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Area Attractions

Lake DiefenbakerMarina at Sask Landing Provincial Park - photo credit: Cam Barlow

Lake Diefenbaker is located half an hour north of Swift Current and is one of five destination areas in the Great Southwest. With expansive waterways and 800 kilometres of shoreline, Saskatchewan’s “Great Lake” for is known for golfing, boating and fishing.

Lake Diefenbaker features three major parks, including Sask Landing, Danielson Provincial Park, and Douglas Provincial Park. The lake is adjacent to the Coteau Hills, which offer rugged hills, wooded valleys and winding trails. Areas to explore include Lookout Point, Coulee Trail and the historic Battleford Trail.

Sask Landing is also the site of historic Goodwin House. This landmark building was a stagecoach station back in 1900 and served as a dispatch for nine years by the North West Mounted Police. The building has been completely restored and operates today as a visitors' centre.

Lake Diefenbaker was formed in 1967 when the massive Gardiner Dam was constructed on the South Saskatchewan River. The project took eight years to build and when it was completed, it was the world's largest earth filled dam.

Cypress HillsConglomerate Cliffs in the Cypress Hills - photo credit: Tourism Saskatchewan/Douglas E. Walker

Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park is an oasis in the midst of the open prairie that surrounds it. Located an hour and a half west of Swift Current, the Cypress Hills are the highest point of land in Canada between the Rocky Mountains and Labrador. The park is home to rare wild flowers, towering stands of lodgepole pine and 200 species of birds and mammals that include moose, elk, deer and antelope. A giant plateau once surrounded by glaciers, Cypress Hills attracts 250,000 people each year. With its high forested hills, it provides visitors with panoramic views that allow you to see 100 miles in any direction.

Eastend, located south of Cypress Hills, is the home of Wallace Stegner, a Pulitzer prize winning writer who described the prairie landscape as "a distance without limits." The area has drawn international attention with the discovery of a near-complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. "Scotty" is one of only about a dozen in the world, and is the feature exhibit at the T. rex Discovery Centre.

Maple Creek is situated just north of Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park. Known as the original "cowtown," Maple Creek boast rodeos and historic museums depicting the the lives of cowboys both past and present.

GrasslandsBison in Grasslands National Park - photo credit: Parks Canada/Nigel Finney

Grasslands National Park is a natural paradise with its weathered badlands, untouched native prairie, and grassland flora and fauna. Located an hour south of Swift Current, it is home to the plains bison and is the only one of our 39 national parks that represents Prairie Grasslands. Grasslands is the only place in Canada where colonies of black-tailed prairie dogs still exist and is the new home of the black footed ferret, once considered to be extinct. You will also find a unique blend of common and endangered species including the pronghorn antelope, sage grouse, burrowing owl, ferruginous hawk, short horned lizard and the prairie rattlesnake.

Grasslands unique combinations of landscape and climate create niches for specific plants and animals, and illustrate the character of this ecosystem. You'll find blue grama grass, a favourite with bison, prickly pear cactus, which only breathes at night; and gumbo evening primrose, whose flowers change colour in 24 hours.

The expansive valley with its coulees and buttes provides an impressive view characterized by layers of Bearpaw, Eastend, Whitemud, Frenchman and Ravenscrag formations. This exposed sedimentary rock opens a window to the extinction of the dinosaurs, and led to the first recorded find of dinosaur remains in Western Canada by Sir George Mercer Dawson back in 1874.

Great Sandhills The Great Sandhills - photo credit: Kerry Wrishko

The Great Sandhills, are one of the largest set of active sand dunes in Canada, drawing visitors from across the country and providing a paradise for photographers, hikers and bird watchers.

Located an hour north west of Swift Current, the Great Sandhills rise 50 feet above the ground and cover 1,900 square kilometres. Native prairie grass helps to bind the sand together. The sand dunes are fringed by small clumps of aspen, birch, and willow trees, and by rose bushes, chokecherry and sagebrush. Subjected to strong winds, the dunes are always moving, creating an ever-changing landscape for photographers.

Leader is centrally located in the Great Sandhills and River Routes region. With a variety of restaurants, accommodations and retail services, Leader provides visitors with a base to explore museums, art galleries, and antique shops.

Big Muddy Castle Butte in the Big Muddy Badlands - photo credit: Tourism Saskatchewan/Douglas E. Walker

The Big Muddy Badlands are an amazing spectacle of nature's architecture and are located 2 hours south east of Swift Current. Observing the rugged hills and majestic plateaus conjures up images of the province's "wild-west" history.

In the heart of Big Muddy, you'll find Castle Butte. A relic from the ice age, this free standing structure with a circumference of 0.5km and an elevation of 60m, was a landmark to the First Nations people, the NWMP and early Canadian settlers. Evidence of early civilization can be found in the Big Muddy area in the form of stone effigies, ceremonial circles and ancient buffalo jumps.

Moose Jaw is the largest city in the Big Muddy region, captivating visitors with its historical, yet contemporary charm. This bustling city is home today to the Tunnels of Moose Jaw, Temple Gardens Mineral Spa, and Casino Moose Jaw.