For Those Who Come Next: Itinerary for Walking the Trans Canada Trail in Saskatchewan

“We move through this world on paths
laid down long before we are born.”

Robert Moor
 

How long does it take to hike across Saskatchewan on the Trans Canada Trail?

 
There are moments within a long journey where it becomes necessary to step slightly outside of the day-to-day routine of walking and reflect on what the path has actually required. Our goal, as we walk from coast to coast to coast on the Trans Canada Trail, has always been to share each day of the journey and, in the process, help those who might have an interest in attempting something similar. To this end, this entry is about sharing our itinerary for hiking across Saskatchewan.

 
In the process, we hope to answer questions that anyone might have about the province that we
have recently concluded, such as:
 
What is it like to hike across Saskatchewan on the Trans Canada Trail?
If you want to hike across Saskatchewan, how long might it take?
If you want to hike across Saskatchewan, what might the daily stages look like?
 

Notes on Hiking Across Saskatchewan on the TCT

 
Saskatchewan was the eighth province of our #Hike4Birds on the Trans Canada Trail, and the second full prairie province we crossed after completing Manitoba. In many ways, it began without a dramatic or defining boundary. We moved westward out of Manitoba and into Saskatchewan, arriving at Duck Mountain Provincial Park, where the land remained treed, water was plentiful, and thankfully, it was well shaded. Yet as the days and weeks passed, Saskatchewan began to distinguish itself. Not through a single abrupt transition, but through variation within the openness of the landscape.

 
By the time we entered Saskatchewan, we had already walked across Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Ontario, much of Manitoba, and the first section of Quebec. We had already learned that the Trans Canada Trail was not a single continuous footpath across the country. We had learned that each province interpreted the national pathway differently, that signs disappeared, that official lines online and the organization’s maps did not always match what existed on the ground, and that a journey which looked clean from a distance soon became much more complicated once embarked upon – especially when on foot.
 
Saskatchewan once again continued this sense of the national pathway - but it also surprised us.

 
Before walking across the province, it was easy to imagine Saskatchewan as a long, flat, repetitive stretch of prairie roads. That was not what we found. Yes, there were long dusty rural roads, exposed agricultural landscapes, and days when distance rather than terrain and the mental strain of pushing on became the central challenge.  


However, these were contrasted to the Meewasin and Wascana urban pathways which were wonderful to explore.  In addition, there were also incredible sand dunes near Good Spirit Lake Provincial Park, the natural beauty of the Qu’Appelle Valley, river ferry crossings,, historic sites connected to the Northwest Resistance and the Trails of 1885, UNESCO Biosphere Regions, birding corridors, and some of the most astonishing skies we had ever seen.

 
Owing to the diversity – both in terms of nature and type of routes we hiked in Saskatchewan, the Trans Canada Trail often felt like a province of crown jewels and concessions. There were wonderful sections of trail, remarkable parks, beautiful river valleys, and generous communities, but they were often connected by very long stretches of rural roads and inconsistent signage. The pattern we had begun to see in Manitoba continued here, but with more variation than we expected. The distances remained large, the exposure to the heat and elements remained a real factor, and the smoke from forest fires two provinces away still shaped the days. But there was also no denying that the province revealed itself in a way that constantly corrected our assumptions.

 
This was not a simple line across the map. It was a province of long roadways, water crossings, urban pathways, unexpected beauty, and mental recalibration.
 

Guide to Hiking the TCT in Saskatchewan

 
This information is not a guide in the traditional sense. It is not prescriptive, nor is it intended to suggest that this is how the route must be walked. It is instead a record of how we crossed Saskatchewan – drawn from our journals, our daily shared blog entries, and the lived experience of our trek.
 
We offer this information as a means to plan and ground your own trek, to have the same type of insights based on experience that we would have loved when we set out on the Trans Canada Trail.

 
However, at the time of writing this (2022), the existing guidebooks for the Trans Canada Trail are incomplete, and most are more than a decade old. In some cases, the TCT has moved its route or expanded the trail system significantly. Moreover, the fact remains that some provinces – including Saskatchewan and Alberta – don’t even have a guidebook, which means for those who come next, there is a huge absence of information about the national pathway.
 
