Whitewood (Saskatchewan)

Whitewood is a town of 860 people (2016) in Southeastern Saskatchewan. It is a good stopping point midway between Brandon, Manitoba and Regina.

Understand
Nicknamed the "Crossroads Community", Whitewood sits at the junction of Highways 1 and 9 is has been a traditional east-west and north-south rest stop.

History
Where Whitewood now stands was once grasslands, travelled only by nomadic First Nations people, white traders, trappers and buffalo hunters. Native plants and wildlife thrived in perfect balance. The people who followed the trails between the Valley of the Qu'Appelle and the Pipestone Creek left no more permanent marks on the landscape than the tracks of their Red River carts.

Before the settlement of the west, Whitewood began as a crossing of trails between the Qu'Appelle Valley to the north and the Moose Mountains to the south. The Hudson's Bay Company trading post was established about the fall of 1891 to approximately the spring of 1906.

With the settlement of the west and the coming of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), Whitewood quickly grew into a thriving community. The CPR naming was derived from the White Poplar (Populus alba), a deciduous tree with white bark, which was plentiful in the area.

Climate
Whitewood has extreme seasonal temperatures. It has warm summers and cold winters, with the average daily high temperatures ranging from −11 °C (12 °F) in January to 25 °C (77 °F) in July. Typically, summer lasts from late June until late August, and the humidity is seldom uncomfortably high. Winter lasts from November to March, and varies greatly in length and severity. Spring and autumn are both short and highly variable.

By car
Whitewood is located at the junction of the Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway) and Highway 9, east of Regina,  west of Brandon, and  west of Winnipeg. It is north of Canada-U.S. border on Highway 9.

Go next
Moose Mountain Provincial Park is 40 minutes south of Whitewood.