The best walks and hikes around Macdonald

Right inside Winnipeg, FortWhyte Alive packs prairie, forest, wetlands, lakes, and even a herd of plains bison into one huge urban nature escape. The best part? Much of this green landscape grew out of a former industrial clay-quarry site. Today, trails and boardwalks make it easy to trade city noise for birdsong remarkably quickly.

FortWhyte’s lakes hide one of its best stories: they began as deep pits excavated for clay used in cement production in the early 1900s. Once filled with water, they evolved into wildlife-rich lakes that now attract waterfowl and support paddling, fishing, and lakeside wandering.

Stop at the Bison Viewing Mound for a prairie scene you probably wouldn’t expect inside Winnipeg. From here, you can scan the grassland for bison, along with their watering hole, rubbing stones, and the small mounds they sometimes stand on to catch the breeze and escape insects.

The Overwater Pond is small and peaceful, with a couple of benches that practically invite you to stop. The surrounding grassland makes it a great place to watch for wildlife, especially deer, which are often seen moving through this part of the reserve.

Camp Amisk is used by Scouts Canada, and the trail is shared by all manner of hikers, mountain bikers, snowshoers, and runners. The path is a grassy singletrack that cuts through the underbrush near the river bank as it winds through the forest's edge.

You can park at Camp Amisk or across the road at La Barriere Park, where there are restrooms available. The trail is a pretty singletrack route, but it can get muddy and overtaken by the river when it has rained recently or water levels are high. In the winter, or in dry conditions, you can easily explore for many kilometres along the riverside.

The La Salle River flows gently through southern Manitoba, winding past farmland, forest, and prairie before joining the Red River near St. Norbert. Its slow-moving waters support a rich wetland ecosystem, with spawning fish, waterfowl, and songbirds common in spring and early summer. The river is a popular spot for paddling and birdwatching, and is the perfect place for a scenic riverside walk.

The Journey to Churchill exhibit, one of the most popular in the zoo, is an immersive Arctic-themed habitat where visitors can explore tundra and coastal landscapes to learn about northern species like polar bears, muskoxen, snowy owls, caribou, and seals. In the “Sea Ice Passage,” tunnels let you watch polar bears and seals, separated only by a transparent barrier. The exhibit also features the Leatherdale International Polar Bear Conservation Centre, with interpretive displays on climate change, conservation research, and the rescue and rehabilitation of polar bears.