Spruce River Highlands Trail — Attraction in Saskatchewan

Hiked the long trail last week (my third time, once on snowshoes, twice hiking; I've still never visited the fire tower). This is a really nice trail but it is a challenging one.

There is a significant (~900m) in-and-out section that passes the fire tower (which is up some stairs atop a hill). After this, there is an approximately 6.7 km loop that you take in a clockwise fashion (turn to your left at the fork). The total trail is about 8.5 km.

The north side of the valley, which you walk first, is very hilly and thus has a lot of up-and-down sections. I would not recommend this trail for people in poor health, but as a middle-aged person in reasonable condition, I found this trail to be tiring but definitely manageable.

When you get to the far end, there is a short stub that takes you to cross-country ski trails in Great Blue Heron Provincial Park. These can also be walked. When I hiked this trail in September 2021, I walked the stub (to say I had!) but I didn't explore any of the provincial park trails after that.

Coming back on the south side of the valley, the trail is a little easier to navigate because it is a little bit flatter.

I recommend hiking boots for this trail as there are a lot of tree roots in some sections, plus some very hilly sections, some of which are sandy and have loose footing. When I did the trail in January 2021, I wore snowshoes but winter boots would have sufficed as the trail was sufficiently packed.

Expect biting insects if you are walking the trail between late May and early September. Brown bears are a possibility during their normal season, but while I saw 14 bears over a 12-day visit to the park, I didn't encounter any...

This hike took a few hours to complete and was definitely worth the effort. The views from the lookout tower at the top were absolutely awesome—definitely a highlight and a great reward after the climb. It was a hot day when I went, so I worked up a solid sweat, and my legs were sore for a couple of days afterward—so come prepared, especially if you haven’t been on the trails in a while!

I’d recommend this one for intermediate to advanced hikers due to the elevation and length. That said, I did pass a few people running, so it seems like a solid spot for trail running if you’re looking to train or push...

First off this is not an easy hike lol. At a brisk pace with only a few water breaks and no stopping to smell the flowers it was 2hrs. 85% of the hike is up and down. It’s very hilly. The terrain is easy tho. Mostly grassy single and double track. For a Saskatchewan hike it’s great. Easily doable by bike if you can do hills....