Wilderland Adventure Company

16/06/2024

What makes Wilderland Adventure Co. unique is our focus on youth outdoor programs.

Wilderness experiences are powerful for kids to learn about themselves, others they embark alongside, and the natural world that immerses them.

Our experienced guides and instructors present opportunities for exploration and discovery throughout the trip to help create a foundation of lifelong learning through challenge and reward.

Our amazing partner school groups, churches, and local community organizations truly make these incredible adventures happen.

Did you know that we provide Paddle Canada Intro Canoeing and Camping Basics skills courses through our wilderness canoe tripping programs?! This means that students work towards certifications.

🛶 Canoe Paddling.
🧭 Navigation.
🏕️ Camping Skills.
🥘 Outdoor Cooking.
…and more!

This is amazing for recognizing their skill sets, presenting to employers their interest and commitment to extra curricular learning, and the first step to becoming future outdoor leaders.

Thank you to all the amazing groups who entrust Wilderland Adventure Co. for high quality and professionally facilitated youth centered outdoor programming.

Outside of youth programming, we continue to be one of the most experienced outfitters who provide unique and special Manitoba paddling tours & courses to engage with nature, adventure, and Canadian heritage.

Thanks to and for helping us make that happen.

11/06/2024

We LOVE our local camps. Each year we donate a few day tours to our partner camps to help them grow their fundraising and networking efforts.

This week we hosted a wonderful family that participated and won an auction price with .

We started off with a light breeze and sunny skies that eventually turned to overcast, cooler temps, and moderate wind.

We’re thankful for our summer camp community and all the fun, learning, and exploration that they provide for so many children and youth each summer. A special shout out to the ministry camps who have been so faithful to their mission.

If you’re seeking a fun way to be outdoors and having fun with family, friends, co-workers or a group of kids…we’re the place to call!!

06/06/2024

🏕️ Base Camp 🏕️

Our beloved home away from home located in St. Malo Provincial Park.

Youth Groups, Corporate Teams, School Groups, Families, and anyone else want ing to camp, enjoy many different outdoor activities & games, and of course fellowship and connection around an evening campfire.

We have a few weeks that opened up due to cancellations so BOOK NOW if you want to experience a fully outfitted and guided group outdoor experience this summer.

06/06/2024

Paddling season has begun!

The past 5 days have been filled with canoe skills and leadership courses to inspire and empower Manitobans to get out paddling this summer. 33 people earned their certifications!!

Although windy and rainy conditions EVERY SINGLE DAY, we’ve been fortunate to dodge thunderstorms and find sheltered waterways (under our operation license) that were perfect for novice paddlers.

Saturday/Sunday we facilitated a Paddle Canada / Outdoor Council of Canada leadership course for educators, outdoor rec staff, and camp directors.

Monday through Wednesday we ran more Paddle Canada courses for Girl Guides and local schools.

We are very proud to serve Manitoba with high quality outdoor learning by highly skilled and experienced instructors. We’re thankful for all the groups that entrust us to plan and lead events with safety in mind.

Some feedback we continue to receive is that “why haven’t we heard about you before now?”

Our foundational vision to get more children and youth outdoors. This is why schools, community groups, scouts/guides, church groups, and families book with Wilderland.

We are here, alongside some other amazing paddling outfitters with their own style, programs, and services.





And coming soon…

Manitoba paddling is growing and we’re so thankful to be part of this movement to encourage and empower more folks exploring our incredible parks and natural spaces.

We have some open dates that popped up this summer for any paddling programs in beautiful St. Malo Provincial Park.

Contact us to learn more and book your adventure!

21/05/2024

The heartbeat of Wilderland Adventure Company…

To our amazing guides and instructors, you truly make Wilderland what it is today. We cherish our team and community of partners to help create outdoor adventures and learning opportunities. Every tour and course is designed to foster growth, personal transformation, build confidence outdoors.

We are so proud of our local partners and licensed outfitters who continue to build up our outdoor sector:

🧭

🛶

🥾

🛶

🛶 .adventures

And we want to highlight our friends at 🏕️🛶 with our amazing partnership to elevate both paddling skills and outdoor professional development in Manitoba community.

Did we miss anyone?!

18/05/2024

A few years ago we experienced a lot of flooding on our eastern waterways causing a change of plans for many of our programs. The rivers were high, parks had closures, and our amazing guests were still eager to get paddling. The blessing in this challenging dilemma was a quick switch to St. Malo Provincial Park and with the support of MB Parks, we have since established our Base Camp.

Upon growing our tours in the park and expanding our vision of heritage focused programs for schools, families, and tourists, we met local Roseau River resident Georges or widely known as Bonhomme Beaudry.

As a Metis and with direct ancestry through the historic Canadian fur trade as well as a local historian by passion, Georges has been a true gift to partner with.

He has an ability to animate and illuminate an extensive history that is so full of facts and detailed accounts as well as legend and lore. His incredible skillset in singing, playing numerous historic instruments, as well as knowledge of the voyageurs, truly captivates people from any age.

We’re proud to have Georges’ services as part of our programs and tours at both Base Camp and beyond.

Alongside Georges, we specialize in fur trade history programs for schools and tour groups. Please contact us for availability and pricing and we’ll be sure to help you explore Canada’s past through the eyes of the voyageurs.

17/05/2024

My first canoe trip down the Manigotagan River was in the summer of 2005, almost 20 years ago.

On that trip, as we paddled along we came across 2 men a canoe with a small motor and big smiles. The gentleman in the back was the first to say hello and firmly shook our hands. This was the first time I met Charlie, or Charles Simard. This informal meeting on the banks of Pillow Falls turned into an hour lunch gathering of stories, information about the river, and an invitation to visit his cabin further upriver.

Since that first meeting, I’ve paddled the river a dozen more times over the years and have used Charles’ family operated shuttle service to transfer our vehicles. Everytime we brought a group of youth, clients, or a group of friends, we planned extra time with Charles.

His passion for telling the stories of the river, sharing his culture and heritage, and as we have become closer and closer friends, learning about is deep faith in the Lord and his family’s journey of healing.

Nearly a decade ago we started working together to connect folks to the land and his story. This has humbly been an immense privilege to be part of.

Last weekend I had the blessing of visiting Charles and working alongside him and to bring to life a new tour we’ve been working on the past few years.

If you’re looking for a trip down the Manigotagan River, Charles is the guy to help you make it happen.

If you’re seeking a truly unique and special outdoor adventure with an exploration of local culture and heritage, we’re excited to help you out.

15/05/2024

This week we had the absolute privilege to partner with some incredible folks to launch our inaugural Manigotagan River Heritage Tour.

This was all about collaboration from local Elders & Knowledge Keepers Charles, Lance, and Rennie from Manigotagan, our friend Georges from , and team of guides partnered with .

Together we hosted an eager group of educators from to paddle replica voyageur canoes up the river for a day of learning and exploration. The conditions were amazing and the company was all around jovial.

We have been planning this program for the past 4 years and it has been such a joy to see ideas and common vision come to life this week.

We also want to formally thank for their support in helping us get our voyageur canoe programs off the ground.

As we launch these unique canoe tours, we are starting with custom group adventures. If you’re seeking something adventurous, historic, and truly Canadian, contact us and we’ll help you out together a learning adventure of a lifetime.

Want something close to Winnipeg, our Base Camp program and canoe tours will be starting up by June 1st. Contact us for availability and rates for your next Manitoba group adventure.

18/04/2024

🚨New Course Alert 🚨

Hey Brandon, Manitoba….

We have a new and exciting Day Camping Leadership Course happening in your community and is open to anyone in the province!

We are proudly launching a new series of combo courses to meet the immense need of foundational local outdoor leadership training.

🗓️ Course Dates: May 30th (evening), June 1-2nd, 2024.

📍 Location: Brandon Discovery Centre

Included Certifications:

🛶 Paddle Canada Intro Tandem Canoe

🧭 Outdoor Council of Canada Hiking Field Leader

🧭 Outdoor Council of Canada Paddling Field Leader

We are helping Educators, Outfitters, Tour Guides, Wilderness Trip Leaders, and Summer Camp staff be inspired, empowered, and equipped to lead high quality events.

The standards are changing in Canada and Manitoba so we’re here to help bring these critical courses to our community.

Did you know that our staff and partners have been facilitating OCC and Paddle Canada courses in Manitoba for decades? Our instructors possess some of the most frontline experience and knowledge of leading outdoor experiences. We have a proud history of investing into our community and we’re here to serve you!

This unique course is possible because of our partnership with and

We are offering ALL 3 CERTIFICATIONS for only $295 +gst. This is a 25% savings on the separate courses and you can get this all in one action packed weekend of learning!

Our hope is to make affordable, accessible training that also brings together our outdoor community at large.

TO REGISTER: [email protected]

14/04/2024

We enjoyed a warm sunny day out on the Spirit Sands hiking trail to kick off our season.

Spring is here and we’re excited to help our guests hike, paddle, camp, and explore throughout Manitoba this year.

We do have some group program availability left in April and we’ve now started taking bookings for September.

🍎 Schools.

✝️ Church and Community Groups.

🏦 Corporate Team building.

🇨🇦 Tour Groups.

🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Family & Friends.

Space is limited so don’t hesitate to reach out. We’ll help you create a fun and rewarding outdoor experience!

06/04/2024

PADDLE CANADA CAMPING LEADERSHIP 🛶🏕️

We’re facilitating an advanced level Paddle Canada Camping Leadership course this summer.

This course is designed to help experienced canoe and camping leaders expand their skillset and knowledge to leadership skills (risk assessment and mitigation, menu planning, gear usage and repair, navigation, self and group care, group management in a wilderness context, and more!)

We proudly pursued this new training last year to provide enhanced certification and outdoor leadership courses for local Manitoban educators, outfitters, camps, and wilderness guides to meet and exceed the new incoming leadership standards of MPASS (Manitoba Physical Activity