Cedar Lake, a short distance upriver, provides a natural water source for the plant.

Provincial Trunk Highway 6, the region's primary roadway, crosses the Saskatchewan River at the Grand Rapids Bridge.

Grand Rapids was on the main canoe route toward the West, where Fort Bourbon once stood.

[3] Grand Rapids was the only significant obstacle on the Saskatchewan-North Saskatchewan between the Rocky Mountains and Lake Winnipeg.

[4] Grand Rapids has a humid continental climate (Koppen: Dfb) with vast seasonal differences.

Summers are warm with occasional heat waves, although moderated by its relatively high latitude and proximity to the lake areas of Manitoba, resulting in seasonal lag in spring.