Suffern Lake Regional Park

09/01/2026

Artifacts Beneath Our Feet
Have you ever wondered...
Who stood where you're standing hundreds... or even thousands... of years ago?
At Suffern Lake, history isn't just written in books.
It's written in stone... bone... and the landscape itself.
Long before cabins, campfires, roads, or golf carts, this area—known to Indigenous Peoples as Fishing Lake—was a place of travel, hunting, gathering, and community.
Local storytellers tell us that Anthony Henday and his Cree guides camped along these shores during their remarkable journey across the west.
Even more incredible...
Since Suffern Lake Regional Park opened in 1967, visitors and local residents have discovered remarkable reminders of those who came before us:
🦬 Buffalo skulls
🪨 Fleshing stones used to prepare hides
🏹 Arrowheads and stone tools
🐃 Evidence connected to an ancient Bison Kill/Pound Site
🪶 Countless other artifacts that help tell the story of life on these grasslands.
Every discovery reminds us that these hills were once alive with families, hunters, traders, and travellers long before Saskatchewan became a province.
Recently, our park was fortunate to host an Archaeology Information Day, where collectors, archaeologists, and the Saskatchewan Archaeological Society shared fascinating artifacts and stories from across our region. Seeing these collections together was a wonderful reminder that history is all around us—it simply takes curious eyes to notice it.
🌲 Today, as you wander our walking trails through the beautiful Manitou Sand Hills, remember...
You are walking through a landscape that has been treasured for generations.
History truly lives beneath your feet.
❤️ Help Protect Our Shared History
If you happen to discover something that looks like an artifact, leave it where you found it. Photograph it if you wish, note the location, and report it to the appropriate archaeological authorities. Every artifact has a story, and that story is richest when it remains connected to the place where it has rested for centuries.
Come explore...
Not just the beauty of Suffern Lake,
but the remarkable stories hidden in its landscape.
✨ History • Nature • Stories • Adventure
Thanks to the generous support of the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association (SPRA), we're excited to introduce Discover Suffern Lake – History Beneath Our Feet.
Anthony Henday, Indigenous Roots & the Fur Trade
The First People
Artifacts of the Land
Manitou Sandhills
Suffern Lake
Suffern - the Lake
Jack Suffern - Headquarters
The Railway & Its People
Artland's Past
The Royal Visit
Every visit tells a story, Every trail holds a memory, Every sunrise paints a different sky.
Come discover where history and nature meet and create memories that will last a lifetime.

08/31/2026

This young fella decided to try his skills at Disc Golf today !! 😆😂🤣🫎

08/28/2026

One of the young residents decided to pop in at the shop for his breakfast this morning 😆🦌

08/28/2026

🌾 The First People – The Original Story of Suffern Lake 🌾
Long before there was a Regional Park… before the railway… before Artland… this land was home to the First Peoples.
Imagine this landscape hundreds of years ago...
🏕️ Teepees nestled among the hills.
🔥 Campfires glowing at dusk.
🦬 Buffalo roaming the prairie.
🐎 Beautiful Appaloosa and Pinto ponies grazing nearby

🐎 Horses were treasured. The Manitou Lake region became known for its exceptional Appaloosa and Pinto ponies, admired far and wide. According to local stories, Chief Opwan's band kept a magnificent herd of horses, and he dreamed that one day a beautiful white stallion would ride into his camp.
🌿 Families travelled the prairie in colourful caravans—covered wagons drawn by Pinto ponies, with children, loose horses, colts, and faithful dogs following behind. They visited relatives from Caruthers to Jackfish Lake, Batoche, and Prince Albert, while the changing seasons guided their travels.
🦆 In autumn, hunters gathered at Eye Hill Creek, where migrating geese stopped to rest. The harvest provided food, feathers for bedding, and supplies for the coming winter. Muskrats, rabbits, coyotes, and badgers were trapped, and their pelts were traded at the Yonkers store for groceries and cloth.
🏕️ Although the camps have long since disappeared, reminders of those early days remain. Near Yonkers, the old cemetery at Grave Lake quietly preserves an important part of our local history, while stories and memories have been passed down through generations.
Today, when we walk these trails, cast a fishing line, or paddle across the calm waters of Suffern Lake, we're enjoying a landscape that has welcomed people for countless generations.
Every shoreline...
Every hill...
Every trail...
has a story waiting to be discovered.
📖 Historical information from Big Manitou Country History Book, Volume 1 (1905–1980).
✨ History • Nature • Stories • Adventure
Thanks to the generous support of the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association (SPRA), we're excited to introduce Discover Suffern Lake – History Beneath Our Feet.
Anthony Henday, Indigenous Roots & the Fur Trade
The First People
Artifacts of the Land
Manitou Sandhills
Suffern Lake
Suffern - the Lake
Jack Suffern - Headquarters
The Railway & Its People
Artland's Past
The Royal Visit
Every visit tells a story, Every trail holds a memory, Every sunrise paints a different sky.
Come discover where history and nature meet and create memories that will last a lifetime.

