travel manitoba crossroads

Every snowmobiler has a definition of a perfect vacation - mine's a weekend of world-class racing followed by 500 miles of world-class sledding.

We've been watching the Canadian Power Toboggan Championships, or CPTC, for 30+ years. Run each March in Beausejour, Manitoba, CPTC is the world's first and longest running snowmobile oval race. It marks its' 47th anniversary this year.

Just 30 miles away (about 60 miles from Winnipeg), Whiteshell Provincial Park turned out to be a secret we finally uncovered. Whiteshell, a four-season playground for outdoor enthusiasts, has around 1,700 square miles of wilderness parkland and 200 lakes. While some parks may be closed to sledders, Whiteshell welcomes and provides hundreds of miles of groomed trails and a full range of facilities.

Settling into Whiteshell after CPTC was easy, as we checked into Pinewood Lodge on Dorothy Lake, and met our hosts, Raquel and Jeff Lincoln. While the main lodge is beautiful, we opted to stay in one of the chalets.
Who could resist a living room with a tree growing through it? Or an upstairs loft bedroom with a two-person Jacuzzi, and a steam shower for two after a day on the trails? This is best if you're sledding with your significant other!

Breathing life into Whiteshell

The name Whiteshell comes from its first inhabitants, who believed the small, white, sacred seashell (whiteshell) known as the megis, was used by the Creator to breath life into the first human. Established as the Whiteshell Forest Reserve in 1931 by the province of Manitoba, its importance as a recreation area has grown from there.

The Trans-Canada Highway crosses Manitoba through Whiteshell Provincial Park, so it's an easy stop for winter travelers. There also are interconnecting snowmobile trails to bring you into Whiteshell directly on your sled.

The Can-Am International Trail leads snowmobilers up from Minnesota and southern Manitoba, while various park trails connect with Ontario's trail system to the east. From the north and west you can snowmobile the trails of Pinawa, Agassiz, and Lac du Bonnet, which are groomed by the Snopals Snowmobile Club, entering the Whiteshell trail network from the town of Seven Sisters Falls.

Hitting the 2-lane trails

Our first day was azure skies, crunchy white snow and air so crisp my words took shape. The trails twisted and turned through the ever-changing forest. The morning began with Ed Yaworski, our guide from Whiteshell Outfitters, who helped us get set up with a sled from sled-rent.com in the park. Our Pinewood Lodge trail led directly from the lodge's gas stop to the main trail, providing access to a series of lakes and the Winnipeg River.

Heading west, we traveled through the white birch and poplar trees of the Manitoba lowlands, to a stop on the edge of the park for hot chocolate at Pinawa. Then, we wound north and east, skimming over the ice covered Winnipeg River. Lunch was leisurely, in one of the provided shelters, with the next leg of the day's riding through magnificent jack and red pine forests.

On our second day heavy clouds hung in the skies and dumped thick flakes throughout the morning. Mike Adey, owner of Whiteshell Outfitters, met us to explore the park's southeast area. The main trail, Seven Sisters to Rennie, where Yaworski joined us again, rolled out smooth and wide through the boreal forest. I had never ridden a two-lane snowmobile highway before, and could certainly appreciate the thousands of volunteer hours that must have gone into clearing the trail.

The terrain soon changed as Pre-Cambrian Shield rock formations jutted up between the lakes and we stopped at scenic lookouts adjacent to the main trail. Falcon Lake is in a transition zone between the Boreal Forest and the Great Lakes/Saint Lawrence Forest. The trails -sometimes almost completely covered by a green canopy high above us - wandered through forests thick with jack pine, trembling aspen, white and black spruce, white cedar, black ash, balsam fir and eastern pine.

While riding is great, stops are important, even when the sun comes out to warm up the afternoon. Local snowmobilers take responsibility for each of the seven warm-up shelters, so the pile of cut wood was high and the shelters were welcoming. Just outside Rennie, Mrs. Willison, a local club member, stuck her head out the door of one and said, "Fresh cookies anybody? I just took a batch out of the oven." But she wasn't the only good cook, as we'd discovered, since Yaworski and Adey packed a full lunch and cooked it each day on the trail for us. In addition to huts, the park is also equipped with medical stops and rescue equipment.

Exploring the back country

Adey, a year-round hunting and fishing guide, knows every inch of Whiteshell. While we'd originally planned to spend our final day touring on our own (the trails are excellently marked), we couldn't turn down his invitation to explore the back country. And we weren't the only ones-two young riders from Rennie, along with Yaworski, also jumped at the chance and joined us.

After taking the Beauchemin Lake to Big Whiteshell Lake loop, we left the groomed trails behind us, following Mike over a single sled trail through dense pine forest. Unlike previous days, the banks of the lakes were completely forested and pristine. A huge beaver dam was the only settlement. Lunch was at Pecker Head Lodge, a haunt of summer paddlers and fishermen. One of our young local riding companions, Collin, who'd just come back from a trip to the mountains, took the opportunity to get some time on the lake's soft powder, with another local, Matt.

Leaving, we ploughed over a couple of small lakes, bounced through summer forest portage trails and emerged at the power transmission line.

From there it was a short hop back to the main trail and onto the Pinewood trail for one last night in the chalet.

Year-round destination

Our visit proved to us that Whiteshell is an excellent destination for outdoor recreation year-round. In addition to snowmobiling it's great for cross-country or downhill skiing, hiking, or any of another dozen activities. In addition, the park also has ATV trails for motorsport enthusiasts.

For the ultimate adventure, get Whiteshell Outfitters to arrange a winter camping expedition with your snowmobile in the back country - that's next on my list.