Mantario Wilderness Education Centre

The end of the Olive Lake portage overlooking Madge Lake which is three lakes south of Mantario Lake. Copyright © October 1995 Donna Kurt

Mantario Cabin

The Mantario cabin is the heart of the Mantario Wilderness Education Centre. It is equipped with all the essentials, including emergency communication, water filtration, lakeside Finnish sauna, Coleman lanterns and gas and wood stoves. Of course, the rustic settings are complimented by two outhouses. Don't bring your curling iron, because there is no electricity!

Nature Manitoba uses the cabin for its long-running summer program of guided canoe trips, Mantario Wilderness Experience as well as for member-led activities during all seasons of the year.

Regular Use Cabin Fees: $15 a night per person if a member, $25 a night per person if a non-member. There are no exclusive bookings of the cabin and no minimum booking charge.

Not for Profit Educational Groups are $15 a night per person.

For safety reasons, all visitors to the Mantario cabin must be experienced with the route and with the cabin operation. New visitors must be go with one or more experienced cabin users.

All cabin use must be booked in advance with the Nature Manitoba office, phone (204) 943-9029, mns1@mts.net

Exploring the Area

It is possible to hike, paddle and portage to many surrounding lakes right from the cabin. Mantario is in the middle of the only non-motorized Wilderness Zone in Manitoba, so the peace is only broken by the rare plane flying over and the sounds of nature.

From Sunset Hill, a prominent rock outcrop just north of Mantario cabin, very scenic sunsets can be seen over the surrounding area. The centre of the 62 km long Mantario Hiking Trail is a short walk up from the cabin and provides access to some nice day hikes.

Short canoe trips can be made into Skull Lake, Two Stumps Lake, Spider Lake, Olive Lake, Jadel Lake, Bishoff Lake (visit the remains of trapper Kolanski's cabin) and Hop Lake.

The Whiteshell area in south eastern Manitoba is often classed as part of the Boreal forest region, but there are also many similarities to the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence forest region, and a number of plants representative of Aspen Parkland/Prairie are also common. Charles Burchill maintains a list of plant species found in the Mantario area.