Thursday, May 14, 2015 - Blog on a Log

Wild Trip Reports: The Mantario Trail

At Wilderness Supply we encourage our staff to get out and use our gear as much as they can - it's the best way to make sure they know what to recommend to you! Our employees can be found adventuring all over the world, but today we bring you a Wild Trip Report from close to home: the Mantario Hiking Trail.

These posts will be a chance to feature some of our staff's adventures (and misadventures, no doubt!) wherever they may lead. Whether on the road, trail, or water, we love sharing our experiences with you, and hope you'll be able to use them for your own inspiration and planning...or perhaps just a little vicarious living!

The Mantario Hiking Trail

Tripper: Dan N.
Location: Manitoba
Type: Hike
Date: May 2-4, 2015

Lori and I at the north trailhead before venturing onto the trail

The Mantario Trail cuts a rugged path through Whiteshell Provincial Park, covering 63 kms between HWY 312 and Big Whiteshell Lake. It covers terrain ranging from flat, grassy trails, to scrambles up granite hill sides, to wet bog crossings (depending on the season). Spring and fall are the more desirable seasons to hike the trail, mostly because of the lack of mosquitoes and lower temperatures.


The first few kms of the trail is shared with a 4x4 road. This part can be pretty wet.

If your feet stay wet, they might end up looking like prunes, like Riley's feet did. They were just fine after they dried out.

This Mantario outing was my fifth time hiking the whole trail, and along for the hike was my wife Lori, and two friends, Riley and Alissa. Lori has hiked the complete trail a few times, and Riley and Alissa were excited for their first time on it. We experienced great weather (not too hot, not too cold) and the trail was relatively dry for spring. This made our three days of hiking fairly easy, and I managed to only get water in my shoes on the last day. My companions weren't so lucky! We travelled north to south, camping at Mantario Lake and Marion Lake. We parked a car at the south trailhead, and then shuttled back to the north end to pick up the other car.

Sometimes you have to keep looking straight down to find the trail. In summer, the trail will be almost completely hidden from you if you're looking straight ahead here. Look down, and you'll see the well worn trail through the bushes.

Stone cairns mark a large part of the trail.

Some of the stream crossings have makeshift bridges, but be careful! Some of them are a little wobbly. This one had one solid and one not so solid log to choose from.

Overall the trail was in good shape, but the severe windstorms that have occurred in the last few years have greatly affected some parts of the trail. Downed trees blocked sections of the trail, but not so severely that we couldn't find an easy path around them. There have been some efforts to clear the trail, but more work is needed. I suspect the biggest deterrent to trail clearing is hiking in with a chainsaw on your back!

Windstorm affected area.

Being early in the season, we only encountered 7 other people on the trail. Five thru hiking, and two on a short trip on the south end. During summer and early fall, you can expect to meet quite a few hikers, with a large number of them heading out for a short trip to one of the two camp sites on Caribou Lake, the southern most lake on the trail. I love to see large numbers of people getting outside, but there can be a downside to this if those people don't take care of the trail. We encountered some litter along the trail, and the eastern campsite on Caribou Lake (the site that sees the heaviest use) had more litter than I expected to see. Over use of green ribbon marking the way to the outhouse; pots, pans, and metal grills dropped around a fire pit; and a bear box almost overflowing with abandoned food and gear (including a tent!). Proper trail etiquette is to pack out what you pack in, leaving as little trace as possible. "Take only photos, leave only footprints" as the saying goes. A granola bar wrapper here and there is understandable, those can easily fall out of your pocket unnoticed. But a tent is too much.

Irresponsible human waste disposal. There's a "Green Throne" toilet within 20 meters of this spot...

Junk left behind. If you pack it in, pack it out!

Don't let my tale of garbage give you the wrong idea about the trail though. The Mantario is Manitoba's longest and most challenging trail, while at the same time being fairly easy to navigate for beginners. The trail is well marked by signs and rock cairns, and there is amazing beauty to behold all along it's 63 kms of winding trail.

Beaver dam crossing

Mantario Lake campsite

Marion Lake campsite.

Riley and Alissa's new MSR Hubba Hubba NX

Lori drying out her socks

Trip Length: 63 kilometers (recommended 3 days)

How to get there:
The south trailhead is located roughly 2 hours out of Winnipeg.  Take the Trans-Canada Highway (#1) east towards West Hawk Lake.  Turn north on Highway #44 and then east (right) onto PR #312.  Watch for a wooden sign marking the south trailhead parking lot.

The north trailhead is located roughly 2.5 hours out of Winnipeg.  Take Highway #59 out of Winnipeg and then turn east onto Highway #44, towards Beausejour.  Turn north (left) on Highway #11 and drive for 5km, then turn east onto PR #307 and drive through Seven Sisters Falls and on for roughly 55km.  Take a slight left onto highway #309 towards Big Whiteshell Lake.  Keep left at the fork and continue on until you reach a small store and the road ends.  Behind the store is a parking lot - drive through the lot and along the winding gravel road to reach the north trailhead.

Gear List

On My Feet

  • SmartWool PHD Mid Weight socks Smartwool PhD Medium Outdoor Crew
  • Ahnu Coburn Low waterproof shoes

On My Back

  • Nylon Hiking pants
  • 150 weight Merino Wool long sleeve shirt

In My Bag

  • North Face Verto 32 pack
  • JetBoil MiniMo stove
  • SteriPEN Ultra Steripen Ultra
  • Nalgene 1L bottle Nalgene 1L Bottle
  • Petzl Headlamp
  • MSR Hubba Hubba tentMSR Hubba Hubba NX
  • Mountain Hardwear Phantom 32 sleeping bag Mountain Hardwear Phantom 32
  • Thermarest NeoAir All Season
  • Adventure Medical First Aid KitAdventure Medical Ultralight First Aid Kit
  • Fox 40 whistle Fox 40 whistle
  • Backpackers Pantry meals for supper
  • Bagels, peperoni sticks, other goodies for lunch and snacks
  • Oatmeal packages for breakfast
  • storm proof lighter
  • Spare SmartWool Socks
  • Outdoor Research merino blend t-shirt
  • North Face DNP Jacket North Face DNP Jacket
  • Synthetic base layer bottoms for sleeping
  • Ryders Eyewear Chops sunglasses
  • North Face Oroshi GoreTex jacket
  • Rain pants