YURTS so good

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This article was published 10/07/2009 (5927 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NUTIMIK LAKE — Manitoba is known for strange ethnic fusions, from foods like "Peking perogies" you find in some Winnipeg restaurants, to Red River jig music that blended early aboriginal-French-Scottish musical traditions.

But mixing the shelters used by wandering Asian nomads, with Manitoba’s lake experience?

Yurts so good, as far as many Manitobans are concerned.

Yurts are dome-shaped structures that have been popping up around lake country in provincial parks.

For more than 30 years, the province has quietly provided "affordable" cottages for people to rent who might not otherwise have the financial means to do so.

In 2005, the NDP government ramped up that program by introducing yurts — portable buildings used by the nomadic peoples of Central Asia, although ones in Manitoba are permanent. The opportunity to enjoy the lake experience is, after all, almost a Manitoba birthright.

Actually, the province dove into yurt construction in a big way, putting up 50 in seven campgrounds in provincial parks across Manitoba since the first ones in 2005 at Nutimik Lake, an hour-and-a-half drive east of Winnipeg in Whiteshell Provincial Park.

They’re a hit, says Tracey Elbourne, Manitoba Conservation head of recreational programs.

"We have had such absolutely positive feedback. People love them," she said.

On the financial side, yurts cost taxpayers about $18,500, and that includes the rustic pine furniture inside and various additions like the outside deck. The yurts pay off in less than five years.

The yurts are bare-bones buildings, just like the province’s cabin programs. They are one large room, with electricity but no running water or bathrooms, and cooking and eating must be done outside, just like camping.

For Neil and Mindy Corrigan and their five children under about nine years of age, yurting is the way to go.

"For a family our size, you’d have to have a caravan to haul all our gear" if that included tents, chairs, mattresses and camping gear, said Neil, who rented a yurt at Nutimik Lake this week.

And your first day would be spent setting up your camp. "With yurts, you just plunk yourself in and you’re good to go."

It’s a bit of a squeeze, however. To accommodate seven people, the yurt they rented has two double bunk beds and a futon that converts into a bed.

"For us, it’s a little cramped," said Mindy, admitting that their first night was "horrible. But we can cram ourselves in. We’re used to squishing."

You bring your own sleeping bags, food, pillows, dishes, cooking utensils and Coleman stove, unless you prefer to cook over the fire pit. Provincial yurts rent for $44.80 per night, tax included, about $25 more than a serviced campsite. But the yurt "is so much worth it to us," Mindy said.

The Corrigans have been regular yurt renters since 2005. They also rent the provincial cabins on occasion, which are also mostly just one room.

"The Hecla and Camp Morton cabins are fantastic. They are cabins, but the prices are a lot cheaper than private ones," Mindy said. The Camp Morton cabins rent for as high as $74.74 per night for six people, but also have indoor toilets and running water.

At Hecla, a six-person cabin rents for $45.02, without indoor plumbing but with a small fridge and stovetop for cooking and with an attached screened gazebo.

Hecla also has a four-person cabin for $37.30, and even tiny two-person cabins for $29.57 per night. There are 33 provincial cabins in total.

Families seem to take the most advantage of the province’s deals. "The original intent of the cabins way back when was to provide affordable recreation facilities to families. And certainly we’ve kept true to that theme," Elbourne said.

But the facilities are by no means limited to families or people on a budget. They’re open to everyone, and seniors as well as couples and youths rent them.

The province has also spread the yurts around. They are now in provincial parks at Asessippi (Russell-Roblin area), Bakers Narrows (south of Flin Flon), Camp Morton (Lake Winnipeg), Clearwater Lake (north of The Pas), Nutimik (Whiteshell), Spruce Woods (Carberry), and Stephenfield (Carman). Cabins are at Camp Morton and Hecla Island.

Bookings start at the beginning of February and there are still openings, but not for four or five days in a row, Elbourne said.

 

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca