12 things to do in Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba
Manitoba has just one national park reachable by road, and it deserves to be discovered! Riding Mountain National Park is nearly a century old and is a throwback to a time when Parks Canada’s mandate was more about recreation than conservation. As a result, this beautiful park offers 1930s resort town charm amid landscapes and ecosystems unique within southern Manitoba. Explore this beloved Manitoba destination with these things to do in Riding Mountain National Park.
This guide highlights activities at Riding Mountain National Park during the summer. The park is open year-round, and we hope to experience it in other seasons as well. We’ll share our experiences once we do. Have questions about planning your road trip to Riding Mountain National Park? Join our Facebook community!
Presented in partnership with Travel Manitoba
Start at the Riding Mountain National Park Visitor Centre
When you arrive at Riding Mountain National Park, make the Visitor Centre in Wasagaming your first stop. This grand building in the heart of the townsite was among the first structures to appear in the park in the mid-1930s.
A stop here will give you a first glimpse of the Canadian Rustic architectural style that was common in our national parks in that era. You’ll also have a chance to check in with Parks Canada to staff and ask questions about road and trail conditions and anything else you may wish to know ahead of your visit.
Go for a paddle on Clear Lake
Clear Lake is the centrepiece for Riding Mountain National Park and the townsite of Wasagaming. Head out onto the pier at the main beach to visit Clear Lake Marina, where you can rent a kayak, stand-up paddleboard, or pedal boat and spend some time paddling on the crystal-clear water. Clear Lake Marina also has e-bikes available for rent that can be used on the nearby trails.
Note that due to the spread of zebra mussels in Clear Lake, only non-motorized watercraft are permitted. You can bring your own boat, but you’ll need to clean it, have it inspected, and receive a permit before you can put it in at Clear Lake. There are other lakes within the park, but permits for these are issued separately.
It’s also important to know the main beach at Clear Lake is known to have swimmer’s itch. Swimming and other water-based activities are permitted, but you’ll want to ensure you know how to protect yourself. Check out Parks Canada’s guide to swimmer’s itch.
Mini golf, tennis, or pickleball are great things to do in Riding Mountain National Park
One of the charms of Wasagaming is its simple pastimes. Just off the main beach, you’ll find tennis courts (reservations are recommended), a mini-golf course, and a playground. There’s a small charge to access the mini-golf. The tennis courts are free of charge. We noticed these being used for pickleball while we were there as well!
Take a stroll and do some shopping in Wasagaming
There are plenty of places in Wasagaming to go for a stroll. Take in a sunset from the main beach boardwalk and the Lakeshore Walk, head to the multi-use Wasagaming Trail to visit Deep Bay or the Wishing Well, visit the Ominnik Marsh, or walk along the shopping district on Wasagaming Drive.
Among the shops in Wasagaming, you’ll find everything you’d hope for in a retail area at a national park. There’s a candy store, ice cream, clothing boutiques, sporting goods stores, a small grocery, gourmet provisions, souvenirs, and more!
Eat at one of Wasagaming’s great restaurants
Many of Wasagaming’s hotel and cabin accommodations come with kitchenettes. But when you don’t feel like doing your own cooking, head out to one of the townsite’s many great restaurants and bakeries. Here are a few of our favourites. All of the locations listed below offer gluten-free and vegetarian options.
Camp Cantina
Camp Cantina is located inside Danceland, a provincial heritage building and event venue in the heart of Wasagaming. Stop in to stock up on gourmet provisions, or eat in and enjoy the eclectic evening wine bar menu. Selections range from the divine Vietnamese grilled shrimp to Mediterranean favourites like warm olives, tomato toast, and Piri-Piri chicken.
Take-away deli lunches are available until they sell out. Don’t miss the wine pairings curated by owner Megan Tymura, a sommelier with a background in the wine industry.
Camp Cantina is also where you’ll pick up your fire board if you’ve ordered this elevated campfire meal experience while staying at Turtle Village. We have more details on that below.
The Lakehouse Restaurant
The Lakehouse is much more than a restaurant. It’s a year-round hotel, café, retail store, and restaurant, all rolled into one! On the food side, offerings range from share plates to locally inspired dinner features and an extensive sandwich selection, along with pub classics like nachos and wings.
Whitehouse Bakery
Whitehouse Bakery is a Wasagaming institution. People line up before the doors open to be the first to grab the legendary fresh-baked cinnamon rolls before they sell out, which come in classic, cream cheese, and maple flavours. Gluten-free cookies and muffins as well as vegetarian/vegan options are available, along with full hot breakfast and lunch menus.
Connect with Indigenous peoples
Riding Mountain National Park is located on Treaty 2 territory. Seven Anishinaabe First Nations are registered as have an interest in the park, and two have lands directly adjacent to it: Rolling River First Nation and Keeseekoowenin First Nation.
