LAKE SASKATOON

NAME: Lake Saskatoon COUNTY: N/A ROADS: 4WD GRID: 2 CLIMATE: Mild summer,cold winter BEST TIME TO VISIT: Summer

COMMENTS: Northern Alberta REMAINS: The Provincial park.

The village of Lake Saskatoon, located on the west end of the lake of the same name and 15 miles west of the city of Grande Prairie, was another of those places that were supposedly destined for greatness “as soon as the railroad arrived.” Unfortunately, the builders of the Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railroad chose to bypass Lake Saskatoon, as they had Grouard and Dunvegan, and the village quickly became deserted. It got started in 1899 and quickly became a busy place as the hub of the huge trading district known as the Grande Prairie. By 1906 there was a Northwest Mounted Police detachment, an Anglican and United Church missions, a flour mill, a Bank of Commerce, a hardware store, hotel, livery barn among others. In 1927, the horrible truth was realized—there would be no railroad to Lake Saskatoon. It had held its own against the burgeoning competition of its rapidly growing sister town—Grand Prairie. A few years ago, the Alberta government turned the area into a provincial park and put Lake Saskatoon on the map to stay. H.B. Chenoweth

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