland habitat, which is also one of the most endangered ecosystems on earth.
We were travelling from the Historic Reesor Ranch in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park to reach Val Marie in the Grasslands National Park which takes just over 3 hours, however as we wanted to travel via Fort Walsh Historic Site then this extended our journey by an hour, but we were glad to have made this stop in the morning of our travel day.
We then scheduled a second stop at Maple Creek. Here are the main ways to get to the Grasslands:
The village at the gate of the West Block - the visitor centre is in the middle of the village.
Around 120km south, roughly two hours.
About three and a half hours south west.
Around three hours, or four if you route via Fort Walsh, which we would recommend.
Full drive times for the whole route are in our road trip planning guide.
This is a remote park. There is very little between the towns, mobile coverage is patchy to non-existent inside the park, and services are limited. Fill the tank and buy provisions before you commit.
Maple Creek is a small agricultural community which was settled in 1882. In 1884 the first shipment of cattle from Western Canada was loaded onto the newly built railway at Maple Creek to go to market, which lead to the nickname of ‘Cow Town’.
We only made a brief and functional stop in Maple Creek to fill up with fuel and buy provisions for our next stop in the Grasslands National Park where we would be in self-catering accommodation. However, in the short time we were in town, we enjoyed the frontier style buildings on Jasper Street and a quality coffee at The Daily Grind café (which features in the film A Cowboy Christmas alongside the Historic Reesor Ranch).
After our pit-stop in Maple Creek, we had a 2-hour 20-minute drive to the town of Val Marie. On the way we marvelled at just how flat the scenery was – endless fields of wheat, wide horizons, miles and miles of straight roads and train tracks, grain silos and nodding oil drills….and repeat!
We saw hardly any cars on our journey, just the occasional white-tailed deer disappearing into the fields. For us visitors from a much smaller country, the sheer scale and endless rolling landscape was just awe-inspiring.
The park is in two pieces, roughly 120km apart, and they offer completely different experiences. Choosing between them is the first real decision you have to make.
The West Block, near Val Marie, is the larger and more visited half. It is built around the Frenchman River Valley, with rolling mixed-grass prairie, coulees and eroded buttes. This is where the bison are, where the black-tailed prairie dog colonies are, and where the Ecotour Scenic Drive runs. The visitor centre is here.
The East Block, near Killdeer, is badlands country. The eroded Killdeer formation exposes layer upon layer of sedimentary rock, and this is where the park’s dinosaur fossils are found. The headline features are the Valley of 1000 Devils, a demanding but spectacular hike through a maze of coulees and ravines, and the Badlands Parkway, a paved scenic drive along the ridge.
We chose the West Block, because we had Drumheller and the Alberta Badlands later in our road trip and did not want two badlands stops. If you are only doing one block and you want wildlife, choose West. If you want the strange, otherworldly landscapes and the photographs, choose East.
If you have three nights, do both. They complement each other rather than repeating.
The Ecotour Scenic Drive is the main way to explore the West Block. It is a self-guided gravel route of around 20km through the Frenchman River Valley, with numbered stops and interpretive panels. Pick up the leaflet from the visitor centre in Val Marie first.
Allow at least two and a half hours. Including the drive out from Val Marie and back, it becomes most of a morning.
The bison are the reason to do it. Plains bison were reintroduced to the West Block in 2005, after more than a century away, starting with fewer than a hundred animals. The herd now numbers in the hundreds and they roam free across the valley. We saw two close to the road and a large group on a distant hillside. Early morning and late afternoon are the best times.
Stay in your vehicle when you are near them. They look placid and they are extremely fast. Keep a proper distance.
What else you will pass along the route:
Black-tailed prairie dogs: The Top Dogtown Trail is a short, flat loop through one of the last black-tailed prairie dog colonies in Canada, and the only place in the country where they still live in their natural habitat. They bark, they scurry, they pop up on their mounds. It is impossible not to enjoy.
A bison rubbing stone: A pink granite boulder left by the glaciers and worn smooth over thousands of years by bison easing an itchy back against it.
Tipi rings: There are more than 12,000 across the park. The ones on the drive sit at deliberate vantage points, positioned to watch anyone coming up the valley.
The Larson homestead: A deserted house built on the steep bank of the river, 72km from the nearest services, by a man who tried to make this unforgiving land work.
Red chairs at the Belza day use area: Parks Canada's signature red chairs, in a very good spot for sitting and staring at the horizon while the cicadas make a noise like distant motorbikes.
We hardly passed another vehicle. The few we did see were visible from miles off by the plume of dust behind them.
The two headline walks in the West Block share a trailhead and can be done separately or together.
The Eagle Butte Trail is a 2km loop, rated easy, and takes about an hour. Good for wildflowers and birds of prey.
The 70 Mile Butte Trail branches off it and is also about 2km, but Parks Canada rates it difficult because of the climb. Allow one to two hours. It takes you to the top of one of the highest points in the park, and the 360 degree view over the Frenchman River Valley from the summit is the single best thing we did here.
It is butte, meaning a flat-topped hill, not butt. We flagged this because we got it wrong ourselves for years.
It is flat for a while and then climbs steadily to the top of a large flat-topped butte. Take your time, stop often, and turn round on the way up, because the view builds behind you.
The name comes from the North West Mounted Police, who patrolled this country from the 1870s. The local explanation is that the butte sat roughly seventy miles from the Wood Mountain post and seventy miles from the Eastend outpost. When travellers saw it, they knew they were close to Val Marie and a safe crossing of the Frenchman River.
Before you set off, clean your boots on the brushes at the trailhead. They are there to stop invasive species spreading, and it takes thirty seconds.
Other West Block trails include the Two Trees Trail, the Riverwalk, and the Broken Hills Trail, an 11km loop for a full day out.