The Anishinaabe Sharing Lodge, located within the Wasagaming townsite, is open during the summer and offers opportunities to connect with these local First Nations communities. Enjoy hands-on activities like beading or rock painting and learn about important aspects of Anishinaabe culture such as the Seven Grandfather Teachings.
Riding Mountain National Park has an Indigenous-owned glamping-style accommodation called Turtle Village. You can learn more about that in the section on accommodations in Riding Mountain National Park below.
Hike or fat bike the Riding Mountain National Park trails
Riding Mountain National Park has nearly 370 kilometres of hiking trails. Many of these are multi-use trails and are also open to fat bikes, horseback riding, or horse-drawn wagons. This extensive trail system is divided into six sections. The most frequently used trails are in the Wasagaming section near the townsite and the Grey Owl section just to its east.
The latter is named for Grey Owl (Archibald Stansfeld Belaney), a conservationist who achieved fame in the 1930s while posing as half-Indigenous. Belaney was employed by Parks Canada — or the Dominion Parks Branch, as it was known at the time — and lived in a cabin in Riding Mountain National Park with his two beavers for six months in 1931. The cabin is accessible today on the Grey Owl Trail full-day hike.
The more remote sectors of park trails are in the park’s west end, around Lake Audy, at the north end of the Parkway, along the Manitoba Escarpment, and at Agassiz. Mount Agassiz Ski Resort operated from 1961 to 2000 and hosted the alpine events for the Canada Winter Games in 1979. A roadside attraction in nearby McCreary, Manitoba, called Alpine Archie still stands today commemorating this event.
Check out our guide to roadside attractions in Southern Manitoba >
The most difficult trails are in the Escarpment section of the park, while the trails closer to Wasagaming fall within the easy to moderate range. Parks Canada maintains a full list of hiking trails in Riding Mountain National Park along with maps and updates on trail conditions.
Relax at Klar So Nordic spa
While Elkhorn Resort is not within the boundaries of Riding Mountain National Park, it’s so close you’re not likely to notice you’re leaving the park during your short drive from Wasagaming. The resort is home to Klar So Nordic Spa, a year-round adult-only wellness escape where you can enjoy two hot tubs, a temperate pool, a cold plunge, a steam sauna, a dry sauna, a relaxation pavilion, and wood and propane fire pits.
Bookable spa services are available including massage therapy, face regeneration, and hand and foot treatments. Make a day of it by enjoying a spa lunch in the restaurant or on the outdoor terrace.
Play a round of golf at Clear Lake Golf Course
Clear Lake Golf Course is nearly as old as Riding Mountain National Park itself. This public golf course first opened to players in the spring of 1934. Today, the 18-hole, 6,309-yard course lays claim to being one of the most picturesque anywhere in Manitoba.
For the environmentally conscious, Clear Lake Golf Course also boasts several sustainability programs. These include beverage container recycling, compost from grass clippings and the on-site restaurant used to maintain the course, and maintenance vehicles that reuse cooking oil as biodiesel.
Try a gourmet glamping experience
When you stay at Turtle Village — Indigenous-owned glamping within Riding Mountain National Park’s Wasagaming Campground, which you’ll find more about below — you can indulge in a gourmet campfire meal. Thanks to a collaboration with Camp Cantina, guests at Turtle Village can order a fire board to prepare over a campfire.
Camp Cantina’s fire board comes with a round of brie, grapes, nuts, herbs, crostini, and everything else you need to create a delectable dinner over a campfire, including step-by-step instructions. It takes campfire food to the next level!
See Canada’s last remaining 1930s-style park gate
Riding Mountain National Park has a feature that’s no longer found anywhere else in Canada. The park’s east gate — or, more formally, Riding Mountain Park East Gate Registration Complex National Historic Site — is last remaining example of an original 1930s-style gate in a Canadian national park. Like other features within the park, the gate displays the Canadian Rustic architectural style that was common in that era.
To reach the east gate, you have two options. One is to drive through the park on Highway 19. This 30-kilometre stretch of road is entirely gravel and takes roughly 45 minutes to drive across from Wasagaming one-way. Highway 19 also provides access to the Grey Owl and Escarpment sectors of the park’s hiking trails. Just east of the Gorge Creek trailhead, a lookout offers views over the Manitoba Escarpment.
Vehicle weight restrictions are put on the road at certain times of year, and it may close in extreme rain or winter conditions. Be sure to check with park staff or Manitoba 511 before you set out.
The other option is to drive around the park by taking Highway 10 south from Wasagaming to Provincial Road 357, then following it to the east until it meets Highway 5, which you then take northbound until you reach Highway 19 from the east. This route stays largely on paved highways, but it’s much longer at 95 kilometres and takes roughly an hour to drive. If you follow our roadside attractions route, you can see the east gate and several more interesting spots before entering the park from the north.
