Last stretch of Winnipeg's Nestaweya River Trail shuts down for season

The last remaining section of the Nestaweya River Trail has closed, ending the season for Winnipeg's popular winter attraction.

And it came to a close on a record-setting note. This is thelatest it's ever been open, according to a tweet from The Forks.

The trail, with its skating section and adjacent biking and walking section,had been in use sinceJan.4but an official, ceremonial opening wasn't held until Jan.24.

Nestaweya, the original Cree name for the site of The Forks and broaderarea now known as Winnipeg, was six kilometres in length this year, linkingthe Hugo dock site on the AssiniboineRiver to Churchill Drive along the Red.

But it didn't stay that long for the entire time. It was cut short in bits and pieces, starting around Feb. 22, when the section from Hugo to The Forks port was barricaded due to slushy and dangerous conditions.

The province had increased the amount of water flowing out of the Shellmouth Dam, near the Saskatchewan border,ahead of the spring runoff. That increased the flow of water downstream, whichwashed across the top of the frozen Assiniboine.

It was then concealed by fresh snowfall, causing an unsafe situation.

The Red River portion of the trail, from The Forks to Churchill Drive, remainedopen. But around March 8, a chunk of that was closed, from the Norwood Bridgeto Churchill Drive.

That left just a short span from The Forks port to the Norwood Bridge.

There are still some places to lace up and skate at The Forks. The canopy rink remains open, as well as theupper trails that meander around lighted trees to the CN Stage, as well as across the old train bridge.

Those might not last too long, however. After a long, cold winter, Environment Canada is now calling for plenty of sun and daytime highsaround 3 C for the next few days.

Trail conditionscan be found online.

Open for 70 days

Though this year was latest the trail has ever stayed open, it was not the longest duration.

It lasted70 days this winter, just short of the 75-day record set in 2019 and the second-place mark of 72 set in 2018.

As for the record length of the trail itself,thatwas first set in2008when it reached 8.5kilometres, going from Voyageur Park on the Red toOmand's Creek on the Assiniboine.

That put it in the Guinness Book of World Records for thelongest naturally frozen skating trail, edgingOttawa's Rideau Canal trail at about 7 kilometres.

The following year, Winnipeg's trail hit9.3 kilometresand then tapped out at 10 kilometresin 2018 when stretchedfrom Arlington Street to theSt. Vital Bridge.

Last year's trail, hampered by mild conditions, only wentfive kilometres and lastedless than 50 daysbefore it was cut short on March 1.

The earliest the river trail has ever closed was Feb. 18, in 2017, after just 33 days.