On a mid-October day I drove up the Lac du Bois Road to the upper grasslands and did a nature hike in the Lac du Bois Conservation Area.   I started at the south end of the old Stony Lake Track, a double track first used by homesteaders for ranching, starting in 1890.     It has been leased for grazing ever since and recently the Nature Conservancy of Canada has installed concrete barriers to keep out off-road motorized vehicles.     The track will gradually become grassed in, but there are still a number of invasive species on disturbed ground (I pulled a few out).    The route was up through grassland hills, past ponds, aspen groves, then Stony Lake.

The vegetation of the open grasslands is mostly past the growth stage and is now readying for winter.    There were some seedheads, an occasional late wildflower, and some evergreen plants along the track.       As I hiked I took a few photos of what I spotted, embedded here as a Google Photos slideshow.   Click an image to go to the album and click any image for more information (ID, etc.)