# East Central Saskatchewan

East Central Saskatchewan is a region of Saskatchewan. It is located east and southeast of Saskatoon and northeast of Regina, up to the Manitoba border. The majority of the region is rural and largely agricultural, while the northeastern portion is part of forested transition area to the Canadian Shield.

## Communities

* 51.213889-102.4627781 Yorkton — the largest city in the region with 16,000 people, it's home of North America's longest-running film festival
* 53.1-103.652 Arborfield — a good base for enjoying Pacquia Regional Park's outdoor recreational opportunities
* 51.6339-102.4373 Canora — known as the "Heart of Good Spirit Country" due to its proximity to several lakes and parks
* 52.842778-102.3755564 Hudson Bay — known for its unspoiled wilderness and snowmobile trails
* 52.2019-105.1235 Humboldt — check out the murals on the buildings
* 51.565-101.8956 Kamsack — gateway to Duck Mountain Provincial Park
* 51.85-105.0337 Lanigan — small town on the Yellowhead Highway in the heart of potash country
* 50.9306-102.8088 Melville — visit Melville's railway and heritage museums
* 52.856389-104.619 Melfort — known as the "City of Northern Lights" due to the frequency with which the aurora borealis appears
* 52.643889-105.73510 Wakaw — near Wakaw Lake, a small recreational lake; also home to an excursion and event passenger train
* 51.6778-105.46411 Watrous-Manitou Beach — near Little Manitou Lake, a saltwater lake fed by underground springs that allows bathers to float easily

## Other destinations

* 51.6833-101.6331 Duck Mountain Provincial Park
* 51.523589-102.6856612 Good Spirit Lake Provincial Park
* 52.531944-103.5052783 Greenwater Lake Provincial Park
* 51.9167-104.3334 Quill Lakes — known for extensive variety of birds during migration seasons; includes the small towns of Foam Lake, Wadena, Watson, and Wynard.

## Understand

East Central Saskatchewan is made up Parkland, a mix of flat Prairie land and small groves mixed forest and small lakes. The northeastern section is predominantly forested and sparsely populated.
Its economy is primarily associated with agriculture. Saskatchewan grows a large portion of Canada's grain and canola (for cooking oil). Other grains such as flax, rye, oats, peas, lentils, canary seed, and barley are also produced in the province.

### Climate

Central Saskatchewan typically has warm summers and long, cold winters, and gets more sunlight per year than is typical for Canada.

## Get in
### By air

The nearest airports are located in Saskatoon (YXE) and Regina (YQR).

### By car

The region is bisected the by Yellowhead Highway (Highway 16), part of the Trans-Canada Highway which enters the province and the region on the east side from Winnipeg and heads west towards Saskatoon and the Alberta border on-route to Edmonton. Highway 6 is the main north-south route that connects to Regina. There are many other highways that travel throughout the region.

### By train

Via Rail provides two lines to the region. The Canadian runs from eastern Canada and has flag stops in Melville and Watrous; while a northern route that connects Winnipeg with Churchill, Manitoba pass through the region and includes flag stops in Kamsack, Canora, and Hudson Bay.

## Get around

The majority of trips through this region are by private automobile, and many places are only accessible by road.

## See

* National Doukhobor Heritage Village in Veregin (between Canora and Kamsack); a National and Provincial Historic site, that depicts the lifestyles of the Doukhobor immigrants who settled the area.

## Do

* Little Manitou Lake, known as the "Dead Sea of Canada", has a mineral spa in Mantou Beach
* Duck Mountain Provincial Park, Greenwater Lake Provincial Park, Pasquia Regional Park (near Arborfield), and Manitou Beach provide a wide range of recreational opportunities.
* Yorkton Film Festival in late May. It is North America's longest-running film festival. Around the same time, you can catch the dazzling First Nations (Indigenous) dancers at the Painted Hand Casino Pow Wow, with hundreds of dancers expected from Western Canada and north-west United States.

## Eat

The region is known for its saskatoon berries, after which the city is named. Also called serviceberries, or western juneberries, they are used in saskatoon berry pie, jam, wines, cider, and beers, or are sweetened and dried and used like dried cranberries. The region also has strong Ukrainian roots, so perogies are available at local diners.