Roughly half of the Mantario Trail has been torched by wildfire. Now what?

Bartley Kives · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 22, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

One of the casualties of the 2025 wildfire play is Manitoba's astir fashionable distance-hiking route, which is closed indefinitely owed to a occurrence that's swept crossed the wilderness portion in Whiteshell Provincial Park.

Roughly fractional of the 63-kilometre Mantario Trail lies wrong the perimeter of the occurrence known arsenic EA063, which began adjacent Ingolf, Ont., successful mid-May earlier spreading into Manitoba's Whiteshell area. It has engulfed much than 5,400 hectares (54 quadrate kilometres) of boreal wood in Manitoba, positive an adjoining swath of Ontario.

While the occurrence is being held, it remains an active blaze. Provincial crews person yet to measure the information of the way oregon the campsites that prevarication wrong the boundaries of the occurrence astatine Caribou, Marion, Olive, Moosehead and Mantario lakes.

"We admit that it has been importantly impacted," said Mike Moyes, Manitoba's curate of the situation and clime change. "Our squad is looking guardant — erstwhile the risk is lowered for america — to get successful there."

While much than 30 kilometres of the Mantario lies wrong the occurrence perimeter, it's unclear however overmuch of the way has really burned. Wildfires sometimes walk implicit low-lying areas oregon spare rocky outcrops astatine higher elevations.

Regardless, the state has already warned backpackers and way runners who whitethorn person had plans to sojourn the way this twelvemonth to marque different arrangements. This is not conscionable due to the fact that deadfall indispensable beryllium cleared from campsites and the way itself.

Maintenance crews whitethorn person to bring down thousands of widowmakers — the dormant trunks of burned trees near lasting but highly prone to falling during windstorms — earlier the way tin beryllium deemed harmless capable to traverse.

Even then, the way whitethorn not marque for a pleasant locomotion oregon run. While forests bash regenerate, burned areas are devoid of shadiness and tin beryllium unpleasantly blistery to traverse erstwhile a battalion is on your back.

This volition contiguous a quandary for parkland officials, fixed the expanding popularity of outdoor recreation successful a state without galore distance-hiking options.

Opportunity for caller trails

In caller years, the Mantario Trail has go immensely fashionable connected its own. Two decades ago, it was imaginable to locomotion the Mantario during the optimal hiking play successful September — erstwhile the way is adust and biting insects are each but nonexistent — and lone spot a fistful of different humans.

Since the commencement of the pandemic, which further fuelled the outdoor recreation boom, it has become commonplace to find 30 radical oregon much astatine each campsite connected the trail, making the Mantario consciousness much similar a front-country euphony festival than a back-country wilderness destination.

Removing the Mantario Trail from the disposable distance-hiking options, adjacent if the southernmost and northernmost sections bash reopen, volition lone spot much usage pressure connected Manitoba's different region trails, specified arsenic the 42-kilometre Epinette Creek-Newfoundland way strategy successful Spruce Woods Provincial Park, the 39-kilometre Tilson Lake loop successful Riding Mountain National Park and the 29-kilometre Upper Track Trail successful bluish Manitoba, which connects Pisew Falls with Kwasitchewan Falls.

One enactment facing Whiteshell administrators and volunteers could be a impermanent rerouting of the Mantario Trail to the westbound portion the fire-impacted country recovers. This whitethorn not beryllium fashionable with cottagers astatine Florence Lake, who successfully lobbied decades agone to determination the way to the east.

A 2nd enactment would impact fast-tracking the instauration of caller trails. Very fewer caller hiking trails person been created successful Manitoba since the 1970s, and surely nary since the popularity of hiking and way moving exploded.

Moyes suggested Manitoba whitethorn make much trails but did not perpetrate to the idea.

"In presumption of those long-distance trails, we admit that they're becoming progressively popular, and portion that's fantastic, it does bring different challenges," helium said.

Those challenges see overuse. This is not conscionable a substance of encountering much radical connected the trail.

On the Mantario Trail, respective campsites person become infested with mice and littered with trash toward the extremity of the highest summertime and autumn season. These are telltale signs of way overuse that person not been addressed by the provincial parks branch.

The state does not employment immoderate means of managing the fig of radical who usage the Mantario Trail. There are nary fees to usage the trail, arsenic determination are on fashionable Parks Canada routes specified arsenic the West Coast Trail connected Vancouver Island, and nary way idiosyncratic registration.

The state conceded Friday it has nary means of discerning however galore radical locomotion oregon tally the way successful immoderate fixed year.

The closure of the way owed to occurrence presents an accidental for the parks subdivision to reconsider these policies arsenic good arsenic the operation of caller trails. The bully quality is, wilderness trails are a batch little costly to program and physique than different forms of infrastructure. 

There are nary armies of volunteers pitching successful to spot caller coats of asphalt connected Manitoba's highways.

Trail instauration does pull volunteers.

Find the latest wildfire accusation astatine these sources:

• Canadian wildfire map
• Province of Manitoba occurrence bulletins
• CBC's wildfire tracker
• Communities nether evacuations successful Manitoba

Are you an evacuee who needs assistance? Contact Manitoba 211 by calling 211 from anyplace successful Manitoba oregon email [email protected].