La Loche

La Loche, Northern Saskatchewan's second largest community, was first visited by explorers and traders in the 1700's, and was originally a Dene seasonal hunting and fishing settlement that had existed for hundreds of years prior to that time. The town was first plotted, and named in the early 1840's at about the same time as a community in close proximity, West La Loche, was slowly coming into being.

The lush valleys of the nearby historic Clearwater and the Garson Rivers, and Lake La Loche [a source to the Churchill River] have long yielded an abundant variety of fish and game to nourish those who reside here. La Loche was a crossing point to the arctic on the fur trade route that straddles the rise of land known as 'Methy Portage', a portage that divided the waterways that flow to the north and those that pour eastward to Hudson's Bay. The fur markets of central Canada were fed by masses of pelts that passed through this remote northwest community for more than a century and a half.

Recently the community has grown rapidly, especially with the advent of increased modern communications and transportation; in the past few decades and by sheer force of its cultural and economic geography this friendly community has become a thriving center with modern medical facilities and excellent schools.

Welcome to a community that has seen the giants of northern exploration tread its paths and portage its woodland trails.

La Loche Links

Northern Affairs

Saskatchewan Maps

National Archives of Canada

Raphael Cree

KCDC

Keewatin Yatthé Health District

Elderspeak Den Information