Manitoba Trails Strategy
Consultation has concluded
Manitoba Trails Strategy - What We Heard Report (FR)
Help us create the Manitoba Trails Strategy and shape how we develop, maintain and support recreational trails across Manitoba.
The Manitoba Trails Strategy will guide the development and maintenance of a provincial trail network for recreational activities such as hiking, biking, snowmobiling and off-road vehicle riding. Trails may include motorized and non-motorized trails, as well as water routes, in both backcountry and frontcountry areas. Feedback from stakeholders, partner groups and the public will help to shape the strategy.
We want to better understand:
- how you use trails in Manitoba
- trail amenities that are important to you
- barriers that impact your trail use
- how to get people more involved with recreational trails
- ideas for trail building and maintenance
We Want Your Feedback
Whether you currently use trails in Manitoba or would like to in the future, we would like to hear from you.
- Complete the online survey by January 22, 2021.
- Share an idea about how to improve Manitoba’s network of trails.
This information is available in an alternate format upon request, please contact MBTrails@gov.mb.ca .
Manitoba Trails Strategy - What We Heard Report (FR)
Help us create the Manitoba Trails Strategy and shape how we develop, maintain and support recreational trails across Manitoba.
The Manitoba Trails Strategy will guide the development and maintenance of a provincial trail network for recreational activities such as hiking, biking, snowmobiling and off-road vehicle riding. Trails may include motorized and non-motorized trails, as well as water routes, in both backcountry and frontcountry areas. Feedback from stakeholders, partner groups and the public will help to shape the strategy.
We want to better understand:
- how you use trails in Manitoba
- trail amenities that are important to you
- barriers that impact your trail use
- how to get people more involved with recreational trails
- ideas for trail building and maintenance
We Want Your Feedback
Whether you currently use trails in Manitoba or would like to in the future, we would like to hear from you.
- Complete the online survey by January 22, 2021.
- Share an idea about how to improve Manitoba’s network of trails.
This information is available in an alternate format upon request, please contact MBTrails@gov.mb.ca .
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Got an idea to improve Manitoba’s trail network? Tell us about it.
over 3 years agoCLOSED: Thank you for your ideas. This engagement has concluded.We want your ideas on how we can work together to improve Manitoba's network of trails.
You can post as many ideas as you like, or contribute by clicking the heart button on other people's ideas that you support.
Brett Stovinover 3 years agoCreate a team responsible for handling recreation development and management in our province.
I am seeing a lot of people posting about how we need more trails, need to improve our trails, and should use volunteers to accomplish this. Unfortunately trail building and maintenance requires A LOT of time and resources which many people don't have. There are a ton of great ideas here but the question is how is this really going to be accomplished? Do we only have one person tasked with making decisions? Where is the funding coming from for all of these ideas? As an avid mountain biker, nordic skier, canoeist, and backcountry trekker I have been paying close attention to our trails over the last 6 years. I also moved to BC for the summer, fall, and winter to learn about what they are doing right and what we can improve on in Manitoba. Four things I have noticed directly relating to the above interests: 1) Our number of mountain biking enthusiasts in Manitoba substantially outweighs the amount of trails we have. We severely lack trail management which stems from the almost non-existent trail development. There are very limited trails that are actually properly developed with features that most of the riders flock to the small amount we do have. This makes it hard to maintain the trails long term. A perfect place to start would be the Grand Beach Trail system which has amazing potential to be turned into something similar to the Canmore Nordic Centre. (Reference Canmore Nordic Centre. Also another idea in this forum gives a different perspective). https://www.albertaparks.ca/parks/kananaskis/canmore-nordic-centre-pp/activities/summer-activities/ 2) Nordic skiing seems like it is beginning to take off in Manitoba. Unfortunately, our systems are lacking the development that western systems have seen. Proper groomers for volunteers to use tied in with lengthening and widening of trails in order to create a trail that involves fat bikes, skate ski, and classic ski options should be a necessity in upcoming discussions. (Reference Sun Peaks Resort near Kamloops for this). https://www.sunpeaksresort.com 3) I've only recently begun my experiences back country canoeing but it is actually impressive how dismal our options are compared to the amount of lakes we have in Manitoba. All it takes is opening up a few sites on various lakes for advanced canoeists to string together a backcountry trip. An example of