Winnipeg is flat, which makes it an easy city to cover by bike, and a growing network of paved and unpaved trails means a rider can string together a long ride almost entirely off city streets. The trails mostly follow the two rivers and a handful of former rail lines, so the routes below cover most of what a visitor with a bike and a free afternoon would want to know.

The Assiniboine River Trail

The Assiniboine River Trail runs along the river from Assiniboine Park out past the city's western edge toward Beaudry Provincial Park, a route of roughly 20 kilometres one way through riverside parkland and the quieter neighbourhoods of Charleswood and Headingley. It is one of the most popular rides in the city because it is shaded, mostly paved, and easy to join partway through rather than riding end to end.

The Awasisak Mēskanow Greenway

Formerly known as the Bishop Grandin Greenway, this is Winnipeg's longest continuous multi-use trail, running about 12 kilometres from Sage Creek in the southeast through to Charleswood in the west. It follows a mix of former rail corridor and roadside path, crossing open prairie, wetland, and several residential neighbourhoods along the way, and it connects at its western end to the Harte Trail.

The Harte Trail

The Harte Trail is an unpaved multi-use path that picks up where the Awasisak Mēskanow Greenway ends and continues toward Assiniboine Park, giving riders a way to link the two systems into a longer loop. Because it is unpaved, it suits a mountain or hybrid bike better than a road bike, particularly after rain.

Renting a bike

For a visitor without their own bike, Bicycle Garden, run by the non-profit Plain Bicycle on Sherbrook Street in the West End, rents Dutch-style bikes and cargo bikes by the afternoon, day, or week. It is a short ride from the river trail network and a good starting point for anyone piecing together a route for the first time.

Before you go

Trail surfaces and closures change season to season, and some stretches close for maintenance or spring flooding, so it is worth checking a current map from Winnipeg Trails Association before setting out on anything longer than a short loop. None of the routes above require a permit, and all of them are free to ride.

Staying at the Corydon Airbnb: Corydon Avenue sits close to the Assiniboine River pathway network, so a short ride north gets a rider onto the river trail without much city-street riding first.