For Those Who Come Next: Itinerary for Walking the Trans Canada Trail in Manitoba

“Life is already too short to waste on speed.”

 

Edward Abbey

 

How long does it take to hike across Manitoba on the Trans Canada Trail?

 
There are moments within a long journey where it becomes necessary to step slightly outside of the day-to-day routine of walking and reflect on what the path has actually required.   Our goal, as we walk from coast to coast to coast on the Trans Canada Trail, has always been to share each day of the journey and, in the process, help those who might have an interest in attempting something similar. To this end, this entry is about sharing our itinerary for hiking across Manitoba.

 
In the process, we hope to answer questions that anyone might have about the province that we have recently concluded, such as:
 
What is it like to hike across Manitoba on the Trans Canada Trail?
If you want to hike across Manitoba, how long might it take?
If you want to hike across Manitoba, what might the daily stages look like?
 

Notes on Hiking Across Manitoba  on the TCT

 
Manitoba was the seventh province of our #Hike4Birdson the Trans Canada Trail, completed at the end of our second year and beginning of our third season on the national pathway.  The first stretch we trekked took us from the Ontario-Manitoba border and the Canadian Shield to the capital city of Winnipeg.  While our second venture in Manitoba initially led us from Winnipeg south into the prairies and the international border at the town of Emerson, before turning north and meandering slowly westward to the province of Saskatchewan.

 
We entered Manitoba from Ontario through Whiteshell Provincial Park, where the character of the trail felt more like Northern Ontario than a prairie province.  Around us was the Canadian Shield – rocks, lakes and forest.    The route through Falcon Lake, West Hawk, Whiteshell PP and onward toward Pinawa held that same sense that it was defined by the geology and landscape. 

 
That changed beyond Powerview as we approached Winnipeg. The trail widened into an established rail trail, the horizon opened, and our days became less about navigating terrain and more about covering distance across a landscape where sky, wind, heat, and repetition became the defining challenges.  Our final two days in our first year were hence a preview of what our next year on the national pathway would be like as we crossed the prairies.  The urban trails and capital city of Winnipeg were a natural place to stop and mark the end of our second year on the Trans Canada Trail.

When we returned the following year, it was to hike the prairies beginning in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Almost immediately, beyond the urban trails of Winnipeg, the TCT followed exposed, gravel, rural roads, which as the weeks passed, became more demanding in ways that are not immediately visible on a map.  The prairie sections south and west of Winnipeg – including the Crow Wing Camino from St. Norbert to Emerson, and the route beyond through Morden, Neepawa, and onward toward Russell - were defined not by elevation or terrain, but by distance, wind, and the steady repetition of the landscape.

 
Manitoba is not difficult because of what it places in front of you. It is difficult because of how far everything is – the result is that often days were spent hiking in a straight line for 40-60 km.

Like our hiking itinerary being broken over two years, so too did our gear reflect the demands of each of those periods on the Trans Canada Trail.  During our trek from the border to Winnipeg, we relied solely on our bodies and backpacks to carry supplies and camping gear – a reflection of the rugged nature of the Canadian Shield that we had followed through Northern Ontario.  In contrast, our venture from Winnipeg to Emerson to Saskatchewan was one defined by the realities of the prairies – long distances on rural roads, exposed to the elements, and the need to carry more water and supplies.  As such, in our second year, which would take us across Manitoba and Saskatchewan, we returned to using our Hike Cart – Radical Design’s Wheelie V as well as our UV sun umbrellas.  Both of which were invaluable in a summer in which temperatures regularly went above 40 degrees Celsius.

The Trans Canada Trail in Manitoba surprised us, with the eastern portion of the province being defined by the Canadian Shield – rugged terrain and dense forests, while the southern and western half of the region was clearly prairie.  We were also surprised by the sheer amount of bird life amid the province's wetlands and vast agricultural fields.   Given the nature of the flat lands, the size of the province and the length of the trail, Manitoba felt vast and naturally beautiful.  With that said, it also contained some of the most difficult and mentally challenging sections of the TCT – with so much reliance on gravel rural roads, the distance between communities and regional differences in terms of how we were greeted and treated.

