Take a walk on the wild side! Bois-des-EspritsSave our Seine! Bois-des-Esprits is Winnipeg's newest protected urban forest. The largest contiguous river bottom and upland forest in Winnipeg, Bois-des-Esprits. has been described as a magical place by people that have walked through it.
Enjoy and the sights and sounds in the course of this walk. 117 acres of forest along the edge of the Seine River.
Through this walk you will encounter the following!
You will pass through five ecosystems-river bottom forest, wetlands, oak forest,aspen forest and grassland
Discover Winnipeg's finest oxbow and it;s largest Oak and Cotton trees
2 km of newly constructed gravel trail, for all weather use of the
forest
You may be experience the sights and sound of Ducks, Geese, White tail deer
You may come across a variety of wild mushrooms and some berries
restored grasslands where a planted tall grass prairie are thriving
You will see many tree's with carving's on them
Make sure you find Woody! He is a magnificent carved wood spirit that guards the forest
In 2003 Walter Mirosh and Robert Leclaire of Les Gens de Bois woodcarving clu
b, he learned of save the Seine's (SOS's) effort to preserve the bois-des-Esprits. The idea occurred to them to carve a "tree spirt" in the forest. Dave Venema, a volunteer river-keeper and SOS board member found a carving to protect, a 75 foot elm tree slated for removal due to Dutch Elm Disease (DED). The trunk had to be cut to a manageable 10 feet height and all infected bark removed by hand to avoid the spread of DED. In over two years, Les Gen de Bois has carved two spirits in theAncient elm, once destined to become a lost stump.You will find other tree carvings that have been sculptured by a well know bird carver Murry Watson. Trust me it is worth the walk!
