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Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION
Peaceful Prairies
Seton Provincial Park, located 70 kilometres west of Portage La Prairie, is a place for motor homes to pull off the highway so their drivers can catch some sleep. (NEIL BABALUK FOR THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)
The lake at Rivers Provincial Park, created by the damming of the Little Saskatchewan River, is murky, and a carpet of algae and duckweed coated the edge of the beach in mid-July. (NEIL BABALUK FOR THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)
Oak Lake Provincial Park is a great place to spend the weekend, provided you have a cottage there. (NEIL BABALUK FOR THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)
Grand Valley Provincial Park includes the site of the largest bison kill site on the Canadian prairies. (NEIL BABALUK FOR THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)
Seton Provincial Park
Rivers Provincial Park
Oak Lake Provincial Park
Grand Valley Provincial Park
The rolling fields of blazing yellow canola illustrated to us the diversity of Manitoba's landscape. After weeks of visiting the sandy eskers of northern Manitoba, the rocky crags of eastern Manitoba, and the limestone cliffs of the Interlake, the fertile fields of south-western Manitoba provided a contrasting change of scenery.
I’ve never looked towards the Brandon area as a pontential area for a camping trip. Camping to me has always revolved around forests and lakes. This week’s journey was to be something new for me – camping on the prairie. Four parks in south-western Manitoba were on tap.
The first stop on this week's journey was a small wayside park on the north side of the Trans-Canada Highway. Seton Provincial Park, located 70 kilometres west of Portage La Prairie, is tiny. It’s a place for motor homes to pull off the highway, so their drivers can catch some sleep. This was evident due to a series of motor homes and campers pulling out of the park and back out onto the highway as we were arriving early in the morning.
Seton Provincial Park gets its name from Ernest Thompson Seton, the famed prairie naturalist. Seton chronicled the landscape and wildlife of the nearby Carberry sand dunes, in both his writings and paintings, during the 1880s and 90s. Although he worked mainly in Manitoba, much of his work was commissioned by the American Museum of Natural History. Seton toured North America and Europe giving lectures on the wild animals of the Canadian prairie. In 1893, he was named the Official Naturalist of the Government of Manitoba. His most famous book, The Trail of the Sandhill Stag, is still a worthwhile read.
Originally we had intended to stop at Seton Provincial Park several weeks ago on our way home from Spruce Woods and Criddle/Vane provincial parks. Unfortunately at that time, we were heading east on the Trans-Canada and Seton is only accessible to west-bound traffic. This could be remedied with an access road between the two sides of the divided highway.
Our next stop was Rivers Provincial Park. Located just outside of its namesake town, off Provincial Road 250, 45 kilometres north-west of Brandon, the park sits on the shores of Lake Wahtopanah. The lake, created by the damming of the Little Saskatchewan River, is unspectacular at best. The water was murky and a thick carpet of algae and duckweed coated the edge of the beach. The lake has a reputation for being a breeding ground for "swimmer’s itch," so we avoided taking a dip. This was tough because the sun was shining and the thermometer was pushing 30 C.
The campground at Rivers is small, but family-friendly, which was evident by the swarms of children running around. The campground has a popular mini-golf course and an ice cream stand. As night descended, the campground quieted down, as most families had gone to sleep. Rivers is definitely not a party campground, but if you are looking for a quiet, family-oriented spot to spend the weekend, this would be the place.
The third stop of the weekend was at Oak Lake Provincial Park. The park hugs the shores of Oak Lake, roughly 70 kilometres south-west of Brandon on Provincial Road 254. It’s surrounded by the cottage community of Oak Lake Beach. This small community reminded me of Winnipeg Beach - older cottages, jammed closed together along quiet tree-lined avenues. The beautiful weather meant that the town was jammed-packed with cottage goers enjoying the weekend. Oak Lake Provincial Park is a great place to spend the weekend provided you have a cottage there. It would be a great place to visit for the day if this year's high lake waters hadn't engulfed the beach.
Our final stop was Grand Valley Provincial Park. Located on the Trans-Canada Highway, on the west side of Brandon, the park encapsulates a small section of the Grand Valley. The park includes the site of the largest bison kill site on the Canadian prairies. This was an active kill site about 1,500 years ago. Beyond the crude remains of where this "buffalo pound" once existed, there isn’t much else to the park, but the scenery of the valley is spectacular as the sun goes down.
While these four parks in southwestern Manitoba weren't up to the caliber of the others we visited on two previous trips, the beautiful weather and peacefulness of the parks made for a relaxing weekend.
Parks visited in this post:
View A(sessippi) to Z(ed Lake) in a larger map
About Neil Babaluk
Neil Babaluk, a Creative Communications student at Red River College, is blogging for the Free Press on his explorations in Manitoba's provincial parks.
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