Canada Guide
Manitoba and Saskatchewan
Northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan
Stretching from the edges of Lake Winnipeg and the Northern banks of the North Saskatchewan River all the way to the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan are inhospitable and sparsely inhabited expanses that account for roughly half the two provinces.
Most of the region is inaccessible and the bulk of its limited highway system was built to service the resource towns whose wealth is founded on mining or logging. These tend to provide the only convenient bases – don't expect much more – for the region's provincial and national parks. In Saskatchewan the town of Prince Albert provides a gateway to the north, with all major hwys or bus journeys passing through or beginning here. Yet while there's nothing worth stopping for here, just beyond it's backdoor is Prince Albert National Park and, further still, the uranium mining town of La Ronge, beside the lakes and forests of the appealing Lac La Ronge Provincial Park. Some of the most extraordinary backcountry adventures and landscapes are found in the far northwest of the province, where the Athabasca Sand Dunes Provincial Wilderness Park provides a unique getaway for well-heeled wilderness-fans.
The layout of Manitoba's far north is quite different, with Lake Winnipeg and Winnipegosis creating a vast natural barrier between it and the southerly portions of the province. The entire region's key tourist centre is Churchill, a remote and windswept township on the southern shore of Hudson Bay. The main attractions here are the beluga whales and polar bears that congregate around the town from late June to early November.
With distances so vast and the population so thin, public transport in Northern Saskatchewan and Manitoba is understandably poor, yet it's still possible to get to many places by bus or train. The Saskatchewan Transportation Company ( 
306/787-3340 or 1-800-663-7181, 
www.stcbus.com ) provides useful bus services. The only rail service in the region operates between Winnipeg, The Pas, Thompson and Churchill, with three departures in each direction every week.