Trails running between lakes, an unbelievable number of geese, picnic tables, and the kind of quiet you will not find in a city park. This is the place we keep coming back to every fall.
Some places you visit for one impression — take the photo, tick the box, drive on. Others you return to simply because it feels good to be there. Swistun Family Heritage Park in East St. Paul is very much the second kind.
We have been here more times than I can count, usually in the fall. We bring coffee, we bring Nika, we bring her water and treats, and we walk. On weekday evenings, on weekend afternoons. And every single time we end up staying about two hours. Somehow it never turns out to be less.
The strangest part is that a century ago there was nothing here but a gravel pit.
Where Is It and How Do You Get There?
The park sits on Birds Hill Road (MB-202) in the municipality of East St. Paul — less than 20 minutes from the north end of Winnipeg.
We park at the entrance off MB-202, next to Memorial Park. The lot is small and free, and the trails start right there.
This is not the same place as Birds Hill Provincial Park — the road name makes the two easy to confuse. The provincial park is further north, off Highway 59: what to see in Birds Hill Provincial Park.
Is There an Entry Fee?
No. This is a municipal park — entry is free and no vehicle permit is required.
That is a genuinely nice detail, because Manitoba’s provincial parks brought back paid vehicle permits in May 2026. Here, none of that: you arrive, you park, you walk. If your plans also include provincial parks, we have a full breakdown of Manitoba park permits, camping and fishing licences.
What Kind of Park Is This, Really?
It is a former gravel quarry that one family turned into a park at their own expense.
The history is short but remarkable. The land here once belonged to Dr. Curtis James Bird — the same man who gave his name to the community of Birds Hill and to the provincial park. In 1870 the Canadian Pacific Railway bought the parcel and almost immediately ran a spur line to the pit.
The gravel taken out of here was known as Birds Hill Gold. It went into railway beds as far as the west coast and into roads across Manitoba. Over more than a hundred years of operation, upwards of 20 million tonnes came out of this ground.
The last company to work the pit was Birds Hill Gravel & Stone, owned by the Swistun family. When the resource ran out in the late 1990s, they did not simply walk away and leave a hole behind. They levelled the floor, graded the banks so they were gentle and safe, hauled in topsoil, planted more than 1,200 trees and shrubs, and built a causeway out to an island in the lake. Around 90% of the money came from the company’s own profits, not from grants.
The park never had an official opening. It simply became one, gradually, by the 1990s. In 2020 what had been Silver Springs Park was renamed Swistun Family Heritage Park in the family’s honour.
Walking the trails, you would never guess any of this. It looks like ordinary natural landscape — grass, trees, water. It is only once you know the history that you realize every metre of it was put there on purpose.
What Are the Trails Like?
A network of paths that loops around the lakes, runs alongside them and cuts between them — about an hour of easy walking.
This is what I love most about the place. The trails are not one long route but a proper network, so you can walk it differently every time. The best ones are the narrow paths where you walk with water on your left and water on your right. It feels a little like walking on the lake itself.
The terrain is gentle, with no significant climbs. The lawns are mown, though the shrubs and grass grow more freely in places — nothing overgrown, you can walk anywhere, but this is not a manicured city park. Personally, I like it better that way.
What Will You See Here?
Geese. A truly extraordinary number of geese.
Some evenings there are so many that the lakes look like they are made of geese. That has become a running joke between us, and anyone who has been here in the fall will understand it immediately.
Alongside them there are ducks, terns, American white pelicans and a great many songbirds. Here is the tip: sit down on one of the benches and stay quiet for a few minutes, and you will start hearing birds you would have walked straight past otherwise.
As for animals, the park is home to deer, foxes, muskrats and western painted turtles. We have not met all of them, but locals see them regularly.
What Can You Do Here?
Walk, have a picnic, watch birds, catch the sunset — and in summer, get out on the water.
- Picnic. There are tables and benches spread through the park. The spots are good and it stays uncrowded even on weekends, so you can actually sit in peace
- Sunset. This alone is a reason to come in the evening. As the sun drops, it reflects off the water on every side of you at once — the lakes are all around
- Canoeing and kayaking. According to locals, people paddle on the quarry lake. We have never seen it ourselves — we come in the fall
- Winter. Locals say people skate here and toboggan down the slopes in winter. We have not been at that time of year yet
- Time with friends or family. There is plenty of room, both for games outdoors and for a long conversation on the move
What Else Is Nearby?
East St. Paul is a small municipality, but a few things are worth knowing about:
- East St. Paul Days — an annual municipal celebration in June with live music and activities for kids
- The farmers market on Hoddinott Road, open Sundays through the warm season
- Memorial Park — right beside where we park, with a play structure and picnic tables if you have children with you
- Birds Hill Provincial Park — 15 minutes further north, if you want a beach and longer trails
When Is the Best Time to Come?
Fall is our favourite, but the park is open year-round.
- Fall — our pick. Colour, cool air, few people, and this is when the geese are at their most ridiculous
- Summer — green and warm, but the mosquitoes come out in the evening. Without spray you will struggle
- Spring — everything waking up, birds returning. Can still be damp
- Winter — skating, tobogganing, snow on the slopes and total quiet
One warning from experience: it gets cooler here in the evening than you expect. Water all around and open ground mean the temperature drops faster than it does in the city. A light jacket or sweater is worth having even on a warm day.
Bringing a Dog
Nika is always on a leash here, and rightly so — plenty of other people walk their dogs in this park, and there is wildlife living in it. The trails are comfortable underfoot for a dog: level, shaded in stretches, no sharp rock.
We bring her water with us. There are no drinking taps in the park.
What to Bring
- Bug spray — essential on summer and early-summer evenings
- A light jacket — it is cooler near the water
- Water — for you and for your dog, since there are no taps
- Coffee or a thermos — this is the kind of place where you want to sit down and not rush anywhere
- A leash — not optional
- Garbage bags — take what you brought back out with you
Quick Reference
| What | Details |
|---|---|
| Location | Birds Hill Road (MB-202), East St. Paul, Manitoba |
| Drive time | under 20 minutes from north Winnipeg |
| Parking | free, at the MB-202 entrance next to Memorial Park |
| Entry | free, no permit required |
| Time to allow | 1–2 hours walking, longer with a picnic |
| Season | year-round |
| Dog-friendly | yes, on leash |
| Toilets / water | none — plan ahead |
| What you’ll see | lakes, geese, songbirds, deer, foxes, turtles |
Why It Is Worth the Drive
This is not a place you come to for one spectacular photo. It is a place you come to walk for an hour or two, talk, breathe, and watch the sun go down into the water.
For us it is one of the best quiet spots near Winnipeg — somewhere we return to again and again, simply because it feels good to be there. In any season.
