Landowner Rights & Trail User Responsibilities

The Waskahegan Trail is a unique resource that exists only because of the generosity of landowners. Before you set foot on the trail:

  1. Know the landowner rights and the trail user responsibilities.
  2. Check the trail conditions

Ministik Williams Lake to Fire Tower hike

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Seventeen people came out on a beautiful blue-sky day to hike the Ministik trail south.

We paused to admire Williams Lake. Its water shimmered under the September blue sky. We’ve been noticing that the leaves on the trees have not yet started to turn colour, and it’s already September 10.

This trail has two landmarks of interest.

The first, of course, is the old firetower. This is where we stopped for lunch.

The second landmark was new to most of us. It’s likely you won’t see unless you know to look for it across the field. It’s the chimney of an old cabin, at least a hundred years old. In the wintertime, Skidooers create a track to it.

Thanks to Helen for scouting and leading the hike and to trail maintenance for keeping the trail clear. You can find more photos on Flickr.

Where we’re going next.

Elk Island Shoreline Plus hike

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The Shoreline trail at Elk Island was new to many of the ten hikers that came out on Sunday. With an almost flat, paved road this was an easy stroll compared to the typical paths that form the Waskahegan Trail.

Shoreline’s 3km length was added on to by taking several offshoots: a viewpoint, the Beaver Bay picnic area, and the walk across what appears to be a long dam that circumnavigates Elk Island itself. With a further bit of exploration, not including the boardwalk (under water), but including the park theatre and a replica of an old Ukrainian house, our hike was brought us to just under our goal of 10km.

Most of the hikers saw the bison herd on their way in to the park. We also saw two small frogs and lots of various waterfowl.

The hiking conditions were perfect for this very leisurely day out at the national park.

Thanks to everyone who came out to hike with us on this day. You can see all the photos on Flickr.