Interpretive Trail

A Journey of Learning

The fusion of local rural knowledge with academic knowledge lead to the development of self-guided trail in Clearwater, Manitoba. The trail journeys through town and into the surrounding Pembina Valley, telling both the cultural and environmental histories of the regions.

Value of Local Knowledge

While working on a doctoral degree in environmental sciences and with a special interest in prairie ecology, Alexis Knispel seemed like an ideal person to lead a guided tour of the Pembina Valley. The intended tour was for a group of university students attending the Living Rural Communities and Environments course in Clearwater, Manitoba. Alexis prepared the hike with the intent of discuss the varied flora, fauna and geology of the Valley ecosystem. But after meeting local resident Roy McLaren, it was clear to Alexis that she could only offer a partial view of the Pembina Valley. Alexis had an academic understanding of the environment; but Roy offered to share the history of the environment and community, the essential story of the Valley.

The McLaren family has been living and farming in Clearwater for five generations. In fact, in the Life and Times of Clearwater, Manitoba, the Clearwater correspondent for the Winnipeg Free Press writes “Clearwater is a flourishing village. The town owners are Mr. L.O. Armstrong and Mr. Alexander McLaren”. Roy’s great grandfather, Alexander McLaren, was part owner of the village when it was first established, and the McLaren family has been farming the same two sections ever since.

Life on the Land

Having spent a lifetime walking the land, Roy has witnessed many environmental changes in the Pembina Valley. He also has an interest in the cultural history of the region, which he picked up through the years and from stories he was told by his fatherand grandfather. Roy will tell you of how the original wooden trestle bridge in town once wavered in a strong wind. He can tell you about the prohibition years in Clearwater, or about the livery barn that once stood in town.

At 80 years old, Roy continues to walk his property with ease, and when he guides others along the trail, he often has to slow down for the younger hikers, helping them up steep river banks and over barbed wire fences.

The changes in the Cypress Creek are particularly important to Roy. The creek that runs around the town and through the McLaren property is today no more than a trickle of what it once was. Roy wants more people to understand how the creek has been altered by human activities.

Changing Land

Roy spent his youth at the creek, fishing, catching frogs, swimming and exploring. The creek also provided a place to cut ice for family ice houses. But the drainage of prairie potholes and farmland over the years has filled the creek bed with silt. Today a person can ford the creek without any trouble, and there are no longer deep pools filled with fish and frogs.

In recent years, the sediment in the creek has caused the water to back up at the bridge where the creek flows into Rock Lake. As a result, the water runs from Rock Lake back down the river, washing out roads and causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs.

Passing Knowledge

Roy’s passion lies in telling the story of the land and the environmental changes that he has witnessed over the years. Roy wants people to open their eyes to the effects of years of bad land management practices. By taking people on the hiking trail, he hopes that they will see the direction land management has taken in the past and the future direction we should be taking. It is a history unknown to many, and Roy hopes that through education, people will become aware of the problems and work towards ways of fixing them.

History Lessons

When I interviewed Roy and Alexis about the trail, Roy wasn’t interested in dwelling on his integral role in creating the trail. Rather, Roy wanted to share more about the town’s history and the environmental changes he has witnessed on the landscape. His interest is infectious, as he discussed possible routes the trail could take and other points of interest he could share with us and others.

Creating the Trail

Alexis was the first person Roy ever took on a guided hike of the area. Her interest in Roy’s stories sparked an immediate friendship and a desire to share the history of the Pembina Valley with more people. Together Roy and Alexis have mapped out a self-guiding trail through the original town site, the present day town, and the McLaren property. Shortly after their initial hike, Roy and Alexis were offering guided hikes to university students and to people attending the Harvest Moon Festival.

The trail is mostly on the McLaren land, and permission has been granted by other landowners when the trail passes onto their property. In the summertime cattle may be on the land, requiring hikers to alter their route slightly.

The trail is a component of the Harvest Moon Society’s Learning Center, and it intended to teach visitors and local resident about the rural history and changes on the land in the past 150 years. Alexis has combined the stories Roy has shared with her own ecological knowledge to write a self-guiding pamphlet for the trail.

Eventually Alexis would like to see three different trails developed, including a 1 hour hike presenting Roy’s knowledge in a pamphlet and interpretive signs along the route. The guided hike will be developed with the help of an interpretive planner. A second route will take approximately half a day to walk and a third loop will be a day long hike.

Currently funding for the interpretive trail is being sought from the Heritage Grants program from Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Tourism.

Contact

Alexis Knispel
alexis_knispel@umanitoba.ca