Canadian Heritage Rivers System

Bloodvein River - Atikaki Provincial Park

Rivers are central to our nation's past. To ensure they are part of our future, federal, provincial and territorial governments established the Canadian Heritage Rivers System in 1984. As of 2006, forty rivers across the country are included in the System. Four of them are right here in Manitoba.

Bloodvein River

From the Manitoba/Ontario boundary, this rugged, white-water river flows through Atikaki Provincial Wilderness Park, over 200.0 km/124.3 mi. to Lake Winnipeg. Cut deep within the granite of the Canadian Shield, the path of the Bloodvein has remained virtually unchanged since the retreat of the last glaciers, 11,000 years ago.

Wilderness travelers from around the globe gravitate to the Bloodvein and Atikaki Provincial Wilderness Park, for white-water rafting, canoeing and kayaking, superb angling, and abundant wildlife viewing opportunities.

Seal River

Two hundred and sixty kilometres (161.6 mi.) upstream from Hudson Bay, "marine" harbour seals play and feed in Shethanei Lake, where the river named for them begins. They are just some of the citizens of the Seal which boils its way to Hudson Bay. Three thousand beluga whales summer in the river's estuary. Polar bear, wolverine, golden and bald eagles live along the banks. In winter, many of the 400,000 strong Kamanuriak caribou herd roam the eskers of the Seal River valley. Only a few people venture down this pure wilderness river each year. For those who make this trip of a lifetime, the Seal River matches every expectation.

Hayes River

The Hayes River is one of the most natural, scenic and unaltered waterways in Manitoba. It exists much as it did at the time of first European contact over three centuries ago. Through time, the river has played an important role in the heritage and culture of First Nations, providing resources and a route to travel through the region. The Hayes River route includes the entire 480 kilometres stretch of the Hayes northeast of Lake Winnipeg to Hudson Bay as well as a 43 kilometre section of the Nelson River north from the community of Norway House and the 67 kilometre Echimamish River connecting the Nelson and the Hayes Rivers. In 2006, the Hayes was designated a Canadian Heritage River in recognition of its outstanding heritage and recreational values.

Red River – Nominated in 2005

The Red River of Manitoba is the only major river on the Canadian prairies which flows in a northerly direction.  From its headwaters at Lake Traverse in South Dakota, it flows for more than 500 kilometres across the remnant lakebed of the former Glacial Lake Agassiz and some of the flattest and most productive agricultural areas in the world.  Entering Canada at the 49^th parallel, its waters flow north for 175 kilometres before entering Lake Winnipeg. 

The Red River is well known for the pivotal role it played in shaping and defining the history, culture and economic development of Western Canada. For thousands of years, Aboriginal peoples traveled the Red River and its tributaries, followed by the voyageurs, explorers, fur traders, immigrants and tourists.  At the Forks, where the muddy waters of the Red are joined by those of the Assiniboine River, Aboriginal peoples made their camps, voyageurs traded furs, pioneers tilled the soil, and a capital city and regional metropolis arose from the surrounding productive prairie farmlands.

The Manitoba Government and Rivers West-Red River Corridor Association Inc. have recently partnered to pursue a nomination of the Red River to the CHRS. Rivers West-Red River Corridor Association is a not-for-profit organization mandated to develop and implement a long-term tourism and conservation strategy focusing on the development, promotion and management of the natural, tourism, cultural/heritage and recreational resources of Manitoba’s Red River.