Adventures in Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian province in the center of the country. It has a varied landscape with arctic tundra, the Hudson Bay coastline, dense boreal forests, large freshwater lakes, and prairie grassland.

The town of Churchill is known as the “Polar Bear Capital of the World.” It lies on the harsh, rocky coast of Hudson Bay. In the autumn, polar bears wander onto ice-floes in the bay and hunt seals.

Visitors come to see the polar bears from all around the world. Tours in tundra buggies, giant large-wheeled vehicles with caged windows let visitors get up close to the bears.

While visiting here take a look at the Itsanitaq Museum, also known as the Eskimo Museum. There are exhibits of Inuit artworks and tools dating from 1700 BC through the Dorset and Thule cultures to the present day.

Fort Prince of Wales National Historic Site was built by the Hudson Bay Company in the 1700s, It can be visited during July and August and reached by boat.

Grand Beach Provincial Park includes a huge stretch of soft sand beach on the shores of Lake Winnipeg. This is one of the best beaches in Canada. There are amazing towering dunes. A short distance from the beach is the park campground with 350 sites.

Riding Mountain National Park is accessible throughout the year. It has a varied landscape with prairie, forest, and clear lakes and streams. The park extends over part of the glacially-formed Manitoba Escarpment with a series of plateaus that rise to heights of more than 340 meters overlooking the surrounding prairies.

The park has deep lakes like Clear Lake, Lake Katherine, and Deep Lake which are popular fishing spots.

Near Lake Audy herds of bison roam freely. Also in the park, you can find bears, wolves, elk, and deer. There are numerous walking and biking trails.

Gimli is a small resort town on the shores of Lake Winnipeg. In the summer visitors enjoy the beaches, restaurant patios, and ice cream stands. People enjoy strolling along the 298-meter-long seawall.

Whiteshell Provincial Park is a popular summer destination. The landscape is typical of the Canadian Shield with hills, lakes, valleys, forests, and rivers. Among the wildlife here are moose, deer, and black bears. There are cottages along the lake shore. It has four of the best campgrounds in Manitoba and is home to some of the best beaches. At the southern end of the park are the resort communities of Falcon Lake and West Hawk Lake.

Fort Garry National Historic Park outside of Selkirk is the only stone fort from the fur trading era to have survived anywhere in North America. Lower Fort Garry was built by the Hudson Bay Company in the 1830s. Lower Fort Garry was used as a training camp for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a prison, a mental institution, and a company headquarters.

The fort displays period furniture and household items gathered for years from Canada, Britain, and the US. Costumed park employees act out the roles of earlier inhabitants at the fort. There are also displays of pelts of every kind, horse bells, traps, and blankets.

The Narcisse Snake Dens give visitors a unique opportunity to see a spectacle of nature every spring. In late April and early May, tens of thousands of red-sided garter snakes emerge from winter slumber and exit their dens, ready to mate.

The snakes can be observed from platforms. They return to their dens in the autumn.

Pinawa Dam Provincial Park includes the crescent-shaped ruins of the 1906 Pinawa Dam. Visitors can take a self-guided tour. The park also has picnic facilities and an amphitheater.