honestly i didn't expect to fall in love with this random saskatchewan town but here we are
okay so here's the deal - i ended up in moose jaw because my buddy said "dude there's this thermal pool thing" and i was like fine, i'm broke but i'm cold, let's go.
i'm not gonna lie, when i first pulled into town i thought i'd made a huge mistake. it looked like... well, it looked like what you think a small prairie city looks like. beige. flat. maybe some grain elevators. my wallet was screaming at me to just turn around and drive back to regina where at least i knew people.
but then i found the tunnel.
Quick Answers
Q: Is this place worth visiting?
A: honestly? yeah. if you're into weird underground history, hot springs, and spending basically nothing while feeling like you discovered something - absolutely. it's not glamorous but there's something here.
Q: Is it expensive?
A: cheapest place i've been in canada, honestly. i spent maybe $40 a day including accommodation. hostel was $28, food was $5-10 max if you hit the right spots.
Q: Who would hate it here?
A: people who need nightlife or fancy restaurants or... honestly any kind of scene. if you need to be entertained by your environment this is not the place. you gotta bring your own entertainment.
Q: Best time to visit?
A: winter actually - the hot springs hit different when it's -30 outside. or late fall like i did, when it's cold enough for the thermal feeling amazing but not enough to freeze your face off.
so the weather when i was there - it was like 7 degrees but felt like 4, which in my defense is actually cold when you're walking around not doing anything. the humidity was at 65% which made it feel damp and weird, not like the dry cold you expect from saskatchewan. the pressure was super steady at 1012 which honestly made me feel kind of calm? weird side effect but okay.
i found this tunnel system underneath downtown and honestly that was the highlight. there's like this whole underground network from back in the prohibition era or something - apparently they used to run bootleg liquor from here to everywhere. a local told me about it, some old guy at the coffee shop who saw me looking confused on my phone.
"you looking for something, kid?" he goes. i said "i don't know, honestly." he laughed and said "that'll be $5 for the tour, then you'll know."
the thermal baths though - that's the real reason to come here. it's like $25 for a day pass and the water is naturally warm because of some geology thing. i don't know, something about deep earth heat. it felt like $25 well spent when i was standing there in my 7 layers trying to figure out why i drove 4 hours for this.
i met this other traveler at the springs, some guy from winnipeg who does this every year. he told me the best cheap eats in town is this place called "tommy's" or something - don't quote me - where you can get a massive plate of perogies for like eight bucks. i went there and honestly? he was right. i hate when strangers are right about food.
*the perogies were incredible.
the vibe in moose jaw is weird in a good way. it's like everyone knows everyone but they're not annoying about it. i walked into this vintage shop near the main street and the lady just started talking to me like i'd been coming there for years. she showed me all these old saskatchewan postcards and told me about how the city used to be way bigger in the 80s before everything moved to calgary or whatever.
i asked her if it was safe and she laughed at me. "kid, this is moose jaw. the most exciting thing that happens is the occasional tornado warning in summer." so there's your answer on safety - it's extremely safe, boringly safe, safely boring.
the tourist vs local thing here is basically nonexistent because there basically aren't tourists. which is great if you're like me and hate feeling like a mark. i never once got that "oh you're from out of town let me overcharge you" vibe. the local experience IS the experience because there IS no tourist experience.
i spent three days here and i think i spent maybe $120 total including gas. that's insane for a trip where i also got to relax in hot springs and eat my weight in carbs and learn about underground liquor tunnels.
would i come back? honestly yeah. next time with more money so i can actually try the restaurants that aren't perogie places. or maybe in winter like that guy from winnipeg does. he said it's magical when everything's frozen and you're in the hot springs and there's steam everywhere.
sounds fake but i'll probably believe him because he was right about the perogies.
anyway that's my moose jaw take. not glamorous, not exciting, but like... satisfying? in a way i didn't expect. sometimes you don't need the most beautiful place in the world. sometimes you need the place that's just kind of there for you, you know?
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some links if you care:*
tripadvisor moose jaw
yelp moose jaw food
reddit saskatchewan
reddit moose jaw
tourism moose jaw official
hostelworld moose jaw