Those looking to get one last skate in on Winnipeg’s Centennial River Trail will need to hit the ice Monday.
In a tweet Monday afternoon, The Forks said its officially shutting down all sections of the river trail for the season as of Tuesday.
The trail has already been closed from Osborne Street to Hugo Street, and a spokesperson from The Forks told 680 CJOB last week the chances of the remaining section of the trail staying open past the weekend were “50/50.”
Clare MacKay, VP of strategic initiatives for The Forks said the trail usually closes for the season on March 1.
The move comes as Environment and Climate Change Canada is calling for a thaw in temperatures in Winnipeg.
According to the national weather service, the city can expect highs in the range of -1 and 9 C for the rest of the week.
The Centennial River Trail officially opened Jan. 12.
MacKay said the trail has seen a large number of visitors this year, likely because people were looking for something to do outside of home during the pandemic.
“We’ve definitely seen larger numbers in terms of people on the trail — probably some who had never been out on the trail before,” said MacKay.
“Coming from different access points, we had different activities that people could try this year — we had cross-country skiing for the first time for almost the entire length of the trail, and we added some fat tire bike routes as well.”
The trail, which set the Guinness World Record as the world’s longest naturally frozen skating trail in 2008 — later breaking its own record — ran from the Forks to Hugo Street this year and was built extra-wide to encourage physical distancing.
— With files from Sam Thompson
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