For those who have not been to the Qu’Appelle Valley before it is a beautiful, historic area that runs West to East through Saskatchewan. It is just North of Highway 1 but is another world altogether.
Lumsden
At the West end, my entry point is Lumsden, Sk. It is about as far to the West in the valley as anyone can get.
There are only two towns in the Qu’Appelle Valley of any size. One is Lumsden and the other is Fort Qu’Appelle. Of the two Lumsden is slightly smaller but much prettier.
Fort Qu’Appelle is more historic and slightly larger but less nice. IMHO that is
My day began at Jane Dough’s Café in Lumsden. Don’t miss it, it is another gem.
You can find it at – 375 James St N, Lumsden
Here is a menu accompanied by delicious-looking photos.
https://janedoughs.ca/breakfast-and-lunch
And it is the only eatery open as early as my day began.
Pictured below are two great ladies, the cook in red is very proud of her incredible homemade hash browns, and she served up a good breakfast. It was much better than the usual fare encountered on a road trip.
While breakfasting at Jane Dough’s I met the mayor of Lumsden, Bryan Matheson, and two of his cohorts. They were all friendly and full of advice, even if some of it was not quite right.
The two pictured here were kind to a stranger and nice to have a conversation with during breakfast.
But when I told them of my mission to travel to the far East end of the valley in one day, without leaving the valley, one of them said, ‘See you in a month!”, and the other said, “You’ll need a canoe.”
Well, I proved them both wrong, sort of. I did make it to Ellisboro, but I had to leave the valley twice to get there. Maybe better next time with a revised research plan.
Upon leaving Lumsden I headed towards Craven where a huge country music festival was just wrapping up.
On my first trip out, I had gone through Craven and ended up on the North side of the Qu’Appelle Valley. Not the side I wanted, as The Little Church in the Valley is on the South side.
This time I turned East before Craven onto Russell Hill Road and from there took a left onto Sod Farm Road (love that name). That put me on the correct route to St. Nicholas Anglican Church.
And it was a beautiful road to travel on a beautiful sunny day, and the route takes you close to the Qu’Appelle River at all times.
This route took me directly East to St. Nicholas, aka The Little Church in the Valley.
Believe me, this is a drive worth taking. Not only is the church site beautiful and historic, but the drive there provides great views of the valley and gives a sense of how historic it all is.
The first view of the church when entering from the parking lot.
This is the outdoor WC of the church, showing how hardy people were. Can you imagine using this in Winter, when it is -20F?
Leaving the church behind, my next goal was to somehow get to the valley’s North side.
Something I did not manage on the last visit. But this time I took a chance and from the fork in the road just before the church, I took the branch that leads directly North, hoping for a bridge.
I found one of the few that cross the river and from the bridge took this photo showing how farmers irrigate their crops from the river. You can tell just by looking that parts of the valley are very fertile.
I was now on route 99 heading East and my next goal was the Old Highway 6 Rainbow bridge. It is an historic-abandoned bridge that I find interesting.
First view of the bridge.
Two bridges, both abandoned. If you look closely to the right, you can see a portion of 99.
From here I stayed on 99 heading East towards the new Highway 6 and my first point of departure from the valley.
I should mention that having now scoured Google Maps, there is a more efficient way of getting to LeBret than what I have taken so far.
If you go North to Fairy Hill, directly across the highway there is a small gravel road so far unnamed and unnumbered that goes North East towards LeBret and stays closer to the Qu’Appelle River. I believe this may be a better route than what I took.
Whichever route you take, you will have to go through the Piapot Reserve, home to Buffy St. Marie.
