Along Alberta’s Highway 93, between Jasper and Banff, is a bridge called Saskatchewan Landing. The view from the bridge, with channels running through small islands, sandbanks covered with trees, was striking, even in the awe-inspiring Rocky Mountain environment. We shortly pulled out our phones, me to take pictures and my travelling companion to do research.
Saskatchewan River Crossing is located within Banff National Park at the junction of Highway 93 and Highway 11.
The river flowing beneath us was the North Saskatchewan. It originates from a Rocky Mountain glacier, called, not surprisingly, the Saskatchewan Glacier. We had seen that glacier, high in the mountains, just a bit earlier in our trip. It seems that the North Saskatchewan flows on to meet the South Saskatchewan River about 45 kilometres north of the city of Prince Albert. After flowing eastward, on through the province of Manitoba, the river we were standing above eventually flows into Hudson’s Bay.
This is one of my favourite places between Banff and Jasper! I love it there. I think I see that highway was completed in 1968 and I remember when it had not yet been built. In those years that seemed to be as far from civilization as you could possibly get. Maybe that is why I love it so.