Fall has arrived.  Our favourite camping season. All packed up, we head out with no particular destination in mind.  After spending a few nights at various Alberta and Saskatchewan campgrounds, we find ourselves at the Sask Landing Provincial Park.  Our old ‘stomping’ grounds from decades gone by.  It has been many years since we’ve set up camp here.  It feels like coming home.  Although there are changes.  Mainly in the growth – the trees and the number of campsites, there’s also a new golf course, and right now, you can enjoy a round of golf for 50% off from Monday to Friday.

Only one loop, other than the seasonal campers’ loop, remains open this time of year.  We look for a campsite in the sunshine.  We find the perfect spot with a great view of Lake Diefenbaker.  We have power and the water tap is close enough that we can top up our tank when necessary.  All this for only $18.  Our two night stay extends to seven nights. The price is right, the weather is gorgeous, the firewood is plentiful and unlike most of southern Alberta, there are no fire bans in effect.  It is quiet, with just a handful of other campers.  It is interesting that most of them, outside of the ‘seasonal’ campers, are also from Alberta.  A construction worker from Medicine Hat, AB is camped across the road from us.  He is working on the new cottage being built down the way.  He came complete with his tent trailer and a lazy boy recliner. 

Other than a 20 km trip to the Kyle Co-op for food supplies and a drive to see the Beaver Flats cottage development across the lake, we don’t venture very far.  We go for daily bike rides through the campgrounds to the Sandy Ridge cottage development and the fall colours are truly amazing.

We walk along the beach. Sand squishing between our toes.  In our younger years, we might have been enticed to go for a ‘cool’ dip!

We cook a few dinners over the open fire and we remain sitting at that fire late in to the evening.  So relaxing.

A downside to this perfection? The BUGS!  The house flies and the maple bugs are crazy this time of year and my husband Ron probably kills a dozen flies each evening and again every morning in the 5th wheel.   The worst are those nipping blackflies which don’t seem to mind the bug spray that we are constantly spraying on our ankles.  SO ANNOYING!! At least they disappear when the sun goes down.  Thankfully, the mosquitoes appear to be in hibernation already!

The weekend comes and goes and we can’t understand why people haven’t rushed out to fill up the campground. Fall camping. Summer weather.  It doesn’t get much better than this. There are still a few weekends before the snow flies.  You really should ‘go here’. . . For a day. Or make it seven!

How to GoHere:  Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park (or Sask Landing as locals like to call it) can be found on Highway #4 about 30 minutes north of Swift Current, or 15 minutes south of Kyle.  As you head northwards down the hill towards the Lake, you will see Goodwin House on the right and the bridge that crosses the river/lake directly ahead – cross it and make your first right to enter the park (to the left is the day use and group camping area).

Gotta Go?: No pit outhouses here!  Sask Parks has kindly retrofitted them all with lever flush toilets, and also offers three modern service centres with showers, and one service centres that comes complete with laundry facilities.

Good to Know:

• Check in time is at 2:00 p.m., check out time is at noon, and campsite renewal time is at 11:00am (just in case you decide to stay longer).
• The Golf Course (which as mentioned currently has 50% off green fees from Monday-Fridays), also has a licensed restaurant should you feel like treating yourself during your stay.
• For those less talented or patient – Mini Golf is also available at the Marina.
• Boat rentals are also available at the Marina (Click here to read our post about the types of boats available).
• There are plenty of hikes available for those who enjoy a good walk – from Coulee Trail, and Brunyee Ridge Hike, to the Interpretive Trails and Sites that include:  Ridges and Ravines Interpretive Trail, and the Rings, Ruts and Remnants Trail (you can read our post about this trail here).
• If you love to fish then Lake Diefenbaker is the place for you.  One of the most popular angling spots in Saskatchewan, it is also one of the top Walleye Lakes in all of North America.
• The Goodwin House is the former residence of Frank Goodwin a NWMP member who built the house in 1900.  Today it houses the visitor centre, park office and interpretive centre, but is unfortunately closed for the season following the September long weekend, not opening again until May.