Damaged by wildfire, Mantario Trail in Whiteshell Provincial Park could reopen in June
Posted May 26, 2026 5:42 pm.
Last Updated May 27, 2026 9:51 am.
For nearly a year, one of Manitoba’s toughest and most well-known hiking trails has been off limits after wildfire damage ripped through parts of the Whiteshell.
Now, crews and volunteers are racing to get the Mantario Trail reopened before summer hits full swing.
“The fire came in over here and kind of worked its way up,” recounted Joanne Podolchuk, a regional parks specialist for the Whiteshell. “So, Caribou was impacted and then the fire kind of straddled the border impacting Marion and then it kind of came up again and it kind of started coming this way.”
The 63-kilometre backcountry trail inside Whiteshell Provincial Park was heavily damaged by wildfire last spring after the fire crossed into Manitoba from Ontario. Nearly half the trail was impacted, burning signage, bridges and leaving behind dangerous trees.
“Some of the damage incurred was signage was burnt, park infrastructure like garden thrones were burnt,” Podolchuk said. “And then as we advanced into the trail, because the trail wasn’t used for the summer, then we saw overgrowth occur in the area that wasn’t impacted by fire.”
Podolchuk says some sections of the trail have now burned twice in less than 10 years, after another wildfire hit the area back in 2016. She says crews first had to assess the damage before restoration work could even begin.
“At that time, not as much damage as this fire, but there was impact,” she said.
Since then, Manitoba Parks and volunteers with the South Whiteshell Trail Association have been clearing trees, rebuilding signage and repairing damaged sections of the trail, including a bridge at Olive Lake.
Podolchuk says the trail means a lot to Manitoba’s hiking community.
“When you’re out in the middle of that trail, it is just an amazing experience. You’re one with nature. And I think that is why people keep coming back to this trail and spending time on it and why it’s one of Manitoba’s jewels when it comes to a backcountry trail.”
The hope now is to have the trail reopened by the end of June, if weather and restoration work continue to cooperate. But with wildfire season already underway again, the work also comes with a reminder of how quickly conditions can change in Manitoba’s parks.
