We went camping with the family at Martins Lake Regional Park. We visited once last year for a beach day and I was excited for a camping week. The beach is perfect for my son. They rake it every day and they have about five sandhills for the kids to play on. It also has a slide for the kids in the water. When we found out my parents were camping there, we decided we should go as well. Martin’s Lake Reginal Park is about an hour and 10 minutes from Saskatoon, just past Blaine Lake. We went from Sunday to Friday so we missed the weekend rush. We also seemed to pick the windiest days of the summer.
My kiddo jumped into the lake in his clothes the first afternoon we got there. It was the perfect activity to distract him while the campsite was set up. Our campsite was big and clean. We had neighbours but didn’t see them often (and my child was definitely the loudest in the park.) The lake was small and I didn’t think it was really cold. However, with the wind and rain, it was definitely cold when we got out. It was really nice for my son because it was shallow. He was able to walk far into the water.
He could have spent all day on the sandhill with his monster trucks but we went for short amounts of time because the wind was so bad it hurt when the sand hit us. I would have loved to let him play on the hill while I caught up on reading or writing, but we didn’t stay long enough. We didn’t get any cell reception but I was actually happy about that. It was nice to put down the phone and take a break. We were just hoping the wind would also take a break.
The first day we did go in the water. We went into a section that allowed pups so we could all swim together. Later my son and I went to the beach while my partner took the dog out in the canoe. If we had looked into the future, we would have known that we should all take advantage of the canoe ride because the wind came shortly after and stayed.
Photo by Erin McCrea
Every night, after we got the kiddo to sleep, I would take a moment to myself and walk down to the boat launch to see the sunset. After living in the city for years, I really love taking the time to enjoy our land of the living skies.
Martin’s Lake Regional Park has a golf course. We are not golfers but we did stop there for ice cream and my parents went for breakfast one morning. It’s a nice walk from the campsites and I’m sure the golf lovers really enjoy having it close.
My parent’s campsite was in the perfect location, according to my son. It was right across from the park. My son could run around and find new friends while we watched him from their site. I was glad we weren’t located there because it was really hard to get him to leave for meals and for bed. He had a blast though and loved finding new friends. Side note – I love watching kids make friends. “Do you want to be friends?” “Okay.” Easy as that some days.
We spent the days reading books, collecting rocks, painting rocks, exploring, and playing with monster trucks. It’s been so hot all summer that I really expected we would be cooling off in the lake the entire time. I’m glad we had creative ways to make our stay fun. By noon on our last day, the sun was out and we were able to go for one evening canoe ride to meet the beaver at the other side of the lake. The next day as we packed up, the heat warning returned and we enjoyed the truck’s air conditioner on the way home.
The week didn’t go exactly as we had planned, but everybody we met was wonderful. We enjoyed our week at Martins Lake Regional Park and look forward to a return trip.
Martins Lake Regional Park
Location: SK-12 Leask
Website: saskregionalparks.ca/park/martins-lake/
