Grasslands National Park and the Village of Val Marie, Saskatchewan

Val Marie, population 150, is the gateway to Grasslands National Park. Cradled where the US and Alberta borders meet, Grasslands is one of the few remaining preserves of mixed grass prairie on the continent. A dry and extreme climate, it approaches desert conditions, a parched land blown hard by the wind.

Accommodation at Val Marie is available at the local campground, the Convent Country Inn and the Val Marie Hotel. The village website has more information for visitors.

photograph courtesy of Robert W Harwood ©

Grasslands is all about space and subtlety, toughness and fragility. The soil provides a thin skin over the bones of this land, and it's the deep-rooted grasses that hold it down. I'm immediately going to direct you to the Parks Canada grassland site which will tell you more about this very special place.

The Village of Val Marie is also a place close to my heart. Through a chance recommendation my friend I was travelling with and I were directed to the Convent, a country inn located at the edge of the village. As the name suggests, the Convent was both that and a school in which nuns lived and teached. Vacant for years, it was about to be demolished when Robert Ducan purchased and renovated it. He has created a unique environment to stay in while visiting Grasslands Park. It was from the Convent that we discovered the town, the land, and the wild prairie.

Fortunately all of these places and more are well represented on the web and the links I've provided will take you deeper into each of them.

Below are just a few pictures which may entice you to look further into knowing more about Grasslands, Val Marie, or southern Saskatchewan in general.

photographs courtesy of James R Page ©

photograph courtesy of Robert W Harwood ©