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Canada’s Dead Sea ? Diving into Saskatchewan’s salty secret

Five times saltier than the ocean, Little Manitou Lake lets visitors float, soak and heal in mineral-rich waters

Sep 25, 2025

1,182 words

5 minutes

By

Robin Esrock

Bathers wade into the salty waters from the beach at Little Manitou Lake. (Photo: Robin Esrock)

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Ten times saltier than the ocean and devoid of any large marine life, the Dead Sea is the lowest elevation on Earth, reaching about 430 metres below sea level. Located between Jordan and Israel, this natural phenomenon in the Great Rift Valley is where bathers float effortlessly in the salty waters, then slather themselves with dark, mineral-rich mud renowned for its cosmetic benefits. Having visited the Dead Sea on several occasions, I’ve found the buoyancy to be remarkable, the detoxifying mud to be effective, and the surrounding desert to be beautiful. Now, what if I were to tell you that the Dead Sea is actually a saltwater lake, and we have a similar one right here in Canada?

The mineral-rich mud from the shores of Little Manitou Lake has various therapeutic benefits, such as aiding skin conditions like psoriasis, eczema and sunburn. (Photo: Robin Esrock)

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I’ve driven 90 minutes southeast from Saskatoon to the town of Watrous (population 1842) to visit the Manitou Springs Spa Resort, overlooking Little Manitou Lake. It’s a modest counterpart to the luxury spa resorts that line the Dead Sea, but the draw here is much the same: bathers come from near and far for the opportunity to float in a saline lake, smear themselves with healing mud and soak in therapeutic springs for a variety of ailments. The surrounding scenery is also quite lovely, in the warmer months, anyway.

Twelve thousand years ago, a receding glacier trapped a lake at the bottom of a valley in what is now south-central Saskatchewan. Contained within the valley’s walls, the lake water was further prevented from seeping into the rivers thanks to pressure from groundwater aquifers. Geologists refer to this as a “closed-basin” or “endorheic lake,” which means the water drains into seasonal swamps and equilibrates (or balances out) through evaporation. The Dead Sea is also an endorheic lake, as is the world’s largest inland body of water, the Caspian Sea. Neither are actual seas because they’re surrounded by land, and they lack a direct natural connection to an ocean.

After millennia of constant evaporation, Saskatchewan’s 13.3 square kilometre Little Manitou Lake has water up to five times saltier than the ocean, and it’s loaded with minerals like magnesium and potassium. With an average depth of 3.8 metres, there are only five other lakes in the world with similar deep, salty waters. In the millennia to come, evaporation will continue to decrease the lake’s depth, while gradually increasing its salinity.

Located at Little Manitou Lake, the Manitou Springs Resort and Spa offers hot, warm and cold pools for its guests. (Photo Robin Esrock)

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The First Nations have revered this healing lake since the early 1800s, naming it after the Great Cree Spirit, Manitou. Their histories speak of young men abandoned at the lake, possibly suffering from smallpox. After bathing in Manitou Lake and drinking its waters, their symptoms improved dramatically, and they reunited with their tribe in full health. Word of the lake’s medicinal properties spread, attracting others seeking relief from fevers, skin conditions, arthritis, fatigue and other ailments. By the early 1900s, the nearby town of Watrous had become a hub on the Canadian Northern Railway, allowing visitors from Saskatoon and Regina to access the healing waters. By the late 1920s, the adjacent village of Manitou Beach had bathhouses, hotels and dance halls, including the popular Danceland, and remains one of Canada’s last remaining dance halls.

The waters of Little Manitou Lake cannot seep away, unlike the boom of railway visitors. Tourism changed, airlines replaced passenger railways, visitors disappeared, hotels shuttered, and Watrous became an agricultural hub. When it opened in 1983, the Manitou Lake and Spa Resort promised to draw tourists back to Manitou Beach, positioning itself as “Canada’s Carlsbad.” A well-travelled marketing ace might have used “Canada’s Dead Sea” instead.

Writer Robin Esrock floats in Little Manitou Lake. (Photo: Joe Kalmek)

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Entering one of the three designated public beaches, I slowly wade into the water. The big prairie sky is clear and the sun is hot, but the rooibos tea-coloured water is a lot colder than expected. It’s certainly a lot colder than the actual Dead Sea, which is, after all, located in an...