TransCanada Trails	Other Manitoba Trails	Trail Builders	Resources

Review of Manitoba’s Trans Canada Trail Maps Written by Michael Haynes, of Trails Canada www.trailscanada.com Email: info@trailscanada.com Since its inauguration as a national legacy project of the Canada 125 Celebrations Committee in 1992, the Trans Canada Trail (TCT) has excited many Canadians with the dream of someday walking, biking, or otherwise crossing the entire country on a recreational path. Indeed, almost as soon as the project was announced people began to contact the national foundation and provincial associations with requests for maps and guidebooks to the route. They were eager to begin their great personal adventure. Good quality maps have been slower to appear than the public’s appetite for them has demanded. However, this has recently begun to change as more and longer sections of the TCT route near completion, and as the builders have had the time and energy to concentrate more on promotion. One of the best guides to the Trans Canada Trail yet to be produced is a new series of maps outlining its route in Manitoba. Prepared by the Manitoba Recreational Trails Association, the not-for-profit association developing the route across that province, with funding assistance from the provincial government, this collection of six maps will certainly be an essential item for anyone wanting to travel the TCT in Manitoba. The maps are colourful and attractive. Lakes, forests, rivers, roads, communities, and contour lines are shown, as are provincial parks and forests. Inserts highlight sections where the route is complex, which is usually when it passes through towns. The path of the trail is unmistakable, a solid purple line slashing across the predominantly white chart, and every ten-kilometer interval is marked, providing a handy benchmark with which to judge your day’s plan. For many, the best feature of these maps will not be their depiction of the route, but the natural, cultural, and heritage information found on the reverse side of each. These sheets are crammed full of information: bird species found along the profiled section, details of both cultivated and wild plant life, geological history, animals, architecture, reptiles, cautionary notes, local personalities, and almost anything else you can imagine that might interest you on your passage through the province. It is impossible to describe all that is found on the six maps of the complete set; there is simply too much there to profile it all. You will simply need to see for yourself. One very practical feature that I appreciated is that the maps are waterproof ( Editor’s note: the maps are water resistant). It means that they can be used by hikers in any weather, which should be a minimum consideration in Canada. Backpackers and long-distance trekkers know that it is impossible to keep anything dry in your pack after a few days of wet weather, so it is nice to see a product that understands that reality. Map 1 encompasses the 293-km from the Saskatchewan border to the Manitoba escarpment. Map 2, Assiniboine Delta and Pembina Hills, profiles a 327-km section of the route. The so-called flattest lands in the world are found in the 283-km on Map 3, Tall Grass Prairie. With the shortest distance profiled in the series, Map 4 ventures through Winnipeg and its environs. Map 5 covers the 152-km east of the capital through the Manitoba Lowlands to finish in the wooded lands on the shores of Lake Winnipeg. The final 224-km to the Ontario border are shown on Map 6. I admit, as an Eastern Canadian I was initially discomforted by the west to east progression of the series. A lifetime of habit has trained me to expect that a cross-Canada route will naturally begin on the Atlantic Ocean and end on the Pacific. However, a quick look at the maps revealed that walking the route “backward” will present no problem, no matter how wedded to you are to traditional methods of thinking. (Although starting at West Hawk Lake and realizing that you have 1300-km to go in the province might be daunting to some). I have a few minor concerns with the maps. They are all the same physical size, 60 cm x 100 cm, so to fit the page five different scales are used, from 1:40,000 up to 1:185,000. The map arrow points to true north, not magnetic north, and compass declination is not provided. (Of course, in Manitoba this is only about 7°). But these are trifling considerations. Each map contains excellent safety information, such as the telephone numbers of hospitals and RCMP detachments. Webpage addresses for various Manitoba government agencies, such as tourism and the parks department, are listed. Cautionary notes, trail etiquette, latitude and longitude lines, interpretive features, and a wide range of other useful details cram every map. Manitoba’s Trans Canada Trail Maps are well designed, attractive, and informative. Even those who might never find themselves able to hike in this province will appreciate how much they will learn from them. And who knows? You just might be encouraged to consider Manitoba when you are next planning to travel somewhere for a long walk. The Trans Canada Trail maps for Manitoba are now available! Click here to read more about Trans Canada Trail Maps Map Sales Links: Manitoba Map Sales Canada Map Sales Retail stores where the maps are available for purchase: McNally Robinson Bookstores (Grant Park) Olympia Ski and Cycle ( 1813 Portage Ave.) Gord's Ski and Bike (7 Donald St. ) Canvasback Pet Supplies in Lockport For more information about trail maps contact our office: Phone: (204) 786-2688 Fax: (204) 945-1365 Email: mrta@mts.net MRTA - Manitoba Recreational Trails Association Land Information Branch Building 1007 Century Street Winnipeg, Manitoba R3H 0W4