5 amazing day trips close to Winnipeg

For families and people looking to save money this summer, Travel Manitoba is sharing five fantastic spots to check out this summer, all within an hour and a half of Winnipeg.

Kit Muir with Travel Manitoba shares places of interest within an hour and a half of Winnipeg, making them a perfect day trip for people this summer.

North

Within a 20-minute drive from the North Perimeter is a trip back in time.

"Lockport and Selkirk make a great day trip. Heading up River Road is a beautiful, scenic drive. When you hit Lockport many people love either Half Moon [restaurant] or Skinners. It's always great to stop at the Lockport Dam Heritage Provincial Park there and enjoy a sundae or hotdog, whatever your favourite is."

Heading a little further north into Lower Fort Garry offers a trip way back to 1830.

"This is a National Historic site. It's all about the fur trade, as it's an old Hudson Bay Trading Fort. A little further north brings you to Selkirk. They have the marine museum with six restored boats on the grounds, and you can walk through two of them. They date back to the 1850s."

Selkirk is also known for its catfish. People who enjoy fishing or are even wanting to try it for the first time can enjoy catching catfish on the Red River.

East

This direction out of Winnipeg will bring people right into the Whiteshell Provincial Park, about an hour and a half drive out of Winnipeg.

"Here you're hitting more of the Canadian shield and it gets a little rockier, not the prairies some people think of typically Manitoban. One of the great places there besides the wonderful beaches and some of the great hikes, is at Falcon Beach Ranch."

In the town of Falcon Lake near the beach is the ranch and they offer trail rides.

"One of their trail rides is a UFO trail ride. It's quite unheard of, for some reason, but the Falcon Lake encounter is actually one of the most documented UFO sightings in North America. It happened in May of 1967."

In the same area of the Whiteshell is the Alfred Hole Goose Sanctuary.

"The visitor centre is open there throughout the summer. It's a nice stop on the way to Falcon Beach or West Hawk Lake."

South

Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach. (Travel Manitoba)

Just 30 minutes southeast of Winnipeg from the East Perimeter is the City of Steinbach, home to the Mennonite Heritage Village.

"It has over 25 buildings and all together they make up an early 20th-century village. One of the great spots is to stop at the iconic windmill that's there and of course stop at the livery barn where they serve up Mennonite classics."

A 30-minute drive south of Winnipeg brings people to St. Pierre-Jolys.

St. Pierre-Jolys Museum. (Travel Manitoba)

"Their museum, they've got a couple of really great tours also focused around food which is a personal favourite of mine. One tour of theirs is the Rat River Metis tour, which talks a lot about the Metis people who lived and still lived around the Rat River area. You can choose to make bannock or tourtière. They also host a Maple Syrup tour."

The tours offer some history, food, and as Muir says, a whole lot of fun.

West

If it's a hot day, Muir suggests heading out west to Portage la Prairie.

"I think many people think of it as a stop on the way to Brandon, but Portage is a really great spot. They have beautiful outdoor areas. They've got two aquatic centres. One is indoor and one is outdoor with a large pool and waterslide. The indoor space has a slide and lazy river. It's a fun spot for families especially."

Stride Place aquatic centre in Portage la Prairie. (Travel Manitoba)

In the same area, there is a green space called Island Park.

"It's called that because it's surrounded by the Assiniboine River, so it feels like you're kind of on an island, on the prairies. It's a great spot to walk around. It has a playground for kids, tennis courts and a disc golf course."

Roadside Attractions

"I don't think a road trip is complete without a giant something on the side of the road. You could make a day trip just going to these if you wanted to."

So many Manitoban towns have big monuments or statues for people to stop and take pictures at.

"The rooster town kettle is one, it was installed two or three years ago and it's within the city limits. It has an interesting backstory and meaning behind it. The centre of Canada sign is a big one. It's just southeast of Winnipeg in the R.M. of Tache and you can get your photo taken there."

Friends at the Centre of Canada sign in Manitoba. (Travel Manitoba)

A huge fire hydrant stands outside of Elm Creek. Roland sports a giant pumpkin. Morden has Bruce the Mosesaur. Dominion City has a giant Sturgeon. Altona has a big recreation of Van Gogh's sunflower painting as they are the sunflower capital of Canada.