Fun things to do in your province (road trip Montreal-Rockies)?

[momof2gr8kids]

Outside of Thunder Bay is the Terry Fox monument and lookout where he stopped his Marathon of Hope - you'll have to stop there for a picture at least.

@pigletto - FWHP is included in that pass for sure? It's a provincial government funded attraction, not under Parks Canada - must be something new if is.

As someone suggested Rushing River is a great place to camp if you have an RV. Along the Trans Canada just outside Sault Ste Marie is Pancake Bay and further down near Marathon is Neys Provincial Park. Both beautiful campgrounds on Lake Superior. The drive from SSM to Thunder Bay is gorgeous and there are lots of places to stop and hike or picnic, rent kayaks, etc.

Just off Transcanada in Dorion is Eagle Canyon Adventures - they have ziplining, hiking. There are amethyst mines off the trans canada in the Shuniah area if your kids are into digging through rock for pretty stones.

There are a number of festivals at Prince Arthur's Landing (the marina) in Thunder Bay over the summer - summer in the parks, blues fest, festival of India, family outdoor movie nights, etc. so if you're over nighting in the area check out the events at the marina.

 

[Nahanni]

Moose Jaw sounds fun from what you're describing so I will research this town further. Thank you for the info. Any food that is typical of SK?

Outside of Saskatoon, we visited The Berry Barn (berrybarn.ca) for Saskatoon Berry pie and perogies. Nothing spectacular but its local berries.

 

[jaceraden]

For Manitoba:

I am not throwing shade at anyone for their replies but Manitoba is NOT all boring Prairie to speed through as fast as possible. Rant over.

The following is a very small sampling of my recommendations for a trip through Manitoba but reasonably close to the Trans Canada Highway.

Whiteshell Provinicial Park: Lots of forest and rocks, forget about the flat Prairies! Plenty of great campgrounds here if you are ready to set up for the night. (My favorite Manitoba campgrounds are not within an hour of the TCH but I find Nutimik quite satisfactory). Stopping at Bannock Point Petroforms is a great little cultural adventure along the way. Also, a little further off the path, come check out Old Pinawa Dam for a cool couple of hours walking through ruins of a dam and doing a little rock sliding and swimming. (google image it - seriously!). While you're at it, come to the town of Pinawa (my neck of the woods) to check out our suspension bridge, beautiful hiking, pristine townsite full of deer, a 2-3 hour channel float.

Winnipeg: Lots of Winnipeg was covered already but you can't go wrong with checking out Assiniboine Park (the zoo is there too but I'm not a fan really). The Forks is cool for wandering around shops, checking out museums, baseball, restaurants.

Morden: You're not in the flat Prairies here either. There's a really cool Museum called the Pembina Threshermens Museum. My kids and I love this one. Colert Beach is a decent place to camp around here. There's also the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre to check out in Morden as it is home to the World's biggest mosasaur. After leaving Morden, there's a zipline place Hywire Zipline Adventures that's on my bucket list now that my youngest is a little older. It's further West but in the same area. It's a seriously beautiful area to drive through.

Carberry: Excellent camping at Kiche Manitou (Sprucewoods Provinicial Park). There are a few really cool places to check out here too. The Spirit Sands is a rolling hill area with a desert like area. It's not actually a desert - the grasslands are slowly reclaiming the sand dunes but it's still awesome to see. My kids love rolling down the sand dunes.

Those are my top picks for lesser known places in Manitoba that are not too far from the Trans Canada. Poor Manitoba gets a bad rap! We have polar bears, an ocean, amazing lakes, Cambrian shield, the Pembina Valley and yes, we have some Prairie in there too. lol

 

[ccudmore]

In the summer it seems that every small town has a fair, or music festival or arts festival or some festival that highlights their local history. These can be a great way to experience life across Canada without just seeing the big cities. Lots of listings available online of festival schedules.

Also FWI I support your husbands stand 100%

 

[MrsDanielle]

Great suggestions! Thank you! I know Manitoba is usually a province most want to drive thru it as fast as possible but since I'm not expecting going there again, I want to say I visited the province a little. I also want my kids to have memories of each province we visited, just not images of corn fields!


What a horrible comment. It’s truly disheartening to hear that comment from people that have clearly not visited this province. Every province has it’s good and bad, including the prairie provinces. There are some lovely things to do and see here. Sigh.