Winnipeg’s Nestaweya River Trail closes for season after 62-day run | CBC News
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The popular Nestaweya River Trail along Winnipeg’s Red and Assiniboine rivers is officially closed for the season.
Warmer temperatures in the forecast and expected rising river levels prompted the closure, The Forks announced in a news release on Wednesday.
Changing ice conditions mean it’s no longer safe to maintain the route, the release said.
That means the ice for skaters, the trails for cross-country skiers and the snowy path for walkers and cyclists will no longer be maintained.
Skating continues, however, off the rivers. The Forks’ canopy rink and upper trails remain open, weather permitting.
The status and current conditions can be found on The Forks website.
The Nestaweya Trail opened for use on Jan. 1 and extended more than six kilometres between the Hugo Docks on the Assiniboine to Churchill Drive on the Red.
Its 62-day run falls shy of last year’s 68-day season and below the record 76 days set in 2019.
The least amount of time the trail has ever been open was nine days in 2024.
There has only been one winter since 1990, when the river trail was first offered, that it did not open at all. That was in 2020 due to poor freezing conditions on the rivers.