The Porcupine Provincial Forest is enriched with boreal forest, rouged terrain, sand banks, bogs, wetlands, lakes and rivers covering 207,000 hectares. Three protected areas include, Birch River Ecological Reserve, Armit Meadows Ecological Reserve, and Bell & Steeprock Canyons Protected Area. Within these reserves are extraordinary plant life, 17 different orchid species and 14 plant species classified as rare. The boreal forest offers great habitats to birds and wildlife. Deer, elk, moose, black bear, wolves, coyotes, cougars, lynx, and many small game animals can this forest home. There are also numerous types of birds and waterfowl living, migrating and nesting in the area, which is great for bird watching and wildlife photography.Porcupone also offers a scenic outlook at at Rice Creek Tower, two hiking trails - Bell River Canyon and Steeprock Campground Trail, plus a canoe route at Steeprock. The many lakes and rivers offer great sport fishing experiences during summer and winter. Brook Trout, Jackfish, Perch, Rainbow Trout, and Pickerel are some of the fish found in our waterways. There are three Provincial campgrounds, Bell Lake, Steeprock Lake and Whitefishh Lake. During the winter there are hundreds of miles of groomed snowmobile trails taking you through our vast backcountry. Other points of interest include Inland Cement Plant, Silica Sand Quarry, Big Rock Trail, Erwood Subdivision Trail, Primrose Wayside Trail and P.O.W Camp.

The Duck Mountain Provincial Park is enriched with boreal forests, rolling terrain, deep lakes, river valleys, lush meadows and wetlands covering 1,424 squared kilometers. The highest point in manitoba is located in the Duck Mountains, called Baldy Mountain at 2, 2727 ft. Visit the two scenic outlooks, Balding Mountain observation tower with picnic area and Copernicus Hill observation deck and monument. There are eleven hiking trails throughout the Duck Mountains, Baldy Mountain, Blue Lakes, Child's Lake, Copernicus Hill, Glad Lake, Interpretive Centre, Mossberry Lake, Roaring River Canyon, Shining Stone and Spray Lake. Historic sites to visit are located at Cache Lake and Frank Marvin Forestry Centre. The three campgrounds at Duck Mountain include Blue Lake, Child's Lake and Wellman Lake. To enjoy seeing beavers, muskrats, otters and waterfowl paddle the canoe routes at Beaver Lakes and Chain Lakes. Very much like Porcupine Provincial Forest, the Duck Mountains are home to many different types of wildlife, birds, fish and plant life and is a great place to go fishing, snowmobiling, hiking, camping or quading. 

Geocaching is much like a treasure hunt or hide and seek game. To geocache you will need a Global Positioning System (GPS) and some trade items. To start an adventure you visit www.geocaching.com and type in the postal / zip code of the town where you want to travel to looking for a cache. This adventure can take you around the world. For example if you put in R0L 1M0 (Pine River, Manitoba) postal code the web site will show there are 376 geocaches within a 100- mile radius of Pine River. You collect information from the web site on each cache you want to locate; name, general location on map, description of container & contents, level of difficulty to find and most important the coordinates. You will find caches hidden in many different ways, under rocks or logs, tied to a larger object or even up in a tree. Cache containers vary in size from small to 5- gallon size. The two most common types of caches are traditional and multi. Traditional caches have a log- book, a letter explaining what geocaching is, history about this location and trade items. A multi cache consists of several small caches, each containing a log book, clues and coordinates to the next cache, once you locate the final destination you may find trade items. When you find a geocache it is customary to take an item and leave one in return, write your name and items exchanged in the log- book and tell of your experience in locating the treasure. To keep geocaching safe please don’t use the following items for trade; explosives, fire works, ammo, lighters, knives, drugs, alcohol, food or scented articles. Once you return home you must return to the web site and record your findings and list the trade items you exchanged. Geocaching is for all ages and offers a great experience with nature, breathing fresh air, beautiful scenery, exploring our wonderful land.

 

Eco Tourism explores our beautiful landscape by offering numerous outdoor activities. We respect the environment by keeping the land free of litter, use established trails while offering a learning experience and promote local communities and culture.

 

The activities offered in the area of “Valley in the Mountains” are: wildlife photography and viewing, butterfly and bird watching, fishing, reptiles and amphibian seeking, all in their native habitats. Hiking trails with scenic outlooks, geo caching, snow shoeing, tobogganing, cross country skiing and watching northern lights. Snow mobile, ATV, cycling, off road vehicles, canoeing, kayaking, horse back riding and historic tours. There are 12 operators in this area catering to resident and non-resident clients.

 

Bird watching is a wonderful past time. There are about 350 species in our area. Some species are very rare and you need to know which season they may be seen in. There are ninety common butterflies to seek out. Ice fishing and summer fishing offer a great experience for all age groups. We have over sixty fish species and are blessed with numerous lakes, rivers and creeks. It’s an adventure to take groups out on spring sucker and carp fishing trips. The fall tours include trout spawning areas. Pine River is the Trout Capital of Manitoba and many people visit the famous river. We have eight types of reptiles and amphibians. The best time to look for frogs is in spring. You can hear them everywhere, but now lets try finding them. Go looking for painted turtles and garter snakes. We have over fifty-five mammal species in this vast area. Wildlife photography and viewing are the most satisfying tours available to individuals and groups. All the above tours depend upon Mother Nature’s species to cooperate with us in order to see them. The ATV, snow mobile, horse back rides, cycling and off road vehicle tours offer individuals a challenge to travel unfamiliar areas and experience navigating over different types of terrain while seeing natures beauty. A few of the spots we visit are Lovers Leap, Pine River Escarpment and Kettle Hills. Hiking, snowshoeing, tobogganing, cross-country skiing, canoeing and kayaking are offered to individuals or groups. At night as we relax around a warm campfire you may experience the Northern Lights “Aurora Borealis”. The Northern Lights are much brighter and more common in winter showing their beautiful display of colourful dancing lights.