This is the thing nobody expects to be the highlight, and then it is.
Grasslands is the largest and darkest Dark Sky Preserve in Canada. There is no town of any size for a very long way in any direction, the horizon runs a full 360 degrees, and light pollution is effectively zero. On a clear, moonless night the Milky Way is bright enough to cast a shadow.
We had a campfire and stargazing evening laid on by our hosts at The Crossing, with nachos, hot dogs roasted on long forks and a Saskatoon berry crumble. We sat out watching the sun go down, and by full dark the sky had filled completely. It was the most memorable evening of a two week trip, and there is simply nowhere at home where you can do it.
How to make the most of it:
Check the moon phase: A full moon will wash out everything. Plan around a new moon if you can.
Give your eyes time: Twenty to thirty minutes in the dark before you expect to see much.
Go later in the season: Prairie summer nights are short. Late August onwards gives you proper darkness at a reasonable hour.
Bring warm layers: It cools sharply once the sun is down, whatever the daytime temperature was.
Look for events: The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada runs seasonal stargazing evenings with telescopes.
The northern lights are also visible here on the right night.
Grasslands is a wilderness park with limited services and genuine hazards. None of this should put you off, and all of it is easy to manage.
Rattlesnakes: There are prairie rattlesnakes in the park. Wear sturdy ankle boots, stay on the paths, and never step or jump over a rock where you cannot see the other side. If you are going off-trail, consider snake gaiters..
Ticks: Prevalent in the grass. Wear long trousers tucked into your socks, use insect repellent containing DEET, and check yourself thoroughly at the end of the day.
No mobile signal: Assume you will have none inside the park. Take a printed map. Ours earned its place when the sat nav failed.
Water and sun: There is no shade at all. Carry more water than you think you need.
Weather: Prairie storms build fast and gravel roads become difficult when wet.
Tell someone your plan: Particularly if you are heading into the backcountry.
The warnings at the visitor centre are clear and worth reading properly rather than skimming.
Options are limited, which is part of the appeal, so book well ahead. In Val Marie, there is a municipal campground in the village, and a handful of small places to stay.
There are Parks Canada campgrounds in both blocks, and they are wonderfully situated. oTENTiks, Parks Canada’s permanent canvas-and-timber glamping tents, are also available and are the easiest way to sleep in the park without full camping kit. Everything books through the Parks Canada reservation system, and there is backcountry camping by permit in the East Block, including in the Valley of 1000 Devils zone.
The owners of The Crossing at Grasslands, Susan and Neil, were incredibly welcoming and accommodating.
Prior to our arrival, I had asked about opportunities locally for stargazing as the area is a Dark Sky Preserve, and Susan went out of her way to assist me with this request. On arrival at our apartment, we found a handwritten welcome note featuring one of Neil’s photos of the northern lights and knew we had made the right choice.
Our two-bedroom vacation apartment had a beautiful view from a balcony overlooking the grass-covered hills. The colours of the Grasslands seemed to come alive in the fading light of the day, adding an extra magic to the landscape – turns out that Golden Hour is particularly magical in the Grasslands and everything glows!
We sat on our balcony watching swallows flying in and out of their nesting places below us and listening to the call of the coyotes at 7pm each night. Other than that, just blissful peace and quiet.
If you are self catering - The VM Grocery and Liquor store in Val Marie covers the basics and is busier than the empty streets suggest, but we bought most of our provisions in Maple Creek on the way in.
Val Marie is a tiny village on the edge of the West Block, originally settled by French speakers. It had a couple of thousand residents at its peak and has a few hundred now. Driving through it takes about a minute.
It looked deserted when we arrived, with nobody about. Most of the life was inside the grocery store.
The old grain elevator is worth a look. The crib-style municipal elevator was built in 1927, when Saskatchewan had thousands of them standing along the rail lines. Very few survive today. Tours run seasonally.
The village has fuel, a small shop, a restaurant and showers at the campground. That is roughly it, and it is enough.
Summer is the main season and everything is open. We came in August and had hot, clear weather. Late summer and early autumn are arguably better, because the nights are properly dark for stargazing and it is quieter still. Outside the season, services close and the roads become a problem.
One night: Enough for the Ecotour Drive and one hike. Rushed.
Two nights: The minimum we would recommend. Ecotour Drive and bison on day one, 70 Mile Butte on day two, stargazing both nights.
Three nights or more: Adds the East Block, the Badlands Parkway and the Valley of 1000 Devils.
Pay at the visitor centre in Val Marie, where you can also pick up maps and check current road and trail conditions. Do that before you drive anywhere.
In closing
It is a long way from anywhere and you have to want to go. The reward is out of all proportion to the effort. This was the family's favourite stop on a two week road trip that included dinosaurs, a rodeo, a ranch stay and three cities. What did it was the combination of the emptiness, the scale of the sky, the bison, and an evening under more stars than any of us had ever seen at once.
A connection worth knowing - The Frenchman River Valley, which this park is built around, is where Scotty, the largest Tyrannosaurus rex ever found, was discovered in 1991. He is now on display in Regina. Standing in this landscape first and seeing the skeleton afterwards is the right order.
AThere is one more thing that stayed with us. For us this was a remarkable escape from ordinary life. For the people who farm and live out here, this is ordinary life. That seemed like quite a good deal.
10/10 would recommend.
Join thousands of travelers looking for inspiration from our FREE Planet Travel newsletter!
Your step-by-step framework for stress-free, unforgettable trips — from first idea to final itinerary.
Your step-by-step framework for stress-free, unforgettable trips — from first idea to final itinerary.
Join thousands of travelers looking for inspiration from our FREE Planet Travel newsletter!
