Across the Canadian Prairie
Canadian Rockies Road Trip, Days 2 & 3 | Minnesota to Alberta | Big Stone NWR | Fort Dufferin | June 2023
On day 2 of this road trip and of van life, we continued driving Northwest along the Minnesota River where we made an unplanned stop at the Big Stone National Wildlife Refuge. We took the driving tour along the river and wetlands, and then walked through the Big Stones, admiring the blooming Dames Rocket and bird song. But it was hotter today than it was the day before, and so we pushed onto I-29, clipping off the corner of South Dakota at the North-South continental divide before entering into North Dakota.
We made a brief stop in Grand Forks for gas and a park picnic before an uneventful border crossing into Manitoba — technically our second visit after last year’s toe-lining at the International Peace Gardens. Just across the border we made a brief stop at Fort Dufferin along the banks of the Red River.
Founded in 1872, the Fort was originally used by the British-Canadian half of the ‘North American Boundary Commission’ as they and their American counterparts did their best to draw an imaginary line across the continent along the 49th Parallel. Only a few years later it was used by the Northwest Mounted Police (progenitor of today’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police) as a starting point for their arduous march West to Saskatchewan and Alberta. And lastly it was used as the primary port of entry for Manitoba by Russian Mennonites who were recruited to help settle the vast Manitoba plains. That’s quite a few roles for a fort that only functioned for 7 years.
Charlotte again took a nap in the shade while we read the informational signs and looked at the old buildings. A local Manitoban showed up on a 4×4 and we talked a while about long distance driving, Canada, and the Red River, before we both set off to find a place to sleep. In our case we continued a few miles East to a town park along the banks of the Roseau River. The bugs were pretty bad here, but we found another campsite to ourselves and had another restful night in the van.
Our third day on the road was the quintessential example of endless prairie. 550 miles and we would still have more the next day. Our route mostly followed MB-23 and SK-13 – almost exclusively two-lane highways and somewhat ironically, almost the exact path that the NWMP followed on their march West, though we made significantly better time.
With the exception of crossing the Pembina River Valley and Pelican Lake (complete with pelicans) the landscape was very dreary and we missed the more interesting Provincial Parks, Recreation Areas, and roadside attractions found in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. But we did have a very good audiobook (The Terror by Dan Simmons) and the entire Taylor Swift discography. And most importantly, we can now say we have been to, driven across, and stayed the night in Saskatchewan.
After another campground which we had all to ourselves and some much needed rain and cooler temperatures, we made the decision to bypass the more scenic Cypress Hills which would have added hours of driving time, and head instead straight for the mountains. As a compromise though, instead of heading directly for Calgary, Banff, and the problem of finding a campsite near there, we instead grabbed some groceries and Tim Hortons in Medicine Hat, then decided to veer Southwest towards Crowsnest Pass.
Soon mountains were on the horizon, and they were beautiful; a very welcoming sight after miles and miles of prairie.
