Clearwater Lake Provincial Park — The Pas to Clearwater Lake Backcountry Road

Provincial Road 287 north out of The Pas delivers you to Clearwater Lake Provincial Park across a mix of boreal lowland and limestone karst terrain that’s genuinely unusual for the Canadian prairies. The lake itself sits in a depression scoured by glacial action into Devonian limestone bedrock — visibility in the water runs to 35 feet, which is surreal this far north. The backcountry spurs off PR-287 probe the east and west shores through mixed spruce and tamarack, with muddy two-track sections that deteriorate quickly in wet weather near the Whitefish Lake junction. Watch for moose on the road at dawn and dusk; they’re thick in this corridor.

The main road is passable by any high-clearance 2WD in dry summer conditions, but the side spurs to the lake’s primitive campsites demand 4WD when wet — particularly the north-end limestone shelf road that can be deceptively slick. No permit required for backcountry camping outside designated sites. Fuel up in The Pas; it’s the last services before the park. Best season is July through mid-September. The fishing for lake trout and walleye is legitimate, and the lack of crowds compared to southern Manitoba parks is the real selling point here.