With another weekend to adventure, we decided to head to Douglas Provincial Park, which is about an hour and a half outside of Saskatoon. The day was perfectly sunny, and I was looking forward to walking through some sand. We packed up the dogs, some snacks and plenty of water, and made the drive to the trail head.
The full loop of the trail is about 7kms, but allow for some extra time to walk out into the sand dunes. While they may be the ‘main attraction’, the entire trail is diverse and beautiful. You’ll walk past plenty of birch trees, wildflowers, and cacti.
When we reached the dunes, the familiar prairie landscape faded away. Although there was no water in sight, it felt like we had moved to a tropical destination. If you plan on exploring quite a bit, it’s a good idea to drop a pin on your GPS or phone maps so that you don’t get lost in the sea of sand.
At this stage we were also feeling the heat. Luckily the sand was warm, but not hot, and we found a nice shaded area to sit and have a drink.
After a nice cool down we walked through the dunes some more with our three happy dogs. They must have been getting the same ‘tropical vacation’ feeling as I was.
Tired dogs in tow, we ventured back to the car through swarms of mosquitos. We ended up bringing quite a few mosquito bites, about three ticks, and a sunburn (for me) back to the car with us. In spite of the pests, the trail was beautifully maintained with unique prairie flora along the way.
After arriving at the car, the dogs were eager for a swim. We drove back to the town of Elbow and stopped at Lake Diefenbaker so everyone could cool off.
That evening we had our first campfire of the season with some classic campfire food, hot dogs and s’mores. My hot dog nearly ended up with the dogs. It was a perfect first summer night of the season with excellent company.
Happy hiking!
tiaonthetrail 
It reminds me of the Great Sand Hills not far away, amazing these dune landscapes in the middle of the Prairies.
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Sounds awesome
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