Two years ago, I spent a day in Spruce Woods Provincial Park, one of my favorite spots in Manitoba.
The park is a two-hour drive from Winnipeg. It has a small desert-like area known as the Spirit Sands or Carberry Sandhills, featuring tall sand dunes and unique species of plants (e.g. Pincushion Cactus) and animals (e.g. Northern Prairie Skink and Hognose Snake). You won't find them anywhere else in the province.
The place is also of spiritual significance to Aboriginal People.
According to Wikipedia, "This region is not a true desert, but the remnant of a sandy delta of the Assiniboine River, from a time when it ran into glacial Lake Agassiz." It receives between 300 and 500 millimetres of water per year. That's why you will see quite a lot of vegetation.
When I was there, there was a camp with people dressed in the Canadian trapper style. They showed visitors how life was a couple of centuries ago. It was quite the experience, if you ask me!
Buy a print here.
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Buy a print here.
Buy a print here.
Buy a print here.
Buy a print here.
Buy a print here.
Buy a print here.
I love Spirit Sands! Unfortunately, vegetation encroachment and climate change have affected the desert. As a result, it has shrunk consistently.
I was there for the first time in 2007 and I definitely saw the difference!
