North Battleford is a small city in west-central Saskatchewan, sitting on the north bank of the North Saskatchewan River across from its twin, the town of Battleford. Together they form a community of about 20,000, serving as the commercial hub for a large stretch of farming and ranching country.
The area's main draw is historical. Battleford was the original capital of the Northwest Territories and the site of some of the key events of the 1885 Northwest Resistance. Fort Battleford National Historic Site, on the south side of the river, preserves the North-West Mounted Police post that played a central role in the conflict. The interpretive centre does a decent job of presenting multiple perspectives on a complicated chapter of Canadian history.
The Allen Sapp Gallery houses the largest single collection of paintings by Allen Sapp, the Plains Cree artist who chronicled prairie reserve life, and the Western Development Museum on the highway traces the settlement of the prairies through restored buildings and agricultural machinery. If you are passing through on the Yellowhead Highway between Saskatoon and Edmonton, either museum is worth a stop. In summer, Battlefords Provincial Park on Jackfish Lake is the obvious day trip out of town.