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Val Marie is a tiny village in Southwestern Saskatchewan and is considered the gateway to Grasslands National Park.
Understand
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Val Marie, population 120 (2021), is the gateway to Grasslands National Park. The village is adjacent to the West Block, and hosts most of the local Parks Canada bureaucracy. Without this major institutional employer, the community would most likely be another one of Saskatchewan's many ghost towns.
Saskatchewan residents often fail to appreciate their native prairie environment, and the locals are more likely to take their holidays at nearby Lac Pelletier or Saskatchewan Landing. If you've experienced the typical summer overcrowding at Banff or the Cypress Hills, you may consider this a good thing. Val Marie is a relatively niche destination without much family RV traffic.
Val Marie has a few services: a self-service gas station, a hotel/bar, a museum (which also includes a gift shop, coffee shop and art gallery), a campground, art galleries, bed and breakfasts, an old convent that has been converted to an inn, a movie theatre, a hockey arena and curling rink, a library, a community centre, a town square and a general store. Grasslands is considered a seasonal attraction and most tourist services shut down for the long Canadian winter.
The nearest full-service centre is the city of Swift Current, located just over an hour to the north.
- 1 Grasslands National Park Visitor Centre (West Block), 101 Centre St, ☏ +1-877-345-2257, grasslands.info@pc.gc.ca.
History
[edit | edit source]The community of Val Marie – Valley of Mary – was founded in 1910 by Father Passaplan, Louis Denniel, and the brothers François and Léon Pinel. Most of the early settlers were ranchers and farmers from Quebec and France. Val Marie incorporated as a village on September 13, 1926. By 1939, two irrigation reservoirs were built near Val Marie by the PFRA (Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Agency) in coordination with Ducks Unlimited. Over 10,000 acres (40 km²) are irrigated through the system which provides some stabilization through droughts which plague the area.
Originally settled by French ranchers, the village remained largely ethnically French and by the 1950s had 450 people. Amenities then included three gasoline stations, a hospital, convent, bakery, bank and several cafes and stores. The population declined significantly with low grain commodity prices and droughts in the 1980s. English is now universally spoken as the last unilingual Francophone resident died in 1981.
Get in
[edit | edit source]Val Marie is located at the intersection of Highways 4 and 18, about 120 km (75 mi) south of Swift Current and 360 km (220 mi) southwest of Regina. It is about 30 km (19 mi) from the Morgan-Monchy Border Crossing from Montana, USA, and about 120 km (75 mi) north of Malta, which has a train station on the Empire Builder Amtrak train.
Get around
[edit | edit source]The village is very small and is easily walkable; however, you will need a private car to get there.
See
[edit | edit source]- 1 Prairie Wind & Silver Sage, 100 Centre Street, ☏ +1 306-298-4910, prairiewind.silversage@gmail.com. Includes an ecomuseum, art galleries, gift and book shop and coffee bar with Wi-Fi, all in the relaxed atmosphere of a municipal heritage red brick schoolhouse. The ecomuseum features prairie natural and cultural history exhibits of the Grasslands and Val Marie area. Open May-September.
- 2 Heritage Grain Elevator, 110 Railway Avenue, ☏ +1 587-988-1889. Tall industrial heritage building. Guided tours cover the settlement and agricultural history of the region. Open weekends May-September or try your luck with an appointment. By donation, $25 per party suggested.
Do
[edit | edit source]Walk around town. This tiny community is full of modestly interesting historical markers.
Check out rush hour, 4:30pm - 5pm. The Park's seasonal employees almost all have walking commutes, and can be spotted by their green uniforms.
Wave to everyone and every vehicle you see on the street!
Buy
[edit | edit source]- Farmer's Market every Saturday from June to September. Event takes place in front of the Heritage Grain Elevator located on the south end of Centre Street.
Eat & drink
[edit | edit source]- 1 Val Marie Hotel, Centre Street, ☏ +1 306-298-4888. Small hotel with restaurant and bar.
- 2 VM Grocery, Centre Street, ☏ +1 306-298-2245. Mon-Sat 10AM-6PM. Fully stocked grocery store and a licensed vendor of wine, beer and spirits.
Sleep
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- 1 The Convent Inn, 1st Ave., Val Marie, ☏ +1 306 298-4515, conventinn@sasktel.net. The convent is a bed and breakfast providing lodging and breakfast for visitors to Val Marie Saskatchewan and Canada grasslands national park. The shared bathrooms are very clean. Excellent breakfast. From $59/night.
- 2 The Crossing at Grasslands (5 km S of Val Marie), ☏ +1 306-298-2295, thecrossingatgrasslands@gmail.com. Three self-catering vacation suites, located on the edge of Grasslands National Park. Contains Mary’s Labyrinth, Canada’s first Legacy Labyrinth, a meditation or prayer circle nestled into the rolling landscape of the Frenchman (River) Valley.
- 3 Don's Place (½ km N of Val Marie on Hwy 4), ☏ +1 250-710-2886, +1 250-746-7302, donbrown@xplornet.com. Fully furnished, self-contained suites with full kitchen facilities. One, two and three-bedroom units. Three separate rooms are hostel-type accommodation.
- 4 Sky Story Bed & Breakfast, 305 1st Avenue, ☏ +1 306-550-5377, thecrossingatgrasslands@gmail.com. Environmentally friendly accommodation, amidst the work of Southwest Saskatchewan artists. Card carrying professional artists receive a 10% discount. WiFi and many other amenities. Open Year-round. Single $85, double $98.
Connect
[edit | edit source]Val Marie's tiny library is only open two days a week, but its free wi-fi is available 24/7. Locals can sometimes be spotted parked next to the building for exactly this purpose.
Go next
[edit | edit source]- Grasslands National Park − Val Marie is adjacent to the West Block, with the East Block located about 2 hours to the east.
| Routes through Val Marie |
The Battlefords ← Swift Current ← Jct W  E ← | N  S | →  → becomes  → Malta → Lewistown |
| ENDS at ← | W  E | → Grasslands National Park → Estevan |