International Peace Garden

The Peace Garden was dedicated in 1932 on the forty-ninth parallel in the Turtle Mountains, straddling Manitoba and North Dakota, to mark the long undefended border; a cairn on the line carries a pledge that the two nations will not take arms against each other. The formal gardens run across the boundary, with a floral clock, a sunken garden planted with tens of thousands of annuals and twin towers. A 9/11 memorial holds ten steel girders from the World Trade Center. Visitors can move freely inside the garden without clearing customs, but must clear either Canadian or American customs on leaving, so a passport is needed.

What you actually see

• The border cairn - a monument standing directly on the 49th parallel.
• The sunken garden - formal beds of tens of thousands of annual plants.
• The 9/11 memorial - ten steel girders from the World Trade Center.
• The floral clock - a working clock planted in bedding.

When to go

June to September, when the annual planting is at its peak; the garden is open year-round but the display is a summer thing. A music camp runs on site through the summer.

Honest expectations

A passport is required because leaving means clearing customs on one side or the other. The site is remote, hours from any city. Outside summer the formal beds are bare.

Nearby

Boissevain lies north; the Turtle Mountains surround the garden.