First of 48

Grasslands National Park

The view from the top, just inside the gate

I'm going to be honest, I had never heard of Grasslands National Park, before I had started researching the 48 Parks in Canada. It gets very little attention, next to Banff, Jasper and Waterton. It's hard to compete with the Rockies! It doesn't have the recreational options of the nearby Cypress Hills with lakes, golf courses, ski hills and resorts. From an ecological perspective, the grasslands are a very important area to protect. There are very few places left with native prairie grasses. Sagebrush is the habitat of sage grouse and there are other unique species that have few places left to live. 

The first of 7 pull outs on the Ecotour

Do you know what it does have? Bison! Real wild Prairie Bison, not part of a ranch. This is only the second time in my life I have seen these majestic animals in the wild. The first time was in Northern BC, on the way to Liard Hot Springs, we saw the smaller Wood Buffalo.

Visiting Grasslands is quite different from my previous National Parks experiences. The park office is in the nearby town of Val Marie, where I bought my annual park pass. From there, it is a 15-20 km drive to the park gate. The first part, the West Block, has the Ecotour Scenic Drive, which is a well maintained gravel road. This is what most people do. The Ecotour has 7 designated pull off spots with information signs detailing the flora, fauna and geology of the area. Most of the sites can be seen from these spots, and in fact, from the vehicle, making it accessible for nearly everyone. 

Saga and Leif at the bottom of the valley

Visiting at the very end of September, it was still quite warm (24 degrees). I personally would not want to go in the heat of summer, there is NO shade. As far as sharing with other people, I think the most vehicles at any of the stops was 4. People varied in regards to how much time they spend at each stop, so it wasn't like we were all travelling in convoy. Some stops had short hikes, 1-2 km. Some were trail heads for serious hikers.

There are a few prairie dog towns scattered throughout the park. Having grown up on a farm, the concept was a bit odd to wrap my head around. Gophers were pests, that sometimes had bounties on them. Here, they are protected and appreciated like meerkats on National Geographic. They were so unafraid of people that I would pass within a few feet of one, and could hear him crunching a seed he just dug up. I was close enough to tell if it was a male or female. One thing that struck me was that I had never seen a prairie dog walk before, only run. The only thing that raised any excitement was another visitor's dog barking. The prairie dogs still didn't run and hide, but they stood up and chattered about it (I'm sure they were making snide comments about tourists!)

Shortly after the first Dogtown, I saw a Golden Eagle, on the ground, eating his lunch. Three guesses on what was on the menu! It was magnificent!

Golden Eagle was not interested in an audience while he ate

I went a bit beyond the Ecotour part, there is a back country trail to explore, and was rewarded by a coyote. He was also unconcerned by my presence. He was lying by a prairie dog hole, lifted his head, yawned, and laid his head back down. Apparently I was very uninteresting. I will try to not be offended!

Coyote was more interested in his nap than me

I wasn't fortunate enough to see any herds of bison, but I did see two pairs, at two different spots. They were a bit far to get good pictures, but I was able to see them well with the binoculars (thank you Linda for reminding me to bring them!) Just as I was leaving the park, there was a gorgeous creature, right by the road, posing politely for pictures. Apparently, he pulled the short straw and was on tourist duty! It was the perfect end to my day.

Teepee rings can be seen from parts of the trails

The Frenchman River flows through the park from the Cypress Hills to the Milk River

The National Parks have these red Adirondack chairs scattered about.

There is a long ranch history in the area. This is the 7th pull out

There are no other facilities, so bring lots of water and pack a lunch. This is no place for sandals, it is rattlesnake country (again, my whole life, I can count on one hand the number of times I have seen one, and it was usually on a highway). In addition to that there are cacti, with some wicked looking spines! 

There is camping and equestrian camping in the West Block. There is also a picnic area just before the last stop on the Ecotour with tables under some trees (the only shade you will find!) and some washroom facilities. Some of the pullouts have benches so you can sit and soak up the views. I spent about 5 hours in the park and did all the walks except the last one. It was a 2.5-3 hour drive from Maple Creek just to get to Grasslands. It was a long day, but definitely do-able as a day trip. The lady at the Parks office said most people spend about 2.5 hours doing the Ecotour.

I'm looking forward to getting home and scratching the first National Park off my gold foil map!