Hidden in plain sight City's little-known treasures offer chance to get away from it all By: Brenda Suderman  Posted: 3:00 AM CDT Sunday, Jun. 30, 2019 Last Modified: 10:31 AM CDT Sunday, Jun. 30, 2019

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This article was published 30/06/2019 (2641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

During a few minutes at St. John’s Park earlier this month, Anders Swanson of Winnipeg Trails Association witnessed what seemed to be a midsummer snow shower as the cottonwood trees lost their seeds all at once.

“I felt it was a magical place,” says Swanson of that visit to the North End park.

“It was extremely beautiful.”

But the only way to experience those tiny moments of natural beauty is to get outside, says Swanson, who advocates exploring the city’s parks, walking trails and bike paths.

“For me the real reason is the little unexpected things.”

This summer, Swanson has a few new places on his list, including Little Mountain Park at the northwest corner of the city, as well as returning to favourite spots along the city’s creeks and rivers.

Follow his example and show yourself the city this summer. Make a point of visiting the parks, green spots or trails you always intended to explore. Discover some natural settings that could be the places you want to meet friends and nature.

Here are four places I visited recently, three for the first time.

 

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Bunn’s Creek Trail

365 McIvor Ave.

More journey than destination, this three-kilometre trail follows the course of Bunn’s Creek, a meandering waterway in the far reaches of North Kildonan named after 19th century Métis medical doctor John Bunn. It runs from the Red River through neighbourhoods to Raleigh Street.

The crushed gravel trail is accessible from many residential streets, but if you’re coming from another part of the city, park at Bunn’s Creek Centennial Park off McIvor Avenue, the only spot on the trail with a washroom.

East of the parking lot, visitors can glimpse well-manicured backyards of houses backing onto the ravine through the cover of the mature oak and ash trees, hear plenty of bird calls, and see families of ducks swimming in the creek. In winter, a toboggan slide descends into the basin near the covered shelter. The western leg of the trail feels more remote and far away from the cares of the city, making it an attractive destination for area residents.

“My favourite part is just the trail, the forest in the middle of the city,” explains Victor Barreto from his perch on a park bench overlooking the ravine.

“I like to relax (here.) It clears the mind.”

The western trail also includes a community art project by artist Becky Thiessen and students from the nearby Knowles Centre and John G. Stewart School, installed last year. Each of the trail signs feature one of the seven sacred Indigenous teachings, with a carved animal on one side and a digital collage on the other, protected by a small roof.

 

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King’s Park

198 King’s Dr.

After living all over Canada, Ethan Ralph chose Winnipeg for its wide skies, prairie esthetic and the pockets of green nestled in city neighbourhoods.

“This is a real hidden gem,” he says while walking through King’s Park with his dog Phoebe, a Shih Tzu-Yorkie mixture.

“It’s very soothing and calming to the emotions to walk here, summer and winter.”

With a large off-leash dog park in the centre of this 37.5-hectare Fort Richmond public space attracts many dogs and their owners, as well as folks looking for another type of walking experience.

For the last decade, the park has been home to the Carol Shields Memorial Labyrinth, constructed in honour of the late Winnipeg-based novelist, winner of both the Governor-General’s Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Located at the park’s southern edge, the 50 metre diameter classical labyrinth features a combination of garden, shale and paving stones in it looping circular walkways. Two stone walls engraved with quotations from Shield’s books mark the formal entrance, providing a small taste of Shield’s literary contributions to visitors unfamiliar with her work.

Designed to be a walking meditation path, the labyrinth also invites visitors to stop and admire the perennial gardens or sit quietly on park benches in the centre.

 

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Lagimodière-Gaboury Historic Park

363 Notre Dame St.

Take a trip to Winnipeg’s other forks, the junction of the Seine and Red, accessible through Lagimodière-Gaboury Historic Park.

Instead of paved pathways and food vendors such as The Forks upstream, expect only crushed gravel trails and glimpses of the Seine along the trail to the Red.

Part of the Gabrielle Roy Route through Old St. Boniface, the trail offers few amenities at the junction of the two rivers except for a peaceful view of the waterways and tree-lined banks.

“It’s just a natural place to stop, so I stop,” explains Aaron Bacon, who took a few minutes from his bicycle ride to visit the place where the two rivers meet.

Although there’s little interpretative signage, this 10-hectare park is located on land once owned by Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière and his wife Marie-Anne Gaboury, grandparents of Louis Riel.

Visitors can walk or bike along the Red toward Whittier Park, the site of Festival du Voyageur, soaking in the calm and beauty of the island of green between the Red River and the railroad tracks.

 

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Sturgeon Creek Greenway

Off Booth Avenue

This green sanctuary squeezed between the busy traffic on Portage Avenue and the activity around Grace Hospital offers opportunities for either a leisurely stroll or longer bike ride.

Accessible from a small parking lot just north of Portage off Booth Avenue, the four-kilometre trail heads north through St. James to Saskatchewan Avenue or meanders about 500 metres south to Woodhaven Community Centre before connecting with residential streets.

“I like this park because there not lots of people here. It’s chill,” says Mike Lively from his perch on the picnic tables outside the washrooms at Sturgeon Creek Greenway.

Visitors can sit along the shady of Sturgeon Creek, head across the creek along Portage Avenue to get a closer look at the fish ladder, or step into the province’s history at Grant’s Old Mill, a small replica flour mill on the same spot Metis leader Cuthbert Grant constructed a mill in 1829.

That mill serving farmers west of the Red River settlement only operated for three years before being destroyed by ice dams, explains interpreter Candice Guild.

“It was the first waterwheel west of the Great Lakes,” explains the University of Manitoba anthropology student.

Now operating on electricity, Guild and her colleagues grind about 500 kilos of flour with the huge mill stones throughout the summer, and field questions from people wandering into the wooden structure.

“It’s a beautiful park, it’s interesting to learn about the history and get other people’s take on it,” she says.

“It’s interesting to see how (the mill) connects with other events before and after.”

After visiting the mill, head south to walk under the eight lanes of the city’s busiest thoroughfare. The trail heads under Portage Avenue to Woodhaven and runs past the T-33 plane mounted on the south side, commemorating the Golden Centennaires, an acrobatic team that flew in 1967 during Canada’s 100th anniversary.

brenda@suderman.com