 
Across Manitoba, the TCT was defined by a meandering route that wove for more than 1,400 km through a province that is roughly 500 km across between Ontario and Saskatchewan. Our itinerary was shaped by exposure, long gravel roads, limited shade, resupply distances, heat, and the growing realization that we were now spending more time on roads than on footpaths.  Distances and temperatures, along with the need to periodically resupply, changed how we moved, what we packed and altered our understanding of the Trans Canada Trail – coming to terms with the fact that we were now spending more time on roads than trails.
 

Guide to Hiking the TCT in Manitoba

 
This information is not a guide in the traditional sense. It is not prescriptive, nor is it intended to suggest that this is how the route must be walked. It is instead a record of how we crossed Manitoba  - drawn from our journals, our daily shared blog entries, and the lived experience of our trek. 
 
We offer this information as a means to plan and ground your own trek – to have the same type of insights based on experience that we would have loved when we set out on the Great Trail. 

However, at the time of writing this (2021), the existing guidebooks for the Trans Canada Trail are incomplete, and most are more than a decade old.  In some cases, the TCT has moved its route or expanded the trail system significantly.  Moreover, the fact remains that some provinces (Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta) don’t even have a guidebook, which means for those who come next, there is a huge absence of information about the national pathway.
 
This record exists for those who are considering a Trans Canada journey, whether on foot or by bike.  It is not meant as a template, and certainly not a promise that this is how your journey will turn out.  The information here – and in our daily blogs – is a glimpse of what one passage across the province from east to west looked like, for two particular people, in one particular year.

 
It must always be remembered that routes change, conditions vary, and circumstances are never the same twice – day to day, year to year, and hiker to hiker.
 
With that said, sometimes knowing where someone once walked, struggled and succeeded can make things easier at the end of a hard day on the trail.  Knowing that you are standing and walking where others once also did to can make a world of difference in moments of doubt.  We certainly took faith in knowing that Dana Meise, Sara Jackson, Dianne Whelan and Mel Vogel had come before us.
 

Stages and Itinerary for Hiking Across Manitoba

 
Remembering that our trek on the Trans Canada Trail across Manitoba took place in the fall of 2020 and Spring of 2021– at the conclusion of our second year and the outset of our third season on the national pathway.   

 
Taken together, Manitoba took 50 trail days to complete over a span of 60 days in the province.  The larger number reflects days off trail, rest days, resupply days, and days we spent giving public presentations about our #Hike4Birds citizen science outreach.
 
That time was not defined by distance alone, but by a combination of factors including weather, terrain, and, of course, the realities of the world – all of which slowed our progress. 
 

Itinerary for the Trans Canada Trail in Manitoba

 
September 16, 2020 – Ontario into Manitoba into Falcon Lake, MB
September 17, 2020 – Nature Presentation, then Falcon Lake to West Hawk to Bear Lake
September 18, 2020 – Bear Lake to Rennie
September 19, 2020 – Rennie to Cabin Lake
September 20, 2020 – Cabin Lake to Betula Lake
September 21, 2020 – Betula Lake to Dorothy Lake
September 22, 2020 – Dorothy Lake beyond Seven Sisters Dam
September 23, 2020 – Beyond Seven Sisters Dam into Pinawa
September 24, 2020 – Pinawa - Day off
September 25, 2020 – Pinawa – Day off Birding Region
September 26, 2020 – Pinawa to Lac du Bonnet
September 27, 2020 – Lac du Bonnet to Powerview – reroute and very long day
September 28, 2020 – Powerview – Day off to Recover
September 29, 2020 – Powerview to beyond Stead
September 30, 2020 – Stead to Brokenhead
October 1, 2020 – Brokenhead to Selkirk
October 2, 2020 – Selkirk to Bird Hill PP
October 3, 2020 – Bird Hill PP into Northern Winnipeg
October 4, 2020 – Winnipeg The Forks
October 5, 2020 – TCT around Winnipeg / End Year 2 on TCT
 
