Perfect weather draws visitors to Riding Mountain

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This article was published 20/02/2024 (576 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Riding Mountain National Park might be renowned as a summer destination, but visitors to the area were treated to the perfect weather for winter activities over the Louis Riel long weekend.

It was cold enough for water to remain frozen, there was enough snow for pastimes like cross-country skiing and even a light but cold breeze wasn’t enough to dampen the spirits of visitors.

Doing their best to entice people to enjoy the outdoors was the non-profit Friends of Riding Mountain National Park group, which served pea soup and buns to visitors at its building on Columbine Street in Wasagaming.

On Saturday, volunteers set up activities for kids and adults alike, running snowshoeing tours of the Brulé Trail, ice fishing tents on Clear Lake and setting up blocks of snow for children to carve into works of art with the help of some tools and spray bottles of coloured water.

George Hartlen, the organization’s chief administrative officer, said the events were put on to show that the park can be enjoyed year-round. Maple syrup rolling and a scavenger hunt were planned for Sunday and bannock roasting for the holiday Monday.

“A lot of people assume that the park is closed in the winter months,” Hartlen said. “So we just want to encourage them to come out and check out our ski trails and snowshoe trails. We’ve got a skating rink and ice trails that are lit up 24-7.”

He said long weekends are a great time to visit the park. Because a lot of people have an extra day off, there’s no rush for people to arrive Friday evening.

Hartlen recommends that people bring their own equipment, but he said the Friends rent out fat bikes, snowshoes, snow tubes and sleds to visitors.

The rental fees charged for those items support the organization’s educational efforts, which bring school groups and summer programs in to teach kids about the park and nature.

He encouraged people interested in visiting the park to keep an eye on the Friends website and Facebook page for notice of upcoming events. With Easter coming up around spring break this year, he said activities are being planned for that long weekend.

As for the pea soup, it got a positive review from Crystal and Andrew Benton, who were out at the park with their lab-retriever cross Willow to check in on their cabin.

“It was excellent,” Crystal said. “It hit the spot before we head out for another little bit of a trek through the snow.”

» cslark@brandonsun.com

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