‘Fall-ing’ in love with hiking in Manitoba
Advertisement
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/10/2020 (980 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
As part of my family’s staycation this year, we enjoyed some beautiful Manitoba hiking trails. The amazing colours of fall are not to be missed, and hiking is definitely the best way we have found to enjoy them.
Before this year, we didn’t really know what actual hiking was. Living in East Kildonan, we often walk the Northeast Pioneers Gateway, along Bunn’s Creek and in Birds Hill Park; all are wonderful and handy to where we live.
A few weeks ago, our first real hike was the Top of the World trail at Falcon Lake. This 3.4 kilometre trail required the kids to load a trail app on their phones to navigate, as we could not have found our way without them. It started as a fairly wide trail, then became narrower as we moved into rocky and forested landscape. We climbed rocky paths, over tree roots, and when we got to the “top of the world”, it was worth it for the incredible bird’s-eye view of Falcon Lake. For our first time hiking, this trail was incredible and we were excited to try another trail.
We may have been a little too excited when we chose McGillivray Falls self-guiding rail next.
On paper it is a 4.3-kilometre moderate trail (longer than the last one) so “perfect”, we thought. Almost immediately, we walked up a rock hill alongside waterfalls, crossed a narrow bridge, scaled some more rock, and moved into the forest along a narrow path full of rocks and tree roots. We carefully watched every step in the thick forest, and eventually emerged at McGillivray Lake. The walk back across a lot of Canadian Shield rock was easier. Over all it was a beautiful, fun and challenging but do-able excursion. Once again, the kids navigated with their phone apps, which I would recommend for the first time on this trail.
We wanted more, and had heard people rant and rave about Pine Point Trail at Pine Point Rapids, but hesitated because it is nine kilometres long. We started out thinking we would do the short trail, as there is an option halfway in to continue or to loop back.
I couldn’t be prouder to tell you that we did the whole thing. It was so beautiful, fun and amazing that we couldn’t resist. The first part was rocky and forested, taking us along the Whiteshell River and passing some rapids. The second loop was challenging, with narrow paths through the forest, up and down a rocky landscape, and past two more sets of rapids. I huffed and puffed on that last rocky hill-climb. The 2.4 kilometre walk back to the car was along wide, level, groomed path — thank goodness. We did not use an app this time, as a friend had given us a tip: he said to look for the route markers on four-foot tall white posts with orange rings around the top. We did this and were able to find our way with no trouble at all.
This is our new fall thing to do. No matter what time of year is your favorite, I recommend connecting with nature and enjoying beautiful Manitoba.
Wendy Hrynkiw is a community correspondent for East Kildonan. Email her at wendyhrynkiw@shaw.ca
Wendy Hrynkiw
East Kildonan community correspondent
Wendy Hrynkiw is a community correspondent for East Kildonan. Email her at wendyhrynkiw@shaw.ca