Check out some of the incredible scenery that you might encounter on your hike in Grassland National Park, which has both front and back country hiking and backpacking.

Here a few suggestion for trails in both east and west blocks of Grasslands.  There are many more.  For maps follow this link:  https://www.pc.gc.ca/trails?region=CP&park=100209.

• #1. Zahursky’s Trail. MODERATE – 11 km (high ground and valley views)
• #2. Broken Hills Trail. HARD –  11.2 km (mule deer and soaring hawks abound)
• #3. Tipi Ridge Trail. EASY 2km (teepee rings overlooking Frenchman River Valley)
• #4. Eagle Butte Trail. MODERATE 16 km (common and rare flowers in spring/summer)
• #5. 70 Mile Butte Trail  MODERATE 4.1 km (takes you the highest point in the park)
• #6. Butte Creek Trail. MODERATE 16 km (navigate a creek crossing)
•  #7. Valley of 1000 Devils Trail 12 km – Back country (hoodoos)

The Milky Way over the old corral at the site of the 76 Ranch in the Frenchman Valley in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan. I shot this Aug 26 on a perfect night, with aurora beginning to kick up but still low in brightness when I shot this so the sky was dark. The foreground is lit by starlight, by the aurora brightening in the north, and by the occasional flashes of spotlights from naturalists down the valley spotting for nocturnal ferrets. The green bands in the sky are from natural airglow. This is a composite stack of 5 images: 4 tracking the sky on the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer for the sky and 1 untracked shot with the motor off, which supplied the sharp ground. The blurred ground in the tracked shots was masked out in Photoshop. All images were 3 minutes at f/2.5 with the 24mm lens and Canon 5D MkII at ISO 1600.

As the end of January is fast approaching and we have a lot of ground to cover, we will be on our way the Waterton National Park next.