Saskatchewan
There are 36 communities along the 676 kilometres (420 mi) of the Saskatchewan portion of the Red Coat Trail which would be one approximately every 20 kilometres (12 mi) apart, and there are 59 at grade intersections with primary and secondary highways which would be a junction approximately every 10 kilometres (6.2 mi). The highway volume beginning in Saskatchewan along the Red Coat Trail about 45 vpd on a class 4 gravel highway.
SK Hwy 615 provides access north to Fort Walsh National Historic Park and the highest point of land in Saskatchewan. Travel is mainly east through the province of Saskatchewan on the Red Coat Trail which is continuous on SK Hwy 13 which is a secondary paved undivided highway until Weyburn. It is at the Consul intersection of highways that the Red Coat Trail changes to a thin membrane surface undivided highway where the traffic volume increases to about 80 vpd. Travel continues north east until the junction with SK Hwy 21 which provides access to Cypress Hills Provincial Park and Maple Creek. The Red Coat Trail continues east after this intersection on a class 3 granular pavement highway and traffic here increases to an AADT of 270 vpd. There is a junction with SK Hwy 18 before the highway turns north again to arrive at the intersection of SK Hwy 614 and the town of Eastend, which has the nickname Dino Country where a Tyrannosauraus rex was discovered spawning the T. rex Discovery Centre. A number of ancient fauna paleontological dig sites exist in southern Saskatchewan.
This area of the Red Coat Trail receives an increase of traffic wherein about 300 vpd travel the Red Coat Trail east of Eastend and over 650 vpd east of town resulting in an upgrade to asphalt concrete road construction. The traffic volume entering Shaunavon is about 600 vpd, and the AADT increases to over 1,000 vpd heading north on the SK Hwy 37 and Red Coat Trail concurrency. SK Hwy 37 provides access to the town of Gull Lake and in 9.4 kilometres (5.8 mi), the Red Coat Trail turns east on a thin membrane surface class 2 highway bearing between 150 to 250 vpd. The Red Coat Trail is upgraded to a class 5 granular pavement as traffic can reach a high of 530 vpd east of this SK Hwy 4 intersection. To the north west of the SK Hwy 58 junction is Thomson Lake which is a man made lake used for recreational and reservoir purposes becoming the first regional park of Saskatchewan. Lafleche at the junction with SK Hwy 58, and east of this junction the AADT increases to over 600 vpd. The Louis Pierre Gravel National Historic Marker commemorates history at the north end of SK Hwy 58, and the Cripple Creek Provincial Historic Marker is located at the junction with the Red Coat Trail (the southern terminus of SK Hwy 58).
The terrain of the Missouri Coteau features low hummocky, undulating, rolling hills, potholes, and grasslands. This physiographic region of Saskatchewan is the uplands Missouri Coteau, a part of the Great Plains Province or Alberta Plateau Region which extends across the south east corner of the province of Saskatchewan. SK Hwy 2 and SK Hwy 717 come together at the town of Assinibioia. Just to the west of Assiniboia the traffic volume increases to about 1,000 vpd and to the east of town, the volume decreases to about 800 vpd and the majority of the highway is class 3 granular pavement.
The intersection with SK Hwy 621 north is passed before arriving at the city of Weyburn which is on the intersection of SK Hwy 35, SK Hwy 39, the CanAm Highway. Weyburn, the opportunity city, has also been dubbed the Soo Line City due its connection with Chicago on the Soo Line of the Canadian Pacific Railway CPR. The city of 9,433 people is situated on SK Hwy 35, SK Hwy 39, and SK Hwy 13. absorbed the small towns of Exon and Converge into the city. Weyburn is located astride the Williston geological Basin which contains oil deposits, and several wells operate in the vicinity. There are roadside attractions featured here such as a large Lighthouse water tower, wheat sheaves and Prairie Lily. Weyburn is situated near the upper delta of the 470 miles (760 km) long Souris River. The Souris River continues southeast through North Dakota eventually meeting the Assiniboine River in Manitoba.
The Red Coat Trail is primarily ashpalt concrete between SK Hwy 6 and SK Hwy 47 where traffic volume reaches about 1,450 vpd east of Weyburn, and over 3,500 vpd within the city on this class 2 highway. There is a short stretch of granular pavement before SK Hwy 9 where the traffic volume falls to about 1,700 vpd, rising to about 2,400 vpd near Carlyle.
The town of Carlyle is at the intersection with SK Hwy 9, which provides access north to Moose Mountain Provincial Park and Cannington Manor Provincial Historic Park. Before the Manitoba border the Red Coat Trail is granular pavement with traffic volume below 1,000 vpd. Manor on SK Hwy 603, Antler River, Wauchope on SK Hwy 601, Redvers on SK Hwy 8, Gainsborough Creek and finally Antler on SK Hwy 600 are the last localities in Saskatchewan before Manitoba.
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