4,000 kg. That is the most the Lemsford ferry would take when the Saskatchewan Highway Hotline was last updated, at 09:00 on 28 September 2026: status Light Loads Only, the lowest weight cap on any provincial crossing that morning. Crossing is free between 07:00 and midnight; anything over the cap needs another route until the limit is lifted.
Hours: provincial ferry page + Highway Hotline, checked 29 September 2026. Usual season April–November; 2026 end date not yet posted. Government of Saskatchewan – Lemsford Ferry · 2026-09-29
10,000 vehicles a year cross the South Saskatchewan on the Lemsford ferry, on a deck built for six cars. The Government of Saskatchewan runs it as one of 12 ferries plus one barge, on a grid road north of the village of Lemsford, south-western Saskatchewan.
18,500 kg is the vessel's load rating on the ministry's page, with a deck 17.1 m long and 5.8 m wide. 4,000 kg is what the Highway Hotline allowed on 28 September 2026. The gap between the two figures is the most useful thing to know before driving here in autumn: that morning only two provincial ferries were down to light loads, and Lemsford's cap was the lower of them.
Season: April to November in a typical year, according to the province, ending when weather or ice make the crossing unworkable. No 2026 closing date had been posted by 29 September.
Price: zero. Of the thirteen vessels on the Hotline's ferry list, one charges a fee — the Wollaston Lake barge, which links that northern community to Highway 905 — and the Hotline says so in as many words. Lemsford is one of the twelve that do not.
| Car and driver | Free |
| Passenger | Free |
| Vehicle under the posted 4,000 kg limit | Free |
Free as of 29 September 2026 Saskatchewan Highway Hotline – ferry crossings list · 2026-09-29
The river here separates two rural municipalities: Clinworth No. 230 on the Lemsford side, Newcombe No. 260 to the north. Lemsford belongs to a trio of provincial ferries on this river above Highway 32. Upstream, the westernmost of the trio is the Estuary crossing: open that morning, capped at 7,000 kg. Neither is an easy detour for a heavy vehicle right now.
From Lemsford itself, head north on the grid road to the river; the ministry gives no street address, and none is needed. The landing is a ramp with no ticket office. Mapped end to end, the cable route measures close to 200 metres to the opposite ramp.
The north bank belongs to a different rural municipality, Newcombe No. 260, which matters only if you are ringing the RM about the approach road. For the ferry itself, the number is the crew's line, 306-463-2088.
The ferry is rated for 18,500 kg, but the Hotline limit is the one that counts. On 28 September 2026 it stood at 4,000 kg.
Per the ministry, a shift in river level can change whether the ferry runs and how much it may carry, with no advance warning. Check on the day, not the week before.
Plan around 12:00–12:30 and 18:00–18:30, the usual crew meal breaks. Nothing runs between 00:00 and 07:00.
The Lemsford ferry's own number. For the wider highway network: 1-844-754-4929 (1-844-SK-HIWAY).
That is the province's usual ferry season. The actual end depends on weather and ice; the Hotline status changes when it happens.
The traffic figure has barely moved in a generation. The province's April 2000 release put Lemsford's 1999 total at 11,730 vehicles (the release spells the name Lemford), out of more than 29,000 for the three south-western ferries combined and 258,148 across the whole provincial fleet that year.
Lemsford sits in the Hotline's list alongside ferries with very different limits — from 4,000 kg here to 82,000 kg at Riverhurst on Highway 42. That spread is the reason to check this particular crossing by name rather than assuming the provincial network is in the same state.
On the Hotline update of 09:00, 28 September 2026, it was 4,000 kg, with the status Light Loads Only. The ferry's normal rating is 18,500 kg, but the posted restriction overrides it.
Yes, $0 for vehicles and passengers. The only fee-charging vessel in the provincial fleet is the Wollaston Lake barge in northern Saskatchewan.
07:00 to midnight, daily in season, on demand. The crew usually takes meal breaks at 12:00–12:30 and 18:00–18:30.
The south ramp, on the Lemsford side, is in the RM of Clinworth No. 230; the north ramp is in the RM of Newcombe No. 260.
It is the next provincial ferry upstream. Its Hotline entry that morning read: open, 7,000 kg. Look up both by name before committing to either.
About 10,000 a year, according to the Ministry of Highways. In 1999 the figure was 11,730.
The ferry line is 306-463-2088. General highway questions go to the ministry's customer service centre on 1-844-754-4929.