Chaplin is located directly between Moose Jaw and Swift Current along the Trans Canada Highway. You know you are getting close to when you start to see large, white salt deposits that look like year round snow. We are located on the North side of the highway next to the salt plant. The parking lot is easily accessible to tour buses, RV's, and trailers. Come stretch your legs in the interpretive ce
ntre, walk up to the look out tower for a better glimpse of your favorite shorebird, or enjoy an ice cream cone on the picnic tables. The building is wheel chair accessible and has the cleaniest bathrooms around. Why this area is important? The Chaplin Lake area is a designated Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve Network site. This is the highest designation possible and there is only one other site in Canada with this designation, the Bay of Fundy. Chaplin Lake encompasses nearly 20 square miles (45,000 acres) and is the second largest saline water body in Canada. Shorebird surveys conducted by the Saskatchewan Wetlands Conservation Corporation and Environment Canada's Canadian Wildlife Service revealed that over 30 species, with a peak count of 67,000 birds in a day using the lake. Counts of over 50,000 Sanderlings, or about 25-50% of their hemispheric population, have been counted in a single day in and around Chaplin Lake. This area is also one of the top four breeding areas in Saskatchewan for the Piping Plover, an endangered species whose principal breeding area is in Saskatchewan.