This record exists for those who are considering a Trans Canada journey, whether on foot or by bike. It is not meant as a template, and certainly not a promise that this is how your journey will turn out. The information here – and in our daily blogs – is a glimpse of what one passage across the province from east to west looked like, for two particular people, in one particular year.


It must always be remembered that routes change, conditions vary, and circumstances are never the same twice – day to day, year to year, and hiker to hiker.
 
With that said, sometimes knowing where someone once walked, struggled and succeeded can make things easier at the end of a hard day on the trail. Knowing that you are standing and walking where others once also did can make a world of difference in moments of doubt. We certainly took faith in knowing that Dana Meise, Sara Jackson, Dianne Whelan, Mel Vogel and others had come before us.
 

Stages and Itinerary for Hiking Across Saskatchewan

 
Remembering that our trek on the Trans Canada Trail across Saskatchewan took place in 2021, during our third year on the national pathway. 


Taken together, Saskatchewan took roughly 36 hiking days across 66 calendar days spent in the province, and a family emergency midway through that recalled us home for a little more than a week. The time in the province and on the trail was not defined by distance alone, but by a combination of factors, including weather, wildfire smoke, heat, route navigation, ferry crossings, resupply needs, physical exhaustion, days off, and the realities of continuing a multi-year national trek.

 
The larger time span also reflects days spent in communities such as Yorkton, Regina, Moose Jaw, and Saskatoon. Those days off were not simply rest days. They were part of the structure of the crossing. They allowed us to recover, resupply, write, photograph, bird, reconnect with the wider world, and make practical decisions about how to continue.
 

Itinerary for the Trans Canada Trail in Saskatchewan

 
A working itinerary for Saskatchewan would follow this general progression:
 
August 1, 2021 – into Saskatchewan, Duck Mountain PP
August 2, 2021 – Duck Mountain PP to Kamsack
August 3, 2021 – Day off
August 4, 2021 – Kamsack to Canora
August 5, 2021 – Canora to Good Spirit Lake PP
August 6, 2021 – Good Spirit Lake PP to Yorkton
August 7, 2021 – Yorkton -  Heat Wave Day off
August 8, 2021 – Yorkton -  Heat Wave Day off
August 9, 2021 – Yorkton to Melville
August 10, 2021 – Melville – Heat Wave Day off
August 11, 2021 – Melville to Qu’Appelle Valley
August 12, 2021 – 45km into Qu’Appelle Valley
August 13, 2021 – Into Fort Qu'Appelle
August 14, 2021 – Water route to Regina – very long day, no trail
August 15, 2021 – Walking Regina TCT section
August 16, 2021 – Regina - Day off
August 17, 2021 – Downtown Regina to West Regina
August 18, 2021 – Birding West Regina
August 19, 2021 – Regina to Wascana
August 20, 2021 – Kamsack Article writing – Day off
August 21, 2021 – Lumsden to Buffalo Pound PP
August 22, 2021 – Buffalo Pound PP onward and then backtracking
August 23, 2021 – Buffalo Pound PP to Moose Jaw
August 24, 2021 – Moose Jaw – Day off
August 25, 2021 – Moose Jaw – Day off
August 26, 2021 – Moose Jaw to Eyebrow – Trail issues
August 27, 2021 – Eyebrow - Huge Rain Storm – Day off
August 28, 2021 – Eyebrow to Douglas PP
August 29, 2021 – Douglas PP to Elbow
August 30, 2021 – Elbow to Danielson PP
August 31, 2021 – Danielson PP to Water Route
September 1, 2021 – walking roads, navigating around Water Route / no land trail
September 2, 2021 – walking roads, navigating around Water Route / no land trail
September 3, 2021 – Into Saskatoon
September 4, 2021 – Exploring Saskatoon – Day off TCT
September 5, 2021 – Westjet SK to BC – Off Trail - Family Emergency
 