08/25/2026

Anthony Henday, Indigenous Peoples & The Fur Trade
Have you ever wondered who may have walked these very shores almost 300 years ago?
In 1754, Anthony Henday, an explorer with the Hudson's Bay Company, journeyed west with Cree guides, traveling by river and on foot through lands that were already home to Indigenous Peoples for thousands of years. Along the way, he met many Assiniboine and the people he recorded as the "Archithinues" (believed by many historians to have been the Blackfoot or Gros Ventre).
Henday became the first known European to cross into what is now Alberta, entering near the present-day Village of Chauvin.
📖 Local storyteller Earl Nutbrown, (a true history enthusiast—a natural storyteller who loves researching, writing about, and bringing historical stories to life) has shared the tradition that Henday and his party camped along the shores of, Fishing Lake—the lake we now know as Suffern Lake. While this local tradition has been passed down through generations, it adds another fascinating layer to the history of this remarkable place.
Long before our Regional Park opened in 1967, these hills and shorelines were alive with Indigenous hunters, travellers, families, and trade routes.
Even today, pieces of that story still emerge.
Visitors and local residents have discovered buffalo skulls, arrowheads, a fleshing stone, and evidence of an ancient bison pound site—powerful reminders that people lived, travelled, hunted, and thrived here for countless generations.
🚶 As you walk our trails, pause for a moment...
Imagine campfires glowing beneath the stars...
The sound of footsteps along ancient paths...
The calls of birds and wildlife echoing over the lake...
🌿 History isn't locked away in museums. Sometimes it's waiting beside the trail.
✨ History • Nature • Stories • Adventure
Thanks to the generous support of the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association (SPRA), we're excited to introduce Discover Suffern Lake – History Beneath Our Feet.
Anthony Henday, Indigenous Roots & the Fur Trade
The First People
Artifacts of the Land
Manitou Sandhills
Suffern Lake
Suffern - the Lake
Jack Suffern - Headquarters
The Railway & Its People
Artland's Past
The Royal Visit
Every visit tells a story, Every trail holds a memory, Every sunrise paints a different sky.
Come discover where history and nature meet and create memories that will last a lifetime.

08/23/2026

✨ IT’S FINALLY HERE — JUST AS PROMISED! ✨
DISCOVER SUFFERN LAKE
History • Nature • Stories • Adventure
We’ve been researching, gathering photographs, uncovering old stories and piecing together the fascinating history beneath our feet — and we are so excited to finally share Discover Suffern Lake with you!
Thanks to the generous support of the Saskatchewan Parks and Recreation Association (SPRA), we invite you to discover a side of Suffern Lake you may never have known existed.
HISTORY BENEATH OUR FEET
Come along as we uncover the stories of:
• Anthony Henday, Indigenous Roots & the Fur Trade
• The First People
• Artifacts of the Land
• The Manitou Sandhills
• Suffern Lake
• Suffern - the Lake
• Jack Suffern — Headquarters
• The Railway & Its People
• Artland’s Past
• The Royal Visit
Some of these stories reach back hundreds of years. Others live in old photographs, history books, artifacts, railway tracks, towering spruce trees and memories passed from one generation to the next.
And some are still being written today — by you.
Every visit tells a story.
Every trail holds a memory.
Every sunrise paints a different sky.
Whether you come to camp, fish, paddle, golf, walk the trails, explore our history or simply sit beside the peaceful water, we hope Discover Suffern Lake encourages you to look a little closer and wonder about all that came before us.
❤️ And please SHARE!
Help us pass these stories along to your family, friends, former residents, neighbours and anyone who has a connection to this special corner of Saskatchewan.
Come discover where history and nature meet — and create memories that will become part of tomorrow’s story.
We can’t wait to welcome you to Suffern Lake Regional Park!
📍 Discover Suffern Lake — Where Nature, History & Community Meet
Where every trail has a story to tell.

08/23/2026

When you’re on hole #9 and you’re held up by 2 young ones with a ball lost in the woods 😆😃🤣.
Lots of camping season left yet !!! So pop on down , play golf , disc golf , have a campfire , or try your luck at the big rainbow trout . 🛶⛱️🎣🔥

08/21/2026

Long time angler of Suffern Lake and friend Marc Levasseur and wife Mandy stopped in from the north for 8 hrs of fishing yesterday. Well it sure paid off for them , 5 rainbow , 6lb 15oz , 6.5lb , 2 at 4.5lbs and a 3lb !!! Released 4 for us to catch again and 1 for home 😀
Always great to see you guys !!

08/18/2026

Last nights catch !! It’s not the Ogopogo but it’s a monster rainbow that weighed in at 6.25 lbs .
Happy Camper 😃

04/30/2026