OUTLOOK - A new accommodations offering in the Outlook area is allowing people to unplug and unwind from the sometimes chaotic world around them.
Crooked River Retreat, overlooking the South Saskatchewan River, is a passion project for co-owner Margaret Langager, overseeing it with her husband Bryce. She says it isn't just about experiencing an elevated form of camping, but it's about staying somewhere that leaves you feeling good about your experience.
"It isn't just glamping here," said Margaret. "It's recharging, recentering, and reconnecting so you can leave better than when you came."
The stem of the idea came from conversations that Langager had with clients at her hair salon in Outlook and from there, it wasn't long before the vision started to come together.
"It's actually a funny story because I own a salon in Outlook, of course, Shear Force, and some of my clients, when the Companion Inn dog kennel started, they were saying, 'We need a place like that for humans'," she explained. "And so we had purchased this land about four years ago and I was like, Hmmmm, maybe there's an opportunity here for people. We had 14 acres, so we had lots of room to maneuver on. And so I said to Bryce, 'Maybe we should do this.' And then that's how it came to be."
Crooked River is a site to behold upon one's first arrival. Located just off of Highway 45 on the west side of the river, travellers will eventually make a right turn onto a grid road that takes them right down to almost the riverbank itself. The property sits just above the water, giving people a photographic view of the river valley that would certainly do wonders for those looking to relax and recharge with some peace and quiet.
The accommodations offer what people need, as do the activities and events that are hosted at the retreat.
"Well, we offer four cottages, and a lodge that is fully equipped with a full kitchen, dishwasher, stove," said Margaret. "The cottages entail a bedroom with a queen size bed, a Murphy bed, a kitchenette, a fridge, and a full bathroom. We also have air conditioning. Other things we are offering, we're getting ladies out here to do retreats. So there is that as well on the website. We have a little events page that shows where some of the ladies that are coming out, you can click on their website and sign up for some retreats. There's also canoeing, kayaking, bird watching, obviously wildlife, swimming."
The retreat's close location to Outlook also allows people the chance to duck away for a few hours and find some entertainment before coming back to the location.
"We're 20 minutes from Outlook too," said Langager. "So we do kind of also talk about the golf course and the theater and if you want to go in to watch a movie, you have that, right? The boutique in town, same thing."
Having just opened up in the last couple of months, things are still very new for the retreat, but Crooked River has already hosted approximately 30 people, with Margaret saying there were more accommodations booked for the incoming weekend at the time of our chat.
"We're pretty new, first couple of months in operation," she said. "But it's been awesome so far. Everything has been beyond their expectations when they walk in. They're super happy with the cottages. The one lady said, 'Margaret, this isn't glamping, this is luxury.' And then there were another couple of ladies out here on Friday night when we had that huge storm. She said it was just amazing watching it over the river, and she said she felt just safe in the cottages, too. The response has been very overwhelmingly good, and that's very cool."
Langager says it was the world we all began to live in during that post-COVID era that helped inspire her to want to create something like Crooked River, wanting to develop some form of getaway where people can relax and almost put the rest of the world on 'Pause'.
"Honestly, with everything that was kind of going on after COVID and everybody's levels of anxiety just going up, I just wanted people to come out and chill," she said. "Just relax, recharge, put your feet in the water, put your feet in the sand, and just kind of breathe. So that was basically my motivation for doing this. Because everybody just seems so wound up. Get off your devices. Although we do offer Wi-Fi. But I would hope people would just kind of maybe leave them at the door, ya know?"
Langager says the view from Crooked River is hard to beat and the accommodations have tried to go above and beyond what guests come to expect. She says qualities such as these are some of the reasons why the retreat stands out.
"Our view is kind of second to none," she said. "And we do have access right down to the river. "So if people do want to kayak or canoe, they can bring them right here. We can take them down to the riverbank. And they can walk onto the river. Or they can come from Outlook, canoe or kayak, and they can be picked up right at water's edge and brought back up. Our cottages are very well built, especially with the bathrooms and their full shower, toilet, sink. And really just the ambiance of the whole place. It's just something, and really just a little bit above and beyond."
For more on the Crooked River Retreat, head over to staycrookedriver.ca.
