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- Grasslands National Park (Saskatchewan) — One of the last expanses of undisturbed mixed- and short-grass prairie in Canada: rolling grass, coulees, endangered plants and ground-nesting birds, reintroduced bison and dramatic sunsets. Remote, quiet, and a real taste of how the Prairies looked before roads and farms; great for overnight backcountry hikes and stargazing. (Personal favorite.)
- Áísínaiʼpi / Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park (Alberta) — A river-cut badlands gallery of hoodoos and the densest concentration of First Nations rock art on the northern Plains. Walk the Milk River valley, see petroglyphs and pictographs in situ, and feel the landscape that shaped Indigenous stories for millennia.
- Big Muddy Badlands (Saskatchewan) — Hidden gem. A wild, eroded coulee country full of caves,
- Grasslands National Park (Saskatchewan) — One of the last expanses of undisturbed mixed- and short-grass prairie in Canada: rolling grass, coulees, endangered plants and ground-nesting birds, reintroduced bison and dramatic sunsets. Remote, quiet, and a real taste of how the Prairies looked before roads and farms; great for overnight backcountry hikes and stargazing. (Personal favorite.)
- Áísínaiʼpi / Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park (Alberta) — A river-cut badlands gallery of hoodoos and the densest concentration of First Nations rock art on the northern Plains. Walk the Milk River valley, see petroglyphs and pictographs in situ, and feel the landscape that shaped Indigenous stories for millennia.
- Big Muddy Badlands (Saskatchewan) — Hidden gem. A wild, eroded coulee country full of caves, cliffs and outlaw lore (think bootleggers and escaped convicts). Perfect for scrambling, photography, and finding solitude where the prairie drops away into dramatic gullies.
- Great Sand Hills (Saskatchewan) — Hidden gem. A surprising sea of shifting dunes sitting in the middle of prairie farmland: wind-sculpted sand, unusual plants and a real sense of otherness. Walk the dunes at sunrise for empty horizons and rare quiet.
- Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park (Alberta / Saskatchewan) — A forested plateau rising above the surrounding plains: old-growth pockets, cooler microclimates, lakes and lookout points you don’t expect on the Prairies. Hike, mountain bike or camp under tall trees instead of grass — and visit Fort Walsh nearby for frontier history.
- Grassroots Métis & Settler Landscapes at Batoche (Saskatchewan) — The Métis river community where the 1885 North-West Resistance unfolded. The site isn’t just a plaque — the reconstructed village, trails and riverbank give a grounded sense of Métis culture, river-living, and the political history that shaped prairie society.
- Riding Mountain National Park (Manitoba) — A forested “island” rising from prairie: mixed forests, lakes, and ridgelines offering true diversity of habitats in the middle of the Plains. Canoe, hike to lookouts, and sample local communities at Wasagaming for a prairie-meets-boreal experience you can’t get on flat farmland.
- Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve (near Gardenton) — Hidden gem. One of the last intact tracts of tallgrass prairie left in Canada: waist-high grasses, spectacular spring wildflowers and lots of birds. It’s small and quiet, but botanically priceless — go with a checklist and give yourself time to see the tiny details.
- Qu’Appelle Valley (Saskatchewan) — A long, sculpted valley of lakes and wooded slopes threading through prairie: cottages, Indigenous sites, fishing and paddling. The valley’s abrupt topography, chains of lakes, and river towns feel different from the open plains and make for excellent day trips and slow local experiences.
- Fort Walsh National Historic Site & Cypress Hills Cultural Landscape — Built where the plateau meets the plains, Fort Walsh ties law, trade and Indigenous-settler contact to the physical landscape. Explore the reconstructed fort, interpretive trails and surrounding badlands to understand frontier policing, buffalo hunts and the complex human stories of the Prairies.
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Hi, I’m Johan (Netherlands 🇳🇱), the creator of TakeYourBackpack. Over the past decade, I’ve backpacked through 80+ countries across six continents, gaining extensive experience with independent travel, long-term trips, and overland routes.