I'll share our very favourite place to camp in Saskatchewan, but please keep it between you and me.
Near the town of Eastend in the southwest corner of Saskatchewan, you descend from the prairie down into a small shady valley of pines and poplars.
There you'll find the most perfect little babbling brook with about 20 small campsites scattered along the edge. The spring-fed stream is clear and shallow, perfect for wading or maybe fishing for brook trout. It's also the headwaters of our own Swift Current Creek.
The campsites at Pine Cree Regional Park are non-serviced and not very big so it's a place for tents, vans and other small rigs.
There's no store, no ice-cream, no mini-golf and no showers. They do have drinking water and outdoor toilets, and what else do you really need? It's a different kind of campground, a peaceful green setting in which to read, write, draw, play guitar, have a bonfire, and enjoy the natural world. The nights are dark and you'll hear howling coyotes instead of party music.
Several hiking paths wind their way up the hills and in mid-summer there's a variety of wildflowers and a view to the horizon.
We first visited Pine Cree in 1994 and have been going there ever since. These photos are all from the summer of 2020.
Reservations aren't accepted and summer weekends are busy, but we've always found a spot during the week. Our favourite is site #7 beside the mini waterfall and plank bridge, where girls in summer dresses can dangle their feel and invent adventures for their Barbies.
This beautiful valley was originally called "Baker's Coulee" after Everett Baker, a field man for the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, who started clearing the area and making campsites in the 1950's.
He was also a prolific photographer who documented the lives of Saskatchewan residents during the 40's, 50's and 60's. His nearly 10,000 colour images are a fascinating and valuable collection now in the care of the Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society.
Thank you Everett, for this small piece of prairie paradise.
