Use Winnipeg Transit to get around; BUSguide can help you plan your trips while on the go.
Check out Tourism Winnipeg‘s official site for:
Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Assiniboine Park & Zoo
- Canadian Museum for Human Rights
- Centennial Concert Hall
- The Forks
- The Manitoba Children’s Museum
- The Manitoba Museum
- Manitoba Theatre Centre
- The Winnipeg Art Gallery
On a student budget? Check out Tourism Winnipeg’s list of Free Activities!
Use this interactive layered map of Winnipeg’s Parks & Open Space to search for specific parks or available amenities (e.g. BBQs, washrooms, or rain shelters), athletic fields (e.g. soccer or baseball), and park features (e.g. disc golf courses, outdoor swimming pools, or canoe launches).
Need a green escape? Check out some of these:
In Winnipeg
- Assiniboine Forest features gravel and wood chip paths through aspen-oak forests, small grasslands, and around a constructed prairie pothole marsh (trail map)
- Bois-des-Esprit (Spirit Forest) – find over 10 wood spirits carved into trees along the gravel paths which take you along the Seine River through marshland, tall grass prairie, and forest, all without leaving the city.
- St. Vital Park has plenty of open space for picnics, Frisbee, or soccer, as well as paths through mature oak forests and river bottoms forests.
- King’s Park has BBQ and washroom facilities, paths through river bottom forest and past a small pond and surrounding wetland, and an off-leash dog park. It’s also only a 20 minute walk south of the Department of Soil Science’s building!
Outside Winnipeg
- Fort Whyte Alive is a perfect place to watch thousands of Canada Geese take refuge in its small lakes during their migration in fall. Check their website to find out the best times to watch the spectacle. The centre also has boardwalks through marsh, biking trails, and its own herd of bison (12 km west of the University of Manitoba)
- Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre has over 30 km of wooden boardwalks, gravel paths, and grass trails through a large prairie marsh (45 km north of Winnipeg)
- Brokenhead Wetland Interpretive Trail is a boardwalk trail (3.66 km return) through forest and an open fen which is home to rare and/or endangered carnivorous plants and wild orchids
(80 km northeast of Winnipeg) - Narcisse Snake Dens are best visited in late April / early May when tens of thousands of (harmless) red-sided garter snakes emerge from their underground winter dens, or in early September when they return. Check the website for updates on snake activity levels (110 km north of Winnipeg)
Provincial & National Parks
- Birds Hill Provincial Park facilities include camping, swimming, and picnic sites in an aspen-oak forest (25 km northeast of Winnipeg)
- Whiteshell Provincial Park offers camping, canoeing, and hiking (established trails range from 2 to 60 km) in a pristine Precambrian Shield setting with extensive forests and hundreds of lakes (140 km east of Winnipeg)
- Spruce Woods Provincial Park is home to the Spirit Sands desert, a truly unique gem in Manitoba. The park has a campground and back-country camp sites, trails for hiking in summer, including some through the sand dunes, and numerous winter activities including designated cross-country ski trails, skating, and toboganning (180 km west of Winnipeg)
- Riding Mountain National Park is home to the summer town of Wasagaming, the spectacular Clear Lake, and hiking trails along the Manitoba Escarpment (270 km northwest of Winnipeg)
Last Updated: April 12, 2022