Central Manitoba

Central Manitoba includes:

• Pembina Valley, a region south of Winnipeg west of the Red River.
• Central Plains

Cities

• 1 Portage la Prairie — its early 18th-century French fort is a must for history buffs, and the crossing of Canada's two transcontinental railways draws train fans
• 2 Morden — home of the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre
• 3 Winkler — explore the town's Mennonite heritage
• 4 Carman — hosts the Carman Country Fair, one of the oldest running fairs in Manitoba.
• 5 Emerson — a frontier town on the Canada-U.S. border
• 6 Morris — hosts the Manitoba Stampede and Exhibition each July, the largest professional rodeo east of Calgary
• 7 Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes — a Franco-Manitobain farming community

Other destinations

Beaudry Provincial Park

• 1 Beaudry Provincial Park — hiking and skiing trails, but no camping
• 2 Pembina Valley Provincial Park — 47 km south-west of Morden, on Highway 3 at Highway 31; 13 km of hiking trails

Understand

The legacy of early 20th-century immigration to the region can be seen in the Ukrainian settlement in Portage la Prairie area, and the French-Canadian settlements near St. Claude and Elie/St. Eustache.

This region used to be dominated by wheat fields, but has diversified to grow barley, oats, beans, potatoes, canola, flax, sunflowers, corn, grass seed. Much of the processing of the commodities is also done in the region.

• Central Manitoba Tourism, toll-free: +1-877-324-6645. (updated May 2020)

Talk

The languages spoken in this area are English and French, as you can tell from highway signs on the road. Low German is also another common language in this region, though it is not necessary to speak it.

Get in

By car

You can reach the region from heading west or south from Winnipeg or north on I-29 from the US.

By bus

• Rider Express, toll-free: +1-833-583-3636. Offers interprovincial bus service on its Regina-Winnipeg route. It has a network of routes that span from Winnipeg to Vancouver. (updated Feb 2021)

Get around

By car

This is the recommended way to explore Pembina Valley.

Highways 1, 2, and 3 from Winnipeg cross the region from east to west.

Highway 75 is the main route into the region from the United States. In the U.S., Interstate 29 takes you to the border at Pembina, North Dakota.

See

Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre, Morden

The Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre in Morden displays a large collection of marine reptile fossils.

Explore the region's history at the Fort la Reine Museum in Portage la Prairie, from French explorers to construction of the transcontinental railway to Ukrainian settlement.

There are various big roadside attractions in the region, including the world's largest Coca-Cola can in Portage la Prairie, and the world’s largest pumpkin in Roland.

In Treherne, on Highway 2 between Winnipeg and Brandon, you can visit the Glass Bottle Buildings. They include a one-room house made of 4,000 bottles, a chapel, a wishing well, and a fully functional outdoor washroom enclosed in a structure entirely comprised of bottles.

Do

Manitoba Stampede 2008

Morris hosts the Manitoba Stampede and Exhibition each July. It's four days of events: one of the largest dairy shows in the province, light and heavy horse shows, school work and home-craft competitions, commercial and craft displays, petting zoo, midway rides, free family entertainment, indoor cabaret Friday and Saturday evening featuring country bands, and the popular kids pedal tractorpull on Sunday.

Tour the agricultural festivals around the region, such as Morden's Corn & Apple Festival and Winkler's Harvest Festival and Exhibition, both in August.

Go next

• Eastern Manitoba is directly across the Red River
• Winnipeg in Canada
• Grand Forks in the USA.