June 22, 2021 – Arrive Winnipeg / Begin Year 3 on the TCT
June 23, 2021 – Forks to Westdale
June 24, 2021 – Westdale to Beaudry PP
June 25, 2021 – Beaudry to Southwood
June 26, 2021 – St. Vital and Riel House
June 27, 2021 – Southwood to St. Norbert
June 28, 2021 – St. Norbert to Niverville
June 29, 2021 – Niverville to Pierre-Jolys
June 30, 2021 – Pierre-Jolys to St. Malo
July 1, 2021 – St Malo to Forest
July 2, 2021 – Forest to Emerson
July 3, 2021 – Day Off – Heat Wave
July 4, 2021 – Day Off – Heat Wave
July 5, 2021 – Emerson to Altona
July 6, 2021 – Altona to Wakerobin
July 7, 2021 – Wakerobin to Stanley Centennial
July 8, 2021 – Stanley to Morden
July 9, 2021 – Morden – Day off Heat Wave
July 10, 2021 – Mordon – Day off Heat Wave
July 11, 2021 – Morden to Miami
July 12, 2021 – Miami to Altamont
July 13, 2021 – Altamont to Somerset
July 14, 2021 – Somerset – Day off Heat Wave
July 15, 2021 – Somerset to Cypress River
July 16, 2021 – Cypress to Kiche
July 17, 2021 – Kiche to Carberry
July 18, 2021 – around Carberry
July 19, 2021 – Carberry to Neepawa
July 20, 2021 – Around Neepawa
July 21, 2021 – Neepawa to beyond Bethany
July 22, 2021 – Bethany to Erickson
July 23, 2021 – Erickson to beyond Elphinstone
July 24, 2021 – Elphinstone to beyond Rossburn
July 25, 2021 – Rossburn to Russell
July 26, 2021 – Russell – Day off
July 27, 2021 – Russel – Day off
July 28, 2021 – Russell to Inglis
July 29, 2021 – Inglis into Asessippi PP
July 30, 2021 – Asessippi PP into Roblin
July 31, 2021 – Roblin beyond San Clara
August 1, 2021 – Beyond San Clara into Saskatchewan (Duck Mountain PP)
 

Position Within the Larger Journey

 
Manitoba is one of only two regions completed over the course of multiple years and visits – the other being Quebec – where Covid and provincial lockdowns had changed the shape of our national hike.  By the time we had entered Manitoba, we had already completely hiked across Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, PEI, New Brunswick, and Ontario in addition to the first 1/3 of Quebec. 
 
Manitoba sits between two very different parts of the country. To the east lies the rock and water of the Canadian Shield. To the west, the open expanse of the prairies begins to take hold more fully.  Walking across Manitoba makes that transition quite evident – especially on foot.

With that said, it is definitely in this province that the journey shifts from navigating terrain to enduring space. The skills required are different, and so too is the mindset. The trail becomes less about where you are stepping and more about how you continue as the national pathway weaves more north and south than westward. 
 
For those looking to understand Manitoba more fully within the Trans Canada Trail, this entry connects directly with our broader series:
 
Come Walk With Us along the Trans Canada Trail

The Trans Canada Trail In Manitoba

Reflecting on the TCT in Manitoba

Cycling the Trans Canada Trail in Manitoba
 
Each offers a different perspective on the experience of exploring the TCT.
 

For Those Who Come Next

 
In total, it took us 50 days, spread across 60 days to walk more than 1400 kilometres along the Trans Canada Trail across Manitoba, which is not the entirety of the national pathway in the province, but which for us allowed us to visit the capital city and connect the route we were following between provinces.

 
These sections of the TCT represent the largest provincial collection of pathways on the Great Trail.
 
If you are considering walking across Manitoba, know that it is possible to do so within a defined period of time. The route exists, the connections are there, and the province can be crossed in a continuous line from North to South before turning back North and resuming westward progress again.   This makes it a wonderful but long hike across a varied and beautiful region.

If you are reading this because you are considering hiking across Manitoba on the TCT, whether for a weekend or weeks or months at a time, we hope this listing helps in some small way. Not because it tells you what to do, but because it shows what was possible under a specific set of circumstances, at a particular moment in time.
 
Your journey will not look exactly like this. It shouldn’t. Weather, wildlife, wildfires, construction, health, timing, and luck all shape how the TCT, each province and Canada as a whole reveal themselves. Some days will go farther than planned. Others will end early. Some will feel almost effortless; others will ask more than you expected to give.  Some will end in the joy of that day’s achievements, others will end in doubt and tears. 

What matters, in the end, is not matching someone else’s itinerary, but learning how to move through this landscape with the willingness to be adaptable, leaving no trace and with care.  If this record helps you plan, adjust, or simply imagine your own path, then it has done what it was meant to do.
 
We wish you safe walking, open eyes, and the grace to take each day as it comes.
 
See you on the trail!