Floating in Little Manitou Lake in Central Saskatchewan
Geology
Little Manitou Lake is an unusual lake, not only for Canada, but for the world. Little Manitou Lake is about an hour’s drive west from Saskatoon, SK and is one of the world’s few endorheic lakes. This means that only precipitation flows into the lake and there is nothing that flows out of the lake. This causes the lake to be quite salty, about four times as salty as the oceans. The addition of the salt makes it so that it is very easy to float in. It also makes it so that very little grows in it. There are no fish in the lake, but there are very tiny little red shrimp that tend to stick to you. This might be why the majority of visitors go to the spa.
History
According to legend, Little Manitou Lake was where a native band left three of their band when they were sick with smallpox. One of these three pulled himself to the lake. There he drank and floated in the water, trying to cool down his fever. After he started feeling better, he dragged the other two to the water as well. The legend goes that all three got well and caught up with the rest of the band who thought that they were ghosts.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the lake and its waters became a tourist attraction that particularly boomed in the 1920s. Hotels and dance halls were built as the tourists kept coming to the small town. Unfortunately, the stock market crash took away enough business to close most of the hotels and the dance halls. Right now, only one dance hall from that era remains. Danceland was built in 1928 with a dance floor that is 5000 square feet, with horsehair underneath the maple. This made the dance floor extra springy and is probably what caused Danceland to survive this long.
One of the other major tourist attractions in the town of Manitou Beach is the Manitou Springs Resort Spa. For those who do not like the idea of tiny little shrimp around them, heading to the spa will be much more relaxing than the lake. At the spa, they use the salty waters of the lake, but filter out the seaweed and shrimp before it hits the pool.
Little Manitou Lake is a common day trip from Saskatoon, Moose Jaw, Regina and other centers in Saskatchewan. Winter or summer, you can spend some time there just relaxing, play some golf during the summer or watch for birds at the nearby National Wildlife Area Bird Sanctuary. Winter also has snowmobiles all on the frozen lake and cross country skiing.
Topographic Maps
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Create your own Topographic Maps of the Little Manitou Lake. Simply search for Manitou Beach, or other nearby feature with the search function in the upper left corner of the map making application. From there, you can navigate to the specific area you are interested in.
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