Visiting Winnipeg and Fort Whyte Alive

On my way to Churchill, Canada (see my article on that trip), I stopped over in Winnipeg. I didn’t have much time, but I wanted to visit Fort Whyte Alive, a 660-acre reclaimed urban green space in the city with hiking/mountain biking trails, paddle lakes, a visitor center with information about the local wildlife, a restaurant, a gift shop, and … a bison herd.

That’s right – it has its own herd of about 40 bison year-round, which are captive animals but still considered wild since people don’t interfere with them (except to maintain the herd’s numbers). This means that the herd breeds, but they can’t keep too many animals based on the amount of space. Plus, they can’t keep too many dominant males around.

So some of the bison are transferred to other herds periodically for breeding. The summer of my visit, 17 babies were born. So imagine if they allowed that many animals to remain year after year. The herd would grow beyond the area’s capacity to sustain it.

I signed up for a bison bus tour, which took a small group of us out near the herd in a white bus with big glass windows. We were told that bison have poor eyesight, so all they see when we approach is a big white blur. They have grown accustomed to the buses as well, so they aren’t bothered by them.

Still, the drivers always approach slowly to make sure they don’t spook the animals, and I felt we kept a respectable distance. We were also not allowed to step out of the bus. Occasionally, the door was opened, and we were allowed to stand on the steps to take photos without the windows in the way.

We were tremendously lucky the day we were there because even though it was August – late in the season for a newborn – we saw a baby bison that had just been born and was standing up for the first time. The afterbirth was still sticking out of the mother. The video below captures some of these moments from the steps of our bus.

After my bison bus tour, I spent some time hiking the grounds of Fort Whyte, which is also, incidentally, a popular spot for weddings. It was quite beautiful and peaceful.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to see much else in Winnipeg, but I did get to take a tour bus around town to see some of the other sites. Part of that tour included the house where singer Neil Young grew up. But the highlight of the tour was the back alley “art gallery” of murals by famed Winnipeg muralist Kal Barteski, who paints the wildlife of Canada’s tundra. (I got to meet her while she was painting a mural in Churchill.)

When I return to Winnipeg, I will visit the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, which I heard nothing but great things about, and the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada (I love vintage aircraft).

While in town, I stayed at the Fairmont Hotel. It’s located in the downtown area, which I discovered has a lot of interesting and historic architecture. The Fairmont was a good, although not spectacular, four-star stay.

If you have occasion to visit Winnipeg, give yourself at least 2 or 3 days to take in all it has to offer.