With hills that roll as far as the eye can see, the Grasslands National Park is a bit of a trek south in the province of Saskatchewan, but worth it for a travel experience like no other. We are dishing the dirt on the dos and don’ts of camping or rving in this one-of-a-kind Canadian destination in our tiny travel guide!
While Grasslands National Park was one of our favourite stops on our trip across Canada, we made many mistakes along the way and are happy to share them, so you don’t make the same.
Let’s get the don’ts out of the way.
DON’T enter Grasslands National Park into your GPS if you are camping at the East Block of the park.
The Grasslands National Park is divided into two sections, West Block & East Block. So, what’s the problem? The GPS will take you to the west block. It wasn’t until we approached the end of the route on our map and witnessed grassy hills in the distance, that we started to look up where our campground was located – East Block. The east block is a 2 hours and 15 min drive from, on mostly gravel roads from the west block. We swallowed this bitter pill and made our trek to the other end of the park.
Side note: The parks do not connect as there are farmlands between the blocks. We were told the National Park would like to purchase the farmlands, but that they belong to families that have had their ranches for generations.
DON’T travel to the Grasslands National Park without a full tank of gas.
On our 2+ hour trek to the east block we had about half a tank of gas. The problem is we had been driving for hours and saw nothing other than land, and no one other than one passing car on the road. Midway we stumbled upon a gas station, with one person pumping gas into their truck. At first glance, the station looked a bit different – it was. Cardlock! Cardlock with no option for cash or credit card. The friendly stranger Cliff was generous and offered to use his own card to fill our tank. He told us that petroleum in the south was hard to come by and cardlock gas stations common.
DON’T show up at Grassland National Park without groceries.
While drinking water is plentiful in the park, there are no grocery stores nearby. During our time at the park the closest small-town store was closed for the weekend and so we had to make an hour trek to the next little town to grab some food. Remember this drive will use up some gas, so just be mindful and plan accordingly.
DON’T leave your tents or kitchen tents unattended at Grasslands National Park.
We set up our kitchen tent to provide some needed shade from the hot sun. There was no breeze, and it was toasty. With no wind, I thought to myself, “do we really need to tie this down?” We did tie it down but didn’t think much of it. We went on a hike to the creek and when we returned our kitchen tent was blown over (base not repairable) and top awning hanging on by one rope. What happened? I remember reading in the brochure “weather can change quickly”. Sure enough a park ranger let us know that they saw three dirt devils blowing in and watched them flatten things in its sight! They told us when the wind gets going there is nothing in its path to stop or even slow it, so it just blows right through. Noted!
DON’T hang strings of bright lights or lanterns at Grassland National Park.
Upon arriving late in the evening, my first impression was “wow is it dark here”. After further investigation, I read that the park is one of the darkest placed in Canada. Stars were in abundance, and there was no light anywhere in the park other than at the washrooms. The suggestion is to not use bright lights while camping, and to switch to a red light on headlamps when walking to preserve the dark sky. This was something special for sure.
DON’T expect to have a shower unless you bring your own bucket at Grasslands National Park.
While the facilities were nice, we did not see a shower. Hot and sweaty, we embraced the earth and dirt and held off until our next campground for a shower. We did see lots of people with portable shower gadgets or even just good old fashion bucket and sponge. Clean water is available, so if you want to DIY, you totally can.
Alright, enough with the don’ts and on with the dos.
Rock Creek Campground
We pulled into the Rock Creek Campground around 10:30pm after our mishap with the west block and I got out the car to help Aaron back-in the trailer. I couldn’t see a thing! So dark (as stated above). The other thing that hit me like a ton of bricks was it was so quiet! It wasn’t just not noisy, the sound was stark, every word I said felt like it could be heard for miles. The no-sound was overwhelming to my ears and took a while to get used to. The sound of bugs rubbing their wings or footsteps of people walking along the gravel path rang out. The nothingness in my ears was not a bad thing, just took some getting used to.
Unplug and Unwind
Once we got set up, we watched for shooting stars for a while and then headed to bed. In the morning, we couldn’t wait to look around and see where we were! In the middle of nowhere, that’s where. No lights, no sound, no cell service, just grassy hills and a handful of other campers. It was a sight worthy of seeing. We quickly concluded that this was the perfect place to unplug.
Our Campsite
Out in the open, we stayed on site #18. It was service with electric and had a picnic table and fire ring. The site cost us $31/night. Firewood was free just down the lane and little wagons provided for you to fetch the wood and bring it to your site. The washrooms were nice and clean with pit toilets and sanitizer. They even had full length mirrors hung on the walls (nice touch). As noted earlier, there were no showers. The drinking water and wash/sink station was just a few steps from our trailer, making it convenient. Cell service could be found just a short drive away or at the small camp store at the edge of the park. There was a very small creek flowing through the park, but other than that, no bodies of water to be seen.
The Badlands Parkway
We drove and hiked at all the stops along the Bad Lands. With 8 stops in total and each look out along the way offering different views. The further down the single lane road the more vast the view became. A friendly ranger, Trish suggested we should venture to stop 4 for sunset, and so we did. We watched the sky become warm and hazy. It was truly amazing. On our drive home (back to the campsite), two huge deer’s with full antlers jumped across the road and pranced into the sunset where they both stopped and looked back at our car. I had my camera in hand and snapped a quick photo through the driver’s side window so I could remember this incredible moment.
Final Thoughts
One of the nights we were sitting around talking with the kids (sometimes no cell service is a wonderful thing). We were reminiscing about all the places we’ve seen and stayed when my son told us that Grasslands was his favourite place thus far. Wow, we have seen a lot of things, but here in the middle of nowhere, with no cell service was his favourite.
For us Grasslands National Park truly provided a spot where we were able to connect with each other and to the earth around us. From the vast views across the Badlands to the starry nights where we witnessed the milky way and watched stars fall, this was a special place that opened my eyes to something new, something beautiful.
Honorable Mention:
When driving on the gravel roads that lead to the park we quickly realized our windshield was being hit with something. After a closer look, we saw what it was… grasshoppers! Hundreds of grasshoppers were hitting our car. Something we had never seen before. When we got to a gas station, we saw our entire car was plastered in them. In the wheel wells, in the grill, even in the wind shield wipers. A piece of the Grasslands that traveled with us until we found the nearest car wash!