** Time off Trans Canada Trail **
 
September 14, 2021 – Westjet BC to SK – Return to TCT
September 15, 2021 – Hiking TCT in Saskatoon
September 16, 2021 – Saskatoon onward
September 17, 2021 – to Warman
September 18, 2021 – Warman to Battle of Fish Creek
September 19, 2021 – Fish Creek onward
September 20, 2021 – into Duck Lake
September 21, 2021 – Duck Lake – Day off
September 22, 2021 – Duck Lake to beyond Wingard Ferry
September 23, 2021 – Beyond Wingard Ferry to Lac la Peche
September 24, 2021 – Lac la Peche – Day off
September 25, 2021 – 55 km beyond Lac la Peche
September 26, 2021 – into North Battleford
September 27, 2021 – North Battleford – Day off
September 28, 2021 – North Battleford – Day off
September 29, 2021 – N Battleford to Vawn
September 30, 2021 – Vawn to Edam
October 1, 2021 – Edam to Turtleford
October 2, 2021 – Turtleford to St. Walburg
October 3, 2021 – St. Walburg – Day off
October 4, 2021 – beyond St. Walburg
October 5, 2021 – to the Alberta border
 
October 6th, 2021 – bus to Edmonton, flight to return to Quebec TCT
 

Position Within the Larger Journey

 
Saskatchewan was our second prairie province, yet it is not identical to Manitoba.   To walk across it is to continue to live with the openness and exposure of the plains while introducing variation through valleys, ferry crossings, historic routes, provincial parks, and the spacing of its communities.

 
Saskatchewan is also the only province that we would complete on our westward journey before returning east, to hike another part of Quebec in our attempt to complete a province disrupted by the provincial lockdowns, the result of the pandemic.

Walking across it reinforced a shift that began in Manitoba, where the journey was no longer defined by terrain in the traditional sense, but by endurance, planning, and the ability to continue through repetition and doubts. The skills required are different, and so too is the mindset. The trail becomes less about where you are stepping and more about how you continue.

 
With that said, Saskatchewan is stunningly beautiful – and offers far more than many have the time to see.  Far from being a flyover region, Saskatchewan continues to challenge your expectations about the country, people and nature.  
 
For those looking to understand Saskatchewan more fully within the Trans Canada Trail, this entry connects directly with our broader series:
 



 
Each offers a different perspective on the experience of exploring the TCT.
 

For Those Who Come Next

 
In total, it took us 36 days of hiking stretched across 66 calendar days to cross Saskatchewan – a reflection of our physical exhaustion after the distances we had already covered in 2021, as well as our mental fatigue after so long spent on roadways in the prairies.  In the process, we walked between 1400 and 1450 km across Saskatchewan on the Trans Canada Trail. This was not the entirety of the national pathway in the province in every possible variation, but it was the route that allowed us to continue our east-to-west crossing from Manitoba toward the provincial border with Alberta.

 
If you are considering walking across Saskatchewan, know that it is possible to do so within a defined period of time. The route exists, the connections are there, and the province can be crossed in a continuous line from North to South before turning back North and resuming westward progress again.   This makes it a wonderful but long hike across a varied and beautiful region. 

 
If you are reading this because you are considering hiking across Saskatchewan on the TCT, whether for a weekend or weeks or months at a time, we hope this listing helps in some small way. Not because it tells you what to do, but because it shows what was possible under a specific set of circumstances, at a particular moment in time.
 
Your journey will not look exactly like this. It shouldn’t. Weather, wildlife, wildfires, construction, health, timing, and luck all shape how the TCT, each province and Canada as a whole reveal themselves. Some days will go farther than planned. Others will end early. Some will feel almost effortless; others will ask more than you expected to give.  Some will end in the joy of that day’s achievements, others will end in doubt and tears. 

 
What matters, in the end, is not matching someone else’s itinerary, but learning how to move through this landscape with the willingness to be adaptable, leaving no trace and with care.  If this record helps you plan, adjust, or simply imagine your own path, then it has done what it was meant to do.
 
We wish you safe walking, open eyes, and the grace to take each day as it comes.
 
See you on the trail!
Location: Regina, SK, Canada
Previous
Next

Comments

Post a Comment