why we need this is the incredible amount of stress placed on the caddy lake and cross lakes chain. Seeing the change in these sites over the last 5 years is actually extremely depressing. The worst one to note is the island site on south cross lake that has gone from a beautiful site to having over ten pales used as toilets and left there while having many healthy trees chopped down by people thinking this is a good source of firewood. On any given weekend the parking lot at Caddy Lake to access these sites is completely full and every site on both south and north cross lake is full. (Reference another one of the ideas in this forum regarding a solution) 4) The Mantario Trail. This is the pride and joy of our trekking experiences in Manitoba. I am pleased to see that it is actually still in quite good shape. This trail could be used as a model for future development of trails. The Kwasitchewan Falls trail is a lesser known trail but one that I plan to complete in the near future. Other than these, it is hard to find proper backcountry options in Manitoba which is disappointing based on the landmass and hidden beauty of our province. As for other hikes, it seems as though (like many others in this chat have said) the new hikers our province is seeing are not following proper leave no trace principles. A prime example is the popularity of hunt lake trail where it has gotten to the point that some of the locals I know don't even want to do the trail anymore. There are much less travelled and equally as beautiful trails such as McGillivray Falls or Bear Lake lake that aren't far from the Hunt Lake trailhead where traffic could be redirected. In saying that, these trails are also beginning to see an influx of visitors since covid last summer. Perhaps as mentioned in another comment some more developed hikes in Nopiming could be a good option? To summarize, it might be a good idea to create a team in charge of our recreation now that people are wanting to be outside more. After living in Kamloops which is a city that prides itself in it's outdoor recreation I've learned how little and how poorly our outdoor recreation opportunities are managed. Perhaps a new position as a recreation development and conservation officer could be a first step followed by development of a team of park staff from each provincial and national park tasked with the development and maintenance of trails. Each of these teams would be overseen by the recreation development and conservation officer who manages the conservation of the area, development of trail systems, public concerns, and budget? Just an idea! I know I would be 100% open to taking on a challenge such as this.
4 comments4Mary Kriegerover 3 years agoAdd secondary loops to existing short trails
MB Parks have quite a few short trails designed to be completed in about an hour. Add a secondary loop to permit hikers to optionally extend the length of their walk to two or three times the length of the original designed length.
0 comment7Mary Kriegerover 3 years agoAssume that winter is also a time to get outdoors
Keep plowing the roads and the parking lots at the trail heads; Keep the access gates open. Wherever possible keep the washroom facilities open. Make new washroom facilities year-round. Keep cleaning them. Figure out more solutions to winter accommodation in areas rich with trails and less rich in short term stay facilities
2 comments12Mary Kriegerover 3 years agoexplore business incubator, popup market style innovations
Ideally towns and villages near areas with active trail users should benefit from the traffic generated by nearby trails. There may be a mismatch between those services that serve local markets and the wants of the trail users. The Winnipeg region has successfully experimented with developing new micro-businesses.Innovative strategies like pop-up stores; and ventures that make a common restaurant infrastructure available to multiple operators lower the barrier for those with new niche products and services to find markets. Could these strategies help smaller population centres offer more than the standard freezer/grill/deepfryer menu when there are people interested nearby?
0 comment3AK47over 3 years agoThe trails should be free for all
4 comments12
Who's Listening
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Minister of Natural Resources and Northern Development
Project Timeline
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Stakeholder Engagement
Manitoba Trails Strategy has finished this stageTrail groups and builders are invited to provide input until September 13, 2020.
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Public Engagement
Manitoba Trails Strategy has finished this stageThe public is invited to share their views until January 22, 2021.
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Analyze and Review
Manitoba Trails Strategy has finished this stageContributions to this engagement are closed for evaluation and review.
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Final Report
Manitoba Trails Strategy has finished this stageThe Manitoba Trails Strategy will be published online when released.
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Project Concluded
Manitoba Trails Strategy is currently at this stage