There is a snowshoe tour that you can attend this weekend in the tall grass prairie on the Agassiz Interpretive Trail.
Tour guide Norm Gregoire says they have more visitors in the summer because of their amazing flora and fauna, but there's still lots to learn and see in the area during winter.
Gregoire says there’s nothing stopping someone from enjoying a winter walk or snowshoe on the trail.
“It's a pretty simple little trail and there are two different loops on the trail. A two-kilometer loop and a longer one.”
He says if you haven't snowshoed before, this snowshoe is friendly to beginners.
“Or if you are a veteran, tag along. There's lots to be learned as well.”
He will go over the do’s and don’ts of snowshoeing, give some tips and tricks, and then the group will hit the trail.
"I'll be talking a lot about the tallgrass prairie area. And although we might not be seeing much in terms of wildlife, there's a lot going right on underneath our feet.”
Gregoire says there are a lot of interesting and rare species on the trail.
“Some of them leave our area, but some stay year-round. I'll be talking about how a lot of our southeastern Manitoba species survive and thrive here in our harsh winters,” he says. “And of course, I'll be keeping an eye out for different animal signs and tracks as well and make sure to point that out.”
He notes snow acts as a great insulator, so the snowshoeing won’t damage anything underneath the snow.
Gregoire says that on the snowshoes you can explore certain areas you might not want to be walking in during the summer.
“So for folks that have been out to that trail in the summer time, you might see a little bit of a new area on snowshoes,” he says. “We'll be sticking more or less to the trail, we’ll explore a little bit here and there.”
The snowshoe tour is on Saturday, February 11th from 10am-noon. He notes if the weather is too cold the tour might be cut shorter.
They will be meeting at the Agassiz Interpretive Trail, which is about 7 kilometers West of Vita on Hwy. 201.
To sign up, register by contacting Gregoire at sarcommunityliaison@gmail.com. It’s a free event, but he wants to know how many snowshoes he needs to bring.
He’s looking forward to the tour very much.
“If I can point out a few things about how special and unique this tall grass Prairie area is to our community, then I'd be just happy to share.”
With files from Carly Koop