Head to Lake Audy to view the park’s bison herd
Plains bison used to roam all across the Canadian plains. Today, they occupy less than 1% of the range they once did. As part of its conservation efforts around this threatened species, Parks Canada protects a herd of roughly 40 plains bison at Riding Mountain National Park within the Lake Audy Bison Enclosure.
Driving to the Lake Audy Bison Enclosure is one of the best ways to see these majestic animals up close. There are two ways to access it from Wasagaming: go around the park via Highway 10, Provincial Road 263, Provincial Road 354, and Lake Audy Road, which takes roughly 40 minutes; or follow Highway 10 north to Lake Audy Road, which is a more scenic drive that stays within the park and takes roughly 50 minutes.
As you drive through the bison enclosure, it’s important to remember these are wild animals. Drive very cautiously throughout the enclosure as there are some tight turns that could easily have bison on the other side. Stay in your vehicle at all times, and do not attempt to approach or feed the bison or any other wildlife. If you don’t follow these rules, you could be charged and fined.
If wildlife viewing interests you, take a drive along the section of Highway 10 north of Wasagaming. Black bear and deer sightings are common on this stretch, and you may even spot a moose as well. Remember to keep to the speed limit, pull over only when it’s safe to do so, stay in your vehicle, and refrain from attempting to approach or feed wildlife, for their safety and yours.
Accommodations in Riding Mountain National Park
Whether you want to be right in the heart of nature or you prefer your creature comforts, great options await you here. Take a look below at just a few of the accommodations in Riding Mountain National Park.
Stowaway Inn
With a history dating back to the 1930s and ‘40s, the historic Stowaway Inn is nearly as old as the park itself. But you’d never know that looking at it now! The property was purchased in 2021 by its current owner-operator, Gillian Sullivan, who stripped the building back to the studs for a full refurbishment.
The revitalized Stowaway Inn reopened its doors in June 2023 with 24 units, each with its own unique charm. Available in-room amenities include kitchenettes or full kitchens, plus some rooms have private patios with barbecues. The common areas recall the inn’s past with mid-century modern charm and are lined with books and games to enhance family fun time.
Turtle Village in Riding Mountain National Park
If you want the camping experience but enjoy having a real mattress and a roof over your head, take a look at Turtle Village. This Indigenous-owned accommodation is made up of eight off-grid tiny cabins dubbed “turtle shells,” all nestled within Parks Canada’s Wasagaming Campground.
This means you have a Murphy bed with a queen mattress, interior lighting and USB-A ports via solar power, shelves and a small closet, and an exterior picnic table and fire pit. The turtle shells are open year-round and have propane heating available during the winter months. And because the cabins are within Wasagaming Campground, you’ll also have access to Parks Canada’s washrooms, showers, kitchen shelters, and firewood.
If you’d like to take this glamping experience even further, book a feast bag so you don’t need to bring your own dishes, and select the fire board from Camp Cantina while booking. This campfire meal for two comes with a hearty and rustic blend of brie, grapes, nuts, crostini, and other add-ons that you pick up at your convenience and warm up yourself over your campfire. Add in a bottle of wine selected by sommelier Megan herself, and this is one special camping meal!
Camping in Riding Mountain National Park
If roughing it is your jam, Riding Mountain National Park has plenty of camping options.
Wasagaming Campground is the most popular campground within Riding Mountain National Park. It has more than 400 campsites ranging from unserviced to full-service including pull-through sites with power, water and sewer. A range of semi-permanent camping structures is also available, including roughly 30 Parks Canada oTENTiks, a Microcube, and a yurt, some of which are available year-round.
All sites at Wasagaming Campground come with a picnic table and a fire pit as well as access to on-site washrooms, showers, and firewood for purchase. Wasagaming Campground is located within easy walking distance of the Wasagaming townsite.
There are more remote, unserviced self-serve campground located at Lake Audy, Deep Lake, Moon Lake, and Whirlpool Lake. Backcountry camping is offered at designated sites on the park’s longer hiking trails.
Riding Mountain National Park: Know before you go
Riding Mountain National Park is located in southwest Manitoba. It sits atop the Manitoba Escarpment and protects ecosystems that are rare in this section of the Prairies, including upland boreal and eastern deciduous forest.
Most people access the park from the south via Manitoba Highway 10, which is the most direct route to its townsite of Wasagaming. This drive takes just over an hour from Brandon, MB, and three hours from Winnipeg.
Planning a visit to Manitoba? Check out these things to do in Winnipeg >
Visitors can also enter Riding Mountain National Park from the historic east gate by following the gravel-lined route along Highway 19, or from the north gate via Highway 10 located 15 kilometres south of Dauphin, MB.
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