The Nestaweya River Trail is now closed for the season. The trail opened on Dec. 31, 2024 and was open for 68 days this season.
The trail was built this year thanks to the generous support of winter enthusiasts who “adopted” a metre of the trail through the Trail Together campaign in support of The Forks Foundation. Over 985 metres were adopted, and people put their name, or the name of a trail lover in their lives, on each adopted metre.
“This winter, people truly showed us how much they love the river trail,” says Sara Stasiuk, Chief Executive Officer, The Forks. “They helped build it by adopting metres and got out there to use it – even on the coldest days. This beloved trail is built by people and for people. So, thank you for embracing and stewarding the trail this year.”
At its longest, the Nestaweya River Trail covered six kilometres stretching from Churchill Drive on the Red River to the Hugo Docks on the Assiniboine. The trail’s 68 day season puts it above the average 56-day season length, and far eclipses last year’s dismal nine days – the shortest river trail season ever. The trail would have had to remain open until March 17 to match the record 76-day season set back in 2019.
The trail once again provided a much loved connection to and through The Forks site, while also connecting communities along both the Red and Assiniboine Rivers. People used the trail in a multitude of different ways, from skating, walking, running, rolling, ice-biking, skiing, and snowshoeing.
As of today, The Forks is no longer monitoring or maintaining any portions of the ice and advises people to stay off the rivers.
FUN FACTS:
- Recycled Christmas trees decorating the trail (now being chipped and will be spread around The Forks site in spring): 800
- Nestaweya River Trail crew members: 10
- Total years of River Trail experience cumulative between crew members: 79
- Litres of river water pumped to flood the trail: over 1,500,000
- Warming Huts on trail: 18
- Litres of coffee consumed by crew: 350
- Distance covered by the ice resurfacing machine: 3,600 km
- Thickest measurement of ice on the trail: 28"
- Holes augured (for measurement and pumping purposes): 2,800
- Marriage proposals on the trail: 1 (that we know of)