Returning to Canada – Saskatchewan – East and West blocks of Grasslands National Park

Billings KOA grown

At the park in Billings we saw a lovely class B that Jim and Tammie had been looking at earlier this year…camped right beside us. We listened to the little problems the owners had and thought about our little problems at the beginning – not so bad.

We left for the long drive to the border and an uneventful crossing. I still get nervous every time crossing international borders. This one was pretty good. It seemed that we were the only car on the road for hundreds of miles…even when we stopped for lunch only about three cars passed us on the road and one even stopped and asked if we were in need of assistance…how kind.

Our destination was Grasslands National Park, West Block…

Grasslands West block Linda at sign

We stopped in a town called Val Marie, hoping that they would have food, but everything was closed; we’d have to return the next day.

Grasslands West block camper

The drive into the park was about thirty kilometres of soft gravel and we saw bison and black tailed prairie dogs

Grasslands West block black tailed prairie dog

and some spectacular scenery that we would get to explore in the next few days.

Grasslands West block shadow selfie

Shadows of a selfie…

Grasslands West block Will James homestead

The Will James homestead.

Grasslands West block horse stalls

Grasslands National Park West block has horse stalls for equestrian adventures…great facilities.

Grasslands West block red chairs

We found more red chairs.

Grasslands West block expance

This is the view from the red chairs … we loved that lone tree.

Grasslands West ravine view

Just more of what’s interesting in the prairie….

We did the suggested “Eco-drive” and saw some interesting sights and did exploratory hikes of places we will want to hike in the future. We saw the “Will James’” homestead and teepee rings.

Grasslads West block Will James 76 Homestead

Another view of the homestead.

Grasslands West block linda and the teepee ring

Linda at the teepee ring overlooking a beautiful valley.

Lots to see and also found lots of other hikes to do…next time. One of the other campers told us about how different the East block was so we decided to go there the next day.

Grasslands East block campsite

The drive over was longer than expected…almost 150km with us looking for fuel. For some reason getting fuel in the prairies is more difficult if a person is off the main highways.

Grasslands East block red chairs

We found that we were the only ones in the area with electricity. There were a few campers in the tent area. Great staff told us about the hiking in the area, including hoodoos, quicksand and a nice drive to a viewpoint.

Grasslands East block Zahursky Pierre

Grasslands East block Zahursky point

Grasslands East block spider hole

This is from an interesting spider that waits for unsuspecting prey to walk into this hole..

Grasslands East block skull

We saw a few of these…I wonder where the rest of the skeleton was.

Grasslands East block skull on top

Grasslands East block quicksand

Linda at the quicksand.

Grasslands East block ptarmigan

I think it’s a Sharp-tailed grouse.

Grasslands East block petrified stump

At the entrance to one of the hiking trails…the above is a petrified tree trunk.

Grasslands East block Linda

Linda.

Grasslands East block bute

One of the hoodoos I climbed…the little white thing above is what’s close up below.

Grasslands East block hoodoo skull

Grasslands East block coyote poop

Coyote poop…almost all fur this time.

Grasslands East block campsite with puck

Even Puck is now comfortable outside.

Rockglen mamoth Oliver

Leaving to parts unknown we passed through the town of Rock Glen where this iron mammoth named Oliver was outside the defunct train station. There was also an inexpensive campground on the other side…we had a lot more travelling to to accomplish.

Moose Mountain Campsite

We ended up at Moose Mountain Provincial Park….just a couple of days with a nice bike ride…very much like Ontario parks. Strange, neither of us too many photos there… and off we went towards Ontario…next…maybe not…

One thought on “Returning to Canada – Saskatchewan – East and West blocks of Grasslands National Park

  1. What an amazing summer you have had. Its like a lifetime of memories in one summer 😎

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