What) The park's most fascinating and fragile feature is Spirit Sands. There are a few places in Canada and nowhere else in Manitoba with such large stretches of open sand. When the last great glacier began to melt locally about 12,000 years ago, the Assiniboine River was 1.5 km wide. It was laden with sand and other sediments from melting glaciers in what is now Saskatchewan. It drained into the huge Lake Agassiz  (see article below) just south of present-day Brandon. From the mouth, the fine sand fanned out into the 6,500 km2 Assiniboine Delta which almost extends to Portage la Prairie.

    The 4 km2 Spirit Sands is the only remaining unvegetated area of the Assiniboine Delta. Its 30m tall sand dunes are moved along by the prevailing northwesterly winds and cover everything in their paths. Only a few, hardy creatures such as the Bembix wasp and one type of wolf spider live here. Tracks of the olive-backed pocket mouse may be seen going into the sands from bushes at their edges. (1)

    Where) Turn left on Highway 5 at Glenboro

    Why) We were still in a bit of shock from our return to the nice Saskatchewan “Spring” weather so neither of us voted to go for a hike in the snow covered sand dunes.