Birds Hill Park hosting guided snowshoe tours

Manitoba Parks is hosting a series of Youth and Adult Snowshoe Adventures at Birds Hill Park. 

They have two sets of snowshoe treks planned for Saturday, February 10th, and Saturday, March 9th. 

Lindsay Mitton, Senior Park Interpreter with Manitoba Parks, says the first trek is from 10:00am-11:30am, and it's geared for adults and youth, ages 11 plus.  

“We have 30 pairs of snowshoes that the public is welcome to borrow from us, or if they have their own, they can bring their own snowshoes and join in with us. We're going to do about a two-kilometer trek through the forest, just exploring the winter wonderland and looking for signs of wildlife.” 

Their second trek is from 1:30pm-3:00pm, and is geared for children ages five-10 years old, along with a parent or a caregiver. 

“And so that'll be a shorter experience, just about one kilometer. We have 30 pairs of children-sized snowshoes that are perfect for little ones to get out and do some exploring and try out snowshoeing.” 

In past years, they have made it a group event where all ages are welcome. Mitton explains why they are separating it into age groups. 

“You get some little ones that tire out and some older ones who want to keep going, and so we thought having two separate events for different age groups works really well.” 

A few of the trails at Birds Hill Park are not groomed at all, such as Prairie Wind Trail and Pine Ridge Trail. 

“Those are both off of South Drive close to the campground. Those two trails, no equipment goes on them. There might still be people packing them down from walking, but those are also in areas where you can get off the trail a little bit and go through some of the Prairie fields.” 

The Nimowin Trail is packed for walking, but Mitton says there are lots of fields and spaces where you can get off the trail. 

“And do a little bit of exploring around the edges of the trail so that you're in deeper snow, and you don't feel like you're walking on a packed walking trail with your snowshoes.” 

She says snowshoeing by yourself in the middle of nowhere can be overwhelming, especially for beginners. 

“That's one of the reasons people enjoy coming out to the guided programs, you're traveling with a group and you feel a little more secure. It gives you that confidence of getting to know the trails first, and then hopefully you feel comfortable to go out and do some more exploring on your own in the future.” 

If you're new to snowshoeing, the snowshoe tours are a perfect way to get introduced to it.  

If you are interested in participating, you can visit manitobaparks.com. 

With files from Carly Koop