Another Manitoba Road Trip – Digging for Rocks in Souris!

23 Sep

souris quarry  If you have a free day and want a fun family adventure, plan a trip to Souris! There’s so much to do along the way and while you’re there – feels like a real little holiday!

Head out to the #2 highway – there are tons of places to stop along the way and things to explore. We chose to stop in Glenboro – and I’m glad we did!

If you do, make sure to stop into the Glenboro Bake Shop for some amazing cinnamon buns. There’s tables outside to sit and enjoy them and a park across the street. We ended up going back in a few times, best cinnamon buns we’d ever had! They also sell all kinds of other baked goods, but also some salads, sandwich meats etc. so a perfect stop to pick up lunch for later too! camelJust remember to bring an empty cooler!

And while you’re there don’t forget to visit Sara the camel! I love taking pics with all these giant statues – and there are tons along highway #2! Check out A Daytrippers guide to Manitoba – there’s actually a full page listing all of the ones in the province for future trips!

Glenboro is a super cute town – neat old buildings and there was a farmers market, a car show and more while we were there.

After pigging out on delicious cinammon buns we headed to Souris – super easy drive and not too far.

If you want to check out the rock quarry, stop at the Souris Rock Shop which is right along the highway and you can’t miss it. You need to pick up a permit to go digging and while you’re there you can get a tour of the shop – for rock lovers this is amazing! The owner is super friendly and a rock fanatic – you can see all of the great displays, buy some neat polished rocks and check out the back room with all kinds of neat treasures.

souris rocks Kiddo go to hold a piece of a wooly mammoth tooth and a piece of a bison tooth. She also wore her minecraft shirt to go digging – she was in a “punny” mood I guess 🙂

Once you have your permit ($22) and the map to the quarry you are ready to go! Big tip, make sure everyone goes to the washroom as you might b- e there several hours and there really is nowhere near to go. There’s also zero privacy at the quarry for outside bathroom usage – just trust me! I gulped down a lot of coffee on the way there and learned that lesson the hard way.

The rock quarry is amazing – you can dig, you can cause little mini avalanches and sort through, you can just go crazy looking for rocks. Here’s what I recommend bringing:

– shovels, gloves and a pail per person

– lots of water to drink as it’s dusty and also to wash off rocks to see what you’ve found

– proper footwear, and extra footwear. It was muddy when we went and I was chasing frogs and ended in a mud pit – soggy runners for the rest of the dig but glad I had packed flip flops for the rest of the day. It was hilarious though, I was ankle deep and being sucked into the mud.

You can find almost anything there – petrified wood, fossils, and a zillion types of rocks. You can actually go back to the store after and have the owner help you identify your rocks. We found a lot of really neat ones, a few tiny fossils and just really had a blast. It’s a little bit dangerous as there are cliffs, but if you go to the lowest part and just stay there it’s fine for any age group at all. It’s ever changing too as it’s a working quarry – so be aware of that when you go and look for machinery. It was quiet when we went, just a few other rock diggers.

Digging for rocks is a pretty neat family outing – science, fun, being outdoors and lots of stuff to bring home! My daughter has turned a lot of her finds into necklaces – just pick up some wire and string and you’ve got even more projects. She loves to pour out all the rocks on a towel and sort them out – they’re all really different and it’s a really interesting way to spend a day.

bridge  And you can’t go to Souris without checking out the swinging bridge! There’s a museum on one side and a picnic area on the other so a perfect place to take a break.

It’s Canada’s longest historic suspension bridge – it’s 604 feet long so it’s pretty fun and it does move quite a bit. It has railings all the way up so it’s not dangerous at all – just a little creepy when someone jumps behind you etc.

This is a super easy roadtrip – fun for the whole family and lots of great memories to be made.

We left the house around 8am and we were home in time for dinner so it’s the perfect daytrip!

So many great places to explore in Manitoba and I have to say the rock quarry is one of our favourites so far. Go check it out with your family and let me know what you think! And if you’ve been before, any tips for those heading out?

What are your favourite places to stop along the way? And what are your must brings for daytrips?

 

 

3 Replies to “Another Manitoba Road Trip – Digging for Rocks in Souris!

  1. Thank you so much for this post!! Took my family to the rock quarry today and had a blast. We found some cool rocks. Even came across a salamander in the sandy rock area.

    • Glad to hear it! It’s such a cool place, happy others get to explore it too. Jealous of the salamander! we just had tons and tons of frogs

  2. Nadine you didn’t mention the Railway Museum on the way down the hill to the quarry. It is 1 of only 2 Museums that has an actual Train Simulator that was used to teach Engineers how to drive a train. It has certain hours me is really neat to drive. Please contact me and I will give you more info on it. Lots of schools do day trips because of its uniqueness.

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