Backpacking The Rice River Canyon

River crossings and hiking over endless rocks makes this a tough hike!

Backpacking the Rice River Canyon

A bucket-list hike for any outdoor enthusiast!

Adam has talked about this hike since we first opened our doors. "It's pretty much just hiking up a dry river bed, no set trail." Over the years, his excitement shifted to a bit of regret as another season slipped by without hiking the canyon. So when he came to me with a date in mind, we set to planning. No way were we letting another season go by without making it happen!

Four others decided to join us and we set off from Warman at 6 AM on Saturday morning. It's about a 4 hour drive to the trail-head, which is located past Carrot River along highway 55. We were able to be on the trail by 10:30.

We started picking our way gingerly along bank, only crossing when we had to do so and trying to stay on top of whatever dry rocks we could find. It was slow going at first as we all learned the layout of the land, and when and where we needed to cross the river and when we could stay high without running ourselves into a dead end of cliffs and brush.

The terrain is a mixture of rocks, sand and saplings. Fallen trees that have been moved down the river by the water created numerous obstacles across our journey. The 6 of us took turns leading, and sometimes we all chose various ways to accomplish the same end. The phrase "choose your own adventure" has never been so applicable!

Footwear choice is crucial

A few were sure footed and capable to stay on top of as many rocks as they could, finding sufficient grip on even the wet rocks. In my case, I found it much less risky for me to just wade across the river rather than try to "hop" across the sparsely available dry rocks. My footwear choice was trail runners and athletic ankle braces (because I don't actually own hikers!). This turned out to be a great combination, as I was able to go in and out of the water without much issue and the braces did a great job of stabilizing my ankles in the rocky terrain. Those wearing waterproof hikers, while they had superior ankle support, also found that eventually when they did have to get wet, the water would enter their boots and not find a way out! This meant whenever we took a break, the hikers would have to come off and the water dumped out.

No matter what footwear you chose, having two trekking poles was essential. Without them, we would have slipped, fallen, or worse, numerous times while trying to navigate the rocks.

Trekking poles are an absolute must have

The Canyon and Terrain

Remote back country wilderness

Within 20 minutes of hiking up the river bed and you forget where you are. This doesn't look like the Saskatchewan we are used to, the Saskatchewan we see in the pictures. This resembles the landscapes of BC or Alberta. Tall pine trees border the surrounding hills, and as we venture deeper into the canyon, the walls rise higher and higher. Instead of prairie fields, rocks and boulders extend as far as the eye can see. The river flows past with a gentle, continuous roar.

As this is a remote, back country hike (no cell service!), the amount of people that have been here is slim. This means nature is undisturbed, aside from a few primitive rock fire pits that you come across. In addition, fossils are plenty!

Alongside the fossils, the rocks displayed an incredible variety. There were iron-rich rocks, oil shale, and other sedimentary types. They ranged from sparkling and crystal-like to shades of red and orange. Given how much time you spend looking at these rocks, the diverse array was a welcome sight.

The water was a consistent, reddish hue, and numerous dried, fallen trees appear "rusty" because of the high iron content in these hills. The banks, composed of loose clay, gravel, and sand, are in a state of constant change and erosion as nature reshapes the canyon with each passing season.

Iron-rich ground produces a reddish hue in the water

Camp

Sleeping next to the flowing river

Unfortunately, with this being our first attempt up the canyon, we misjudged a few things. The high hills of the canyon meant the sun would set much sooner than we'd hoped. Trying to stay dry for too long wasted valuable time and slowed our progress in the first few kilometers. And if I were to be honest my fitness level isn't exactly great (surprise!). As such, when we found a beautiful, large flat area where we could set up camp after 7kms, we made the choice to stop for the night. Having been hiking for over 6 hours already, and not knowing what was ahead, we decided it would be safest to make the call to settle in for the night.

The first order of business was to remove the wet footwear and slide into warm, dry socks and shoes. Never have a pair of shoes ever felt so comfortable! Soon, we were all working on setting up our tents, starting a fire, replacing our water supply and cooking supper.

As night descended upon the valley, we gathered closely around the fire, sharing laughter and stories of the day's adventure. Before long, the sky was filled with stars, and we attempted to spot the different constellations surrounding us, with the Milky Way also making its appearance just for our enjoyment.

Sleeping next to the roar of a rushing river was an experience I would do again in a heartbeat. The water danced all night long, as I slipped in and out of sleep, dreaming of hopping over rocks and logs until the morning light arrived.

The Return Hike

Heading back down the valley

We got a later start to the morning as most of us enjoyed relaxing our sore muscles and resting just a bit more in the warmth of our sleeping bags and tents. As we cooked our breakfast and sipped our coffee, we discussed our plans for the day.

Upon reviewing our maps, we discovered that the distance to the forks was greater than we had anticipated, and the time required to reach it (even if we traveled light by leaving our gear) exceeded what we had available. Consequently, we decided to hike back instead, so we packed up our camp and loaded our backpacks again for the return trip.

The day before had been "uphill", as we saw an increase in elevation of approximately 280 meters from the trail-head to our campsite. This meant we would be enjoying a "downhill" hike which was a welcome thought indeed.

The canyon walls were as beautiful as they were formidable

We found it interesting how coming from the opposite direction, the obstacles and available routes looked so different. A few areas where, on the way up, we had found ourselves literally stuck between a "rock and a hard place" were completely avoided, entirely by accident, as we navigated back down the river.

As we increased our pace on the way back, both our backpacks and our spirits felt somewhat lighter. Naturally, the swarm of black flies buzzing around us whenever we slowed down provided excellent motivation to keep moving.

Embracing the cold river crossings helped us keep a good pace on the return trip

We accepted the fact early that we would have wet feet, so we crossed the cold river multiple times, as soon as we could see an easier trekking option on the other side. This helped keep our pace up, and had we done this the day before who knows how much further we might have made it!

Our return took us less than 4 hours. We could credit that to the downhill, the experience, or maybe the black flies but our pace was much quicker. If we were honest, it was probably the talk of KFC that drove us faster as we started to envision how good a Big Crunch sandwich would taste!

Will we do this again? Absolutely! Will we plan it differently? Likely. In fact, this is a perfect 2 night hike to be able to really enjoy it. If you missed this and want to make sure you are part of the next adventure, be sure to follow our Adventure Awaits group on Facebook and join our club to hear about all of our adventures!