Prairie Mountain

Prairie Mountain is the western part of southern Manitoba. It includes the largely agricultural regions of Parkland and Western Manitoba.

Cities

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Map of Prairie Mountain

49.833333-99.951 Brandon — the region's largest city
51.149444-100.0494442 Dauphin — it's named after the heir to the French throne, but a quarter of the population speaks Ukrainian
49.230556-100.0553 Boissevain — home to "Tommy the Turtle", a 28 ft (8.5 m) statue
49.8689-99.35944 Carberry — main gateway to Spruce Woods Provincial Park
49.555833-99.2911115 Glenboro — home of "Sara the camel", a 17 ft (5.2 m) statue created in October 1978
49.1833-99.66286 Killarney — located on Killarney Lake
50.2453-99.84287 Minnedosa — Minnedosa Lake is a great spot for boating and swimming
50.2289-99.46568 Neepawa — the self-proclaimed lily capital of the world
51.23-101.3569 Roblin — on Goose and Krosney Lakes, and between Duck Mountain Provincial Park and Riding Mountain National Park
50.7808-101.28410 Russell — jumping off point to Asessippi Provincial Park and Asessippi Ski Area & Resort
51.059444-99.52333311 Ste. Rose du Lac — home of the authentic replica of the Notre Dame de Lourdes grotto
49.6208-100.25812 Souris — home of the Swinging Bridge, Canada's longest historic cable-stayed footbridge at 177 m (581 ft)
52.1058-101.26713 Swan River — known for its outdoor recreational opportunities such as camping, fishing, hunting, and snowmobiling
49.8508-100.93214 Virden — the oil capital of Manitoba

Other destinations

50.8639-100.0361 Riding Mountain National Park — three different ecosystems converge in the area: grasslands, upland boreal and eastern deciduous forests. The park is part of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
51.6661-100.9142 Duck Mountain Provincial Park — several lakes have boat launches, campgrounds, and rental cottages
49.7094-99.09723 Spruce Woods Provincial Park — The Carberry Sandhills is one of a few sand dunes in Canada. There are several hiking and biking trails in the park, including the Trans Canada Trail. The park is also Manitoba's first dark-sky preserve, a designation which encourages efforts to reduce light pollution and facilitate astronomy.
49.05-100.254 Turtle Mountain Provincial Park — known for its bike trails, fishing, back country cabins and canoe routes

Understand

Climate

Southwestern Manitoba is drier and more prone to droughts than other parts of southern Manitoba. This area is cold and windy in the winter and has frequent blizzards due to the openness of the Canadian Prairie landscape. Summers are generally warm to hot, with low to moderate humidity.

Southern parts of the province just north of Tornado Alley, experience tornadoes, with 16 confirmed touchdowns in 2016.

Get in

By plane

Brandon's municipal airport has limited commercial passenger service. WestJet Encore provides once daily service from Calgary.

Winnipeg International Airport is approximately 200 km to the east of Brandon and is well connected with flights across Canada. The Brandon Air Shuttle provides daily transportation to any location in Brandon.

By bus

Rider Express, toll-free: +1-833-583-3636. Offers interprovincial bus service on its Regina-Winnipeg route. It has a network of routes that span from Winnipeg to Vancouver. (updated Feb 2021)

By car

The Trans Canada Highway runs through the region westbound from Winnipeg and eastbound from Saskatchewan. It is a four-lane highway.

Highway 10 travels north from the North Dakota (USA) border through Brandon, Minnesota, and Dauphin to Swan River.

By train

Via Rail stops in Rivers, 30 km north of Brandon on Highway 10. The Via Station in Rivers is a limited stop service for trains on the Toronto-Vancouver line. There are two trains per week in each direction.

Get around

There's little in the way of public transportation in the region beyond what is listed in "Get in" above, so your best bet is to bring or rent a car.

See

See the plains bison at Minnedosa Bison Park.

Enjoy contemporary art by local and national artists at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba in Brandon.

The Royal Manitoba Winter Fair is one of Western Canada’s largest agricultural events and the largest annual event. Held in Brandon annually at the end of March.

Do

Dauphin hosts Canada's National Ukrainian Festival every August: dancing, music, and endless perogies and cabbage rolls.

The Oak Island Golf Resort, near Virden, is an 18-hole course that is completely surrounded by beautiful prairie wetlands and one of the province's oldest stands of oak trees.

There are lots of outdoor activities available throughout the region — Swan River and Minnedosa are good places to start.

Stay safe

Go next

This region travel guide to Prairie Mountain is a usable article. It gives a good overview of the region, its sights, and how to get in, as well as links to the main destinations, whose articles are similarly well developed. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.