Cliff L.
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 p.1 #10 · Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan | |
f_a_98 wrote:
Very interesting behaviour.
How did you find the visit? Worth it?
I have been trying to do Notional Parks and only managed so far to reach:
Bruce Peninsula, ON
Cape Breton Highlands, NS
Forillon, QC
Fundy, NB
La Mauricie, QC
Point Pelee, ON
and just driven through Thousand Islands,ON
Have a good one. Hope you enjoyed the trip.
It's not your typical national park, as there is no golf course...  In fact, there are almost no facilities within the park - it is primarily there for the conservation of the endangered prairie grassland habitat. I only visited the west block - it is something like a 200km drive over to the east block, which is more remote and has even fewer services, but apparently more interesting landscapes. I stayed at the campground in nearby Val Marie, which has showers, electrical hookups, and wifi (the campground in the park was fully booked when I tried to reserve a site there).
I spent all of my time on the Ecotour Drive roads. The roads into the park are very rough and dusty gravel, which can take a toll on your vehicle. There is another backcountry road loop in the south part of the block but the it is more remote with no cell coverage and apparently worse roads, which become impassable when it rains, so I left that for a future visit.
The prairie dogs and burrowing owls are quite interesting to watch, although you aren't allowed to get very close to the owls (and unfortunately, most of my photos were ruined due to heat haze). There are also lots of deer, coyotes, various raptors, and lots of other bird species in the river valley, as well as bison (although I only saw one bison on this trip - because it has been such a wet summer, the bison were remaining on the high plateaus well away from the roads). The landscapes in the park are quite picturesque as well, but I didn't have much time to get out and explore them.
I think the fall would be a better time to visit if I were to go back; since my primary goals were to photograph burrowing owls and bison, I would like to return and spend more time there when the weather and photographic conditions are better.
https://parks.canada.ca/pn-np/sk/grasslands
Rubstone, Grasslands National Park
Frenchman River, Grasslands National Park
Coyote, Grasslands National Park
Muledeer Fawn, Grasslands National Park
Larson Homestead, Grasslands National Park
Top Dogtown, Grasslands National Park
Caution Ahead - Backcountry Road Loop, Grasslands National Park
Burrowing Owl, Grasslands National Park
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