Horses & Prairie: The Historic Reesor Ranch in Saskatchewan, Canada

Horse riding, hiking and stargazing in the Cypress Hills Dark Sky Reserve .

The historic Reesor Ranch is one of the most beautiful accommodations in Saskatchewan.

"Saskatchewan? Oh my God! It's so flat there, you'd see a dog running away three days later." The bus driver grimaces when I tell her I'm going to Saskatchewan. Her seatmate sees things completely differently:

"Mountains make me claustrophobic. You can't even see the sky from there?"

In fact, my first destination in Saskatchewan is anything but flat. The Cypress Hills lie directly on the border with Alberta and Montana and are the highest point between Labrador and the Rocky Mountains.

The dog that ran away three days ago? He's buried here, by the way.

Road trip through the endless expanse of Saskatchewan

Those driving through Saskatchewan should not plan their refueling stops too optimistically.

Despite what I thought was good route planning, exactly this happened: I arrived at a gas station I had previously selected on Google Maps, or rather, the only one on the way, with a well-planned fuel reserve. The gas station turned out to be a single, enormous tank of gas, in the middle of nowhere.

However, payment there is only possible with a membership card. Neither credit cards nor cash are accepted.

Out of nowhere, a man suddenly pulls up beside me. He fills my car with gas and ends up completely filling the tank. When I try to send him the money via PayPal, he just waves me off.

"Just help someone else sometime when they need help."

This will not be my only experience of this kind.

The people of Saskatchewan are incredibly friendly and helpful.

Key facts about the Reesor Ranch in Saskatchewan

♡ Factor: ♡♡♡♡ ♡

Highlights: historic ranch, horseback riding, hiking, sunsets & stars

Location: Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan

Perfect for: Horse riding, road trips & peace and quiet in nature

My tip: Be sure to get up at night and look at/photograph the Milky Way.

Especially lovely: sleeping in Alice's romantic room.

👉 You can find the GPS data for the 3.5 km Kinnikinick Cliff Trail on Outdooractive.

Click on the first image to start the photo gallery:

Jason and his mother run the ranch, now in its fifth generation.

The house specialty is steaks.

The ranch is approached via gravel roads.

My horse Decker only knows stop and go

The ranch dates back to 1906

The rooms also have a historical look inside.

The historic Reesor Ranch in the Cypress Hills

My destination is the historic Reesor Ranch. Jason now runs the farm in the fifth generation, together with his mother. The ranch was founded back in 1906 and feels like a small movie set from the Wild West.

I'm sleeping in Alice's former room. The historic room is fully furnished with original furniture — including the bed and desk. It also has a pink bathroom with a clawfoot bathtub from 1906.

My room is so kitschy and sweet that I would love to stay there forever.

For dinner there's salad from their own garden, and in the morning homemade blueberry compote. The ranch's specialty is actually steaks—which I, as a vegetarian, skip.

20 new best friends on four hooves

The horses on the ranch are incredibly tame.

I just wanted to quickly take a few photos with my telephoto lens at sunset. Instead, I suddenly found myself surrounded by about twenty horses.

The horses nibble at my backpack, nudge my camera, and eventually stand so close to me that I can hardly photograph them even with a wide-angle lens.

Eventually I'll give up.

Forget the photo, I tell myself. Just enjoy the moment.

Horseback riding through the Saskatchewan prairie

The next morning, we went on a horseback ride through the Cypress Hills.

What I immediately find appealing is that the guests saddle and groom their own horses. However, I quickly realize that a Western saddle is in a completely different league than what I'm used to in Germany.

The saddle feels like it weighs 25 kilos and is attached with a kind of tie knot. Without Kari's help, I probably would have failed at saddling the horse.

My horse Decker is extremely affectionate, but prefers to move at two speeds:

• stand

• run relatively fast

There is little in between.

The ride itself leads through forests, along narrow trails and up into the hills of the Cypress Hills.

Once at the top, the view stretches far across golden forests and the open prairie.

The landscape is beautiful.

There's just one small problem: galloping or trotting is practically forbidden. Many ranches in Canada are afraid of lawsuits and therefore almost exclusively allow guests to ride at a walk.

It's a real shame. Because the scenery here would be an absolute horseman's dream.

Click on the first image to start the photo gallery:

Each guest must groom the horse themselves.

The view over the valley is beautiful.

Unfortunately, riding is only allowed at a walk.

Milky Way instead of people

There are several small hiking trails around the ranch. I'm hiking the Kinnikinck Cliff Trail . And even at night, you can do some otherworldly things here: The area is part of a Dark Sky Reserve.

Despite the illuminated ranch buildings, the Milky Way is easily visible.

The vastness here is hard to grasp. Perhaps that's why drone photos work so well in Canada. Only when a tiny person stands somewhere in the landscape do you truly understand how immense this nature really is.

Here more Canada tips

Over the next few weeks, you can join me on my road trip across Canada.

Traveling alone often sounds romantic. But in reality, it also means:

• drive a car

• research

• make photos

• film

  GPS recording

• flying a drone

• write

• post

Maybe I really do need a little AI-powered Instaboyfriend.

Not for the romance. More as an assistant.

the desert.

Information

General information about Saskatchewan can be found on the Tourism Saskatchewan website.

Arrival

The easiest way to reach Saskatchewan is via Calgary. Flights with a layover from Frankfurt to Calgary are available, for example, with Condor or Air Canada . An electronic travel document (eTA) is required for entry into Canada .

From Calgary, you can continue your journey with a rental car. It's also possible to drop the car off at a different airport. I, for example, drove all the way to Toronto. While the rental fee is higher that way, you don't have to drive back.

The roads in Saskatchewan are a bit of an adventure. Many are just gravel roads.

Overnight stay at the Reesor Ranch

At the Historic Explorer Ranch you can:

• sleeping in historic rooms

• Rent cabins

• Bring your own horses

• Book horseback riding excursions

• Hike

• cook yourself or eat in a restaurant