Nipawin, Saskatchewan, is a charming town nestled on the Saskatchewan River portion of Tobin Lake in Canada. Known as the "Town of Two Lakes," Nipawin is situated between Codette Lake, formed by the Francois-Finlay Dam in 1986, and Tobin Lake, created by the E.B. Campbell Dam in 1963. The town is bordered by the Rural Municipality of Nipawin No. 487 and the Rural Municipality of Torch River No. 488, with the latter across the Saskatchewan River.
The first permanent settlement in Nipawin, Saskatchewan, took place in 1910 with the establishment of a trading post. In 1924, the Canadian Pacific Railway passed nearby over the Crooked Bridge, prompting the settlement to relocate, building by building, to its current location to be closer to the railway.
The area around Nipawin, Saskatchewan, was home to several fur trading posts, although their history is poorly documented. In 1763, Joseph Smith reached the area from York Factory, and in 1768, James Finlay from Montreal built a post. By 1795, there were two posts, one run by A. N McLeod for the North West Company and another run by James Porter working for David Grant.
On April 18, 2008, Nipawin, Saskatchewan, experienced a tragic event when a downtown meat shop exploded, destroying three buildings and damaging several more. The explosion, which killed two and injured five, is suspected to have been caused by a backhoe that snagged and sheared a natural gas riser from the main line. The incident prompted the mayor to implement a state of emergency and received extensive national news coverage.
According to the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Nipawin, Saskatchewan, had a population of 4,570 living in 1,921 of its 2,091 total private dwellings. This represented a change of 3.8% from its 2016 population of 4,401. With a land area of 8.93 km2 (3.45 sq mi), it had a population density of 511.8/km2 (1,325.4/sq mi) in 2021.
Nipawin, Saskatchewan, experiences a Humid continental climate (Koppen: Dfb) bordering on a subarctic climate (Dfc), characterized by long, extremely cold winters and short, warm summers. The highest temperature ever recorded in Nipawin was 42.2 °C (108 °F) on July 19, 1941, while the coldest temperature ever recorded was −48.3 °C (−55 °F) on January 8, 1930.
Nipawin, Saskatchewan, has become a popular resort community and a destination for outdoor recreation, including fishing, camping, boating, golfing, and hunting. The town hosts several annual fishing events, such as the Great Northern Pike Festival, the Codette Walleye tournament, and the Vanity Cup Walleye tournament.
The Nipawin and District Regional Park, located about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) north of town, and the 18-hole Evergreen Golf Course, rated as one of the top 100 public courses in Canada and one of the top five in Saskatchewan, are among the town's main attractions. Nipawin is also along the Trans-Canada Snowmobile Trail, offering many groomed trails and snowmobile rallies.
