Highway # 2 (Starting from Oak Bluff and # 3 Hwy and using # 10)
If you’re keen to get here as quickly and as straight-ahead as possible we recommend taking # 2 which turns right off of the # 3 just a kilometer or so west of Oak Bluff. Because you will be traveling north of the hilly(er) country the road curves less and goes through fewer valleys. Like most major highways on the prairies, this one parallels a railway line. Once you get to Elm Creek, you’re into more trees and mixed farming. This is still flat country but the soil is affected by the sandier conditions left over from the ancient Assiniboine river delta that emptied into Lake Agassiz just to the northwest. Past Elm Creek you come to St. Claud – a highly French influenced farming area. There’s a wonderful restaurant on the South side of the Hwy called Mama Lou’s – a cultural experience with great burgers. You climb out of the first prairie level, almost imperceptibly, between Rathwell and Treherne. (Treherne has one of the more popular roadside ice cream stops in summer.) You cross the slow meandering Cypress River that drains at Cypress River (the town) and then move up to Glenboro.
If you’ve got time for a side trip, you can turn north/right here onto Hwy # 5 towards Spruce Woods Provincial Park and Forest. There is wonderful camping and hiking here due to the sand dunes left over from the above mentioned ancient river delta.
The terrain turns quite flat around Glenboro. You can see the hilly country – that # 23 Hwy goes through - to the south most of the way along this road. (About 25 k’s past Glenboro you come to the # 18 Highway intersection. You can turn south/left here and go through Ninette and Killarney – see the #23 tour above) At Wawanesa you come upon the Souris River and it’s beautiful valley. You are traveling on the soil that was part of one of the most dramatic buffalo drops – a method First Nations people used to hunt bison by directing them over a cliff – on the prairies. The drop is just to the north of the highway towards the town. About 20 k’s past Wawanesa you come to # 10 Hwy. where you turn left/south. On the way to Boissevain you again cross the Souris River and it’s picturesque valley. My sister and brother-in-law have a cattle farm on the edge of this bit of paradise.
The Souris River may seem like a puny prairie creek most of the time but we assure you it can be a majestic, wild-country experience taking inner tubes or canoes onto it. From this crossing the river flows east and north through a deep unspoiled valley. See reference to the Souris River Bend on this website. Depending on the season or the rains it can offer some beginner level rapids.
In Boissevain you’ll find a scattering of fine outdoor murals on the sides of our larger buildings. There is also a wonderful First Peoples museum called the Moncur Gallery (after a local, self-taught archeologist) in the Library building. The liquor commission is in Hazelwood’s Pharmacy on South Railway Street. Beer is bought behind the Red Coat Inn right on # 10 Hwy. Groceries are found at the Co-op on South Railway Street. Gasoline can be found at the Co-op Station along # 10 (as modern as it gets around here) or from Gord’s Service on South Railway Street (if you prefer an old-time gas station experience).
Five k’s south of Boissevain (or 25 k’s west of Killarney), you’ll come to the corner of #3 and #10. Go west toward Deloraine from this intersection. (About 5 k’s along you’ll go past what used to be our family farm – where I grew up – on the left/south of the road.) 6 k’s along you’ll see a sign for Lake Max. Turn south along the gravel road and move up into the treed parkland. The snow or water you see in the creeks and wetlands eventually reaches Winnipeg via Cherry Creek, Pembina River and Red River. Just past the cultivated prairie (a bit more than 5 k’s from # 3 Hwy.) you’ll see our sign ‘Room To Grow’. Turn right. The Straw House is on your left when you’re on the yard.
Welcome.