We live on the flat prairie of southern Saskatchewan.

Our standard saying is that you can watch your dog run away for three days here.

This past weekend, long time friends (from our neighbouring province to the west) visited. Where our friends live in Alberta, the landscape is gently rolling hills. They have often teased us that there’s a whole lot of nothing to see in southern Saskatchewan.

We decided yesterday to take them on a tour of the badlands that are only about an hour south of here.

Castle Butte is an almost 200 foot sandstone and clay outcrop that was carved out by the last ice age. There are caves big enough to walk into and a walking path all the way around. A young couple arrived after we did, and managed the climb to the top. We opted to explore the caves and stick to the base path.

Each facet of the butte has something different to offer in terms of rock formations. The butte sits on private ranch land but the owner graciously allows tourists to visit from spring to fall (except during calving season).

Our friends were amazed that the Big Muddy Badlands and Castle Butte were so close to our flat prairie home. I suspect that now, the friendly ribbing about nothing to see in our neck of the woods will stop.

“ …Castle Butte is a free standing structure with a circumference of 0.5 km and an elevation of 60 m. A relic from the ice age, it was a landmark to the Indigenous people, the North West Mounted Police (NWMP) and early Canadian settlers. Composition is sandstone and clay-based with alkali and coal deposits.”

Tourism Saskatchewan