Swift Current

Prairie highway city on the Trans-Canada, known for Speedy Creek, Frontier Days, and Cypress Hills detours.

Sometimes called "Speedy Creek," Swift Current sits on the Trans-Canada Highway at the midpoint between Regina and Medicine Hat, making it a natural stopping point when crossing the prairies. The city of about 16,000 has just enough to make a night's stay worthwhile — the Art Gallery of Swift Current, the Swift Current Museum with its 72-million-year-old Tylosaur skeleton, and a walking trail along Swift Current Creek through Riverside Park.

The big annual event is Frontier Days on the Canada Day weekend in July, with carnival rides, agricultural exhibitions, and a rodeo held in Riverside Park. The Cypress Hills interprovincial park, with its forested hills rising dramatically from the surrounding prairie, is within easy reach to the south and rewards a half-day detour.

Guide

Getting There

Swift Current sits directly on the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) between Regina (250 km east) and Medicine Hat (175 km west), making it one of the most straightforward stops on the prairie highway corridor. By car it's 2.5 hours from Regina and 1.5 hours from Medicine Hat. Greyhound no longer serves the route, but Saskatchewan Transportation Company (STC) buses stop here on the Trans-Canada corridor. There is no commercial air service to Swift Current; the nearest airports with connections are Regina and Calgary.

Guide

Things to Do

Swift Current is a stopping-off point rather than a destination in its own right, but it has more to it than most prairie transit towns. The Swift Current Museum in Riverside Park, the Art Gallery of Swift Current, and the creek-side walking trail are the local anchors. Day trips to Cypress Hills and Lake Diefenbaker are the main reasons to extend a stay.