1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die (140 page)

Forests High Above the Prairie

Manitoba

Amid the rolling grain fields and plains of southern Manitoba, sharp, forested hills rise like islands above the prairies. In fact, the steeply buckled uplands of Riding Mountain National Park were once literally islands.
This jagged ridge blocked the western advance of Ice Age glaciers and when the glaciers melted, forming vast lakes, the escarpment stood above the waters, creating outposts of Ice Age flora and fauna. Riding Mountain National Park is unique in the wide variety of
ecosystems it embraces: Within 1,193 square miles, the park includes expanses of boreal (northern) forest more typical of subarctic latitudes; a band of eastern hardwood forest; huge meadows of fescue grasslands; and lakes, marshes, and river-bottom wetlands. Wildlife now found nowhere else on the surrounding prairies also calls the park home; it includes over 260 species of birds, as well as moose, wolf, elk, coyote, lynx, black bear, and bison.

The park offers over 250 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails leading to back-country lakes and vistas, plus more unusual destinations, such as a deserted WWII prisoner of war camp, which held 450 Germans captured in North Africa from 1943 to 1945. At the time, the area was considered so remote that the camp didn’t even need walls or fences to contain the prisoners. The park’s center is the village of Wasagaming, located on Clear Lake, a popular destination for swimming, fishing, and boating. The best of the village’s comfortable lodges is Elkhorn Resort Hotel, with large rooms and chalets, an excellent restaurant, and an archetypal Canadian bar, with a huge stone fireplace and fish mounted on log walls. Elkhorn works with local outfitters to offer horseback trail rides and both guided and unguided backcountry adventures, ranging from mountain biking to elk tracking. White months present opportunities for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, and a recuperative treatment at the resort’s spa, appreciated anytime of year.

W
HERE
: 154 miles/248 km northwest of Winnipeg. Tel 204-848-7275;
www.pc.gc.ca/riding
.
E
LKHORN
R
ESORT
H
OTEL
: Tel 866-355-4676 or 204-848-2802;
www.elkhornresort.mb.ca
.
Cost:
from US$93/C$105 (off-peak), from US$120/C$135 (peak).
B
EST TIMES
: Jan–Mar for cross-country skiing; June–Sept for hiking and boating.

A Wintertime Celebration of Western Canada’s French Heritage

Winnipeg, Manitoba

From the late 17th century to the early 19th century, French fur traders and explorers called
voyageurs
canoed the continent’s waterways, from Montreal to the Pacific Ocean, from the Arctic Ocean to the Mississippi River.
These Men of the North, as they called themselves, were the first Europeans to settle in Canada. As expert woodsmen, canoe handlers, and hunters, they were widely respected for their skills and hard work but were even better known for their joie de vivre under the harshest conditions. When a group of voyageurs got together, particularly at the annual gathering called the Rendezvous, the fiddle would come out and all the pent-up energy of a full year’s work was released in singing, dancing, and merrymaking—and in the unrestrained consumption of food and drink, usually of the fortifying kind.

The Festival du Voyageur, the largest winter festival in western Canada, is held every February in the streets and halls of St. Boniface, Winnipeg’s French Quarter. Dating back to 1783, when it began as a fur trappers’ hub, today it is the largest French-speaking community in western Canada. The festival vividly recaptures the spirit of a fur traders’ rendezvous during a ten-day celebration of food, song, dance, and the joys of all things
winter. It takes place at Fort Gibraltar, a recreation of a North West Company fur-trading fort from 1815. Within the walls of the trading post are large heated tents dedicated to musical events, great quantities of food, crafts fairs, and other entertainment. The festival is especially noted as a showcase for traditional music, with internationally recognized fiddling and jigging competitions.

In other parts of the festival grounds, performers in historic garb sing traditional songs and tell tales of adventure. It wouldn’t be a festival of French culture without food and drink, and traditional delicacies such as
poutine
—fried potatoes topped with cheese and gravy—are served up with warm hospitality. One favorite spot for a drink is Sur le Bar’d’la Rouge, a “snow bar” where all the fixtures—including the pool table and shuffleboard—are made of ice. And there’s straight-up winter fun for the kids, like a snow maze and a snow slide in the crisp winter air.

W
HERE
: Voyageur Park, St. Boniface. Tel 204-237-7692;
www.festivalvoyageur.mb.ca
.
W
HEN
: 10 days in mid-Feb.
W
HERE TO STAY
: The Delta Winnipeg, tel 800-268-1133 or 204-943-8702;
www.deltahotels.com
.
Cost:
from US$141/C$159.

Fishing the Lakes of Arctic Canada

Duncan and Graham Lakes, Northwest Territories

Anglers, imagine this: a fly-in fishing adventure with wilderness solitude, pristine waters, and trophy-size lake trout and northern pike to complete a too-good-to-be-true scenario. Unfortunately, the not-so-dreamy
component of a fishing holiday at a remote northern lake has often been the lodge itself—sometimes no more than a set of weather-beaten cabins that puts the rough back in roughing it. However, a new generation of Canadian fishing lodges is set to prove that you don’t need to give up on comfort and fine food as you fish the lakes of the little-visited Northwest Territories.

Just 15 minutes north by floatplane from Yellowknife, the territorial capital, Pilote Point Lodge is an exemplar of this new breed of backcountry destinations. Pilote Point sits on a rocky divide between Duncan and Graham lakes, and seamlessly blends the features of a high-toned ecotourism resort and a traditional fishing camp. During the long summer days, guided day hikes take guests past mossy bogs, across trickling ponds, and through the taiga, the boreal forest of spruce and fir that covers the rocky barrens. From canoes and kayaks, guests can explore the lakeshore and view wildlife—moose, beaver, and nesting waterfowl all make a home in this aqueous landscape. In winter, the frozen lakes become highways for snowmobiles, and the silent snow-filled forests invite exploration with snowshoes and Nordic skis. With zero light pollution, the pulsing, multicolored aurora borealis puts on a fantastic display in the fall and winter sky.

But fishing remains the focus at Pilote Point Lodge. Fishing guides will help ensure even amateurs a chance to catch that big one in the deep, pure crystal clear waters of glacier-trenched Duncan Lake. There’s also seasonal fly-fishing for Arctic grayling, a colorful trout relative with an outsize dorsal fin that gives a good, hard fight with lots of high, twisting jumps.

The comforts of Pilote Point Lodge are the reward for a long recreation-filled day in the arctic backcountry. Perched above the lake on a rocky outcrop, the lodge provides snug guest rooms, while private chalets extend along a pristine waterfront. The lodge’s food is a point of pride and expression of passion. Owners Serge Pilote and Colleen Chartrand are excellent hosts and fine cooks, and lodge meals—served family-style in the cozy dining room or, in warm weather, on the lakeside patio—are jubilant occasions that combine great food and convivial conversation. The wood-fired hot tub offers anglers and hikers a chance to relax weary muscles before another perfect day of adventure in the Canadian Arctic.

W
HERE
: 30 miles/48 km north of Yellowknife. Tel 877-563-4322 or 867-669-7000;
www.pilotepoint.com
.
C
OST
: 2-night packages from US$856/C$959 per person, double occupancy, includes all meals, lodging, use of equipment, and round-trip transportation from Yellowknife.
W
HEN
: closed for several weeks in fall and spring for freeze-up and thaw.
B
EST TIMES
: Jan–Apr for winter sports; June–late Sept for fishing; Oct–Mar for northern lights.

Where the Great Plains Meet the Great North Woods

Saskatchewan

Asecluded world of forest-ringed lakes and rich with wildlife, Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan is a million acres of nearly roadless wilderness, and a paddler’s and hiker’s paradise.
The terrain is astonishingly varied, beginning at the upper verge of the great Canadian prairies and moving into the dense woodlands of the north. The hilly landscape is dotted with ponds and trenched by cold streams, and at the heart of the park is a series of large glacier-gouged lakes, linked by meandering rivers. In fact, more than 30 percent of the park’s surface is water, making a canoe or kayak a perfect way to navigate and explore this boreal Eden.

Because of its size and the fact that it straddles two major ecosystems, the park is home to a wide range of animal species, including lynx, black bear, and gray wolf. The park is also the habitat for one of the world’s largest colonies of nesting white pelicans, and has Canada’s only free-roaming plains bison herd. It’s true Canadian back-country, but because the park is on the edge of the prairies, it’s easy to get to—you can use the family car to visit this piece of the outback.

You don’t need the skills of a
voyageur
to explore the park. CanoeSki Discovery Company offers a selection of multiday canoe adventures into the heart of the wilderness. The trips, led by naturalists and certified canoeing guides, include tours especially for families and birders. Some include excursions to the cabin of author and conservationist Grey Owl, an Englishman who was adopted by the Ojibwa and spent seven years living on Ajawaan Lake. A number of canoe trips depart from Kingsmere Lake, including the gentle one- to two-day Bagwa route and
the arduous four- to seven-day Bladebone route with numerous and lengthy portages. In winter, the company offers dogsledding and cross-country skiing excursions into the park’s southern woodlands.

The park’s headquarters and visitor center is in the town of Waskesiu Lake, which offers a full range of services, including very comfortable rooms and enjoyable meals at the Hawood Inn, a handsome wooden lodge with a serene backwoods atmosphere.

W
HERE
: 149 miles/240 km north of Saskatoon. Tel 306-663-4522;
www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/sk/princealbert
.
C
ANOESKI
D
ISCOVERY
C
OMPANY
: Tel 306-653-5693;
www.canoeski.com
.
Cost:
in-park canoe packages including overnight trips from US$250/C$280.
H
AWOOD
I
NN
: Tel 877-441-5544 or 306-663-5911;
www.hawood.com
.
Cost:
from US$71/C$79 (off-peak), from US$79/C$89 (peak).
B
EST TIMES
: Jan–Mar for cross-country skiing; June–Sept for canoeing and hiking.

Historic Home of Canada’s Finest

Regina, Saskatchewan

It’s hard to believe that Saskatchewan’s capital, Regina—now a prosperous and progressive city with beautiful historic buildings and gleaming office towers—literally began as a pile of bones. The first European settlement on
these fertile prairies was called “Pile O’ Bones” for the large stacks of buffalo bones assembled on the banks of Wascana Creek by Cree hunters (who reasoned that buffalo herds would not leave the land that contained the bones of their buffalo ancestors).

In 1882, two events changed Pile O’ Bones forever: The Canadian Pacific Railroad passed through on its way to the Pacific, linking this tiny collection of tents and shacks to the rest of Canada. Then the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (the RCMP, or Mounties) made the settlement—grandly renamed Regina (Latin for “queen”) for Queen Victoria—its headquarters. With the protection of the Mounties, Regina quickly grew from a railroad settlement to the capital of the vast Northwest Territories, which then included both Saskatchewan and Alberta and all points north.