East Central Saskatchewan

East Central Saskatchewan is a region of Saskatchewan. It is located east and southeast of Saskatoon and northeast of Regina, up to the Manitoba border. The majority of the region is rural and largely agricultural, while the northeastern portion is part of forested transition area to the Canadian Shield.

Communities

• 1 Yorkton — the largest city in the region with 16,000 people, it's home of North America's longest-running film festival
• 2 Arborfield — a good base for enjoying Pacquia Regional Park's outdoor recreational opportunities
• 3 Canora — known as the "Heart of Good Spirit Country" due to its proximity to several lakes and parks
• 4 Hudson Bay — known for its unspoiled wilderness and snowmobile trails
• 5 Humboldt — check out the murals on the buildings
• 6 Kamsack — gateway to Duck Mountain Provincial Park
• 7 Lanigan — small town on the Yellowhead Highway in the heart of potash country
• 8 Melville — visit Melville's railway and heritage museums
• 9 Melfort — known as the "City of Northern Lights" due to the frequency with which the aurora borealis appears
• 10 Wakaw — near Wakaw Lake, a small recreational lake; also home to an excursion and event passenger train
• 11 Watrous-Manitou Beach — near Little Manitou Lake, a saltwater lake fed by underground springs that allows bathers to float easily

Other destinations

• 1 Duck Mountain Provincial Park
• 2 Good Spirit Lake Provincial Park
• 3 Greenwater Lake Provincial Park
• 4 Quill Lakes — known for extensive variety of birds during migration seasons; includes the small towns of Foam Lake, Wadena, Watson, and Wynard.

Understand

Farmland as seen from The Canadian

Little Manitou Lake at Manitou Beach

East Central Saskatchewan is made up Parkland, a mix of flat Prairie land and small groves mixed forest and small lakes. The northeastern section is predominantly forested and sparsely populated.

Its economy is primarily associated with agriculture. Saskatchewan grows a large portion of Canada's grain and canola (for cooking oil). Other grains such as flax, rye, oats, peas, lentils, canary seed, and barley are also produced in the province.

Climate

Central Saskatchewan typically has warm summers and long, cold winters, and gets more sunlight per year than is typical for Canada.

Get in

By air

The nearest airports are located in Saskatoon (YXE ^IATA) and Regina (YQR ^IATA).

By car

The region is bisected the by Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16), part of the Trans-Canada Highway which enters the province and the region on the east side from Winnipeg and heads west towards Saskatoon and the Alberta border on-route to Edmonton. Highway 6 is the main north-south route that connects to Regina. There are many other highways that travel throughout the region.

By train

Via Rail provides two lines to the region. The Canadian runs from eastern Canada and has flag stops in Melville and Watrous; while a northern route that connects Winnipeg with Churchill, Manitoba pass through the region and includes flag stops in Kamsack, Canora, and Hudson Bay.

Get around

The majority of trips through this region are by private automobile, and many places are only accessible by road.

See

• National Doukhobor Heritage Village in Veregin (between Canora and Kamsack); a National and Provincial Historic site, that depicts the lifestyles of the Doukhobor immigrants who settled the area.

Do

• Little Manitou Lake, known as the "Dead Sea of Canada", has a mineral spa in Mantou Beach
• Duck Mountain Provincial Park, Greenwater Lake Provincial Park, Pasquia Regional Park (near Arborfield), and Manitou Beach provide a wide range of recreational opportunities.
• Yorkton Film Festival in late May. It is North America's longest-running film festival. Around the same time, you can catch the dazzling First Nations (Indigenous) dancers at the Painted Hand Casino Pow Wow, with hundreds of dancers expected from Western Canada and north-west United States.

Eat

The region is known for its saskatoon berries, after which the city is named. Also called serviceberries, or western juneberries, they are used in saskatoon berry pie, jam, wines, cider, and beers, or are sweetened and dried and used like dried cranberries. The region also has strong Ukrainian roots, so perogies are available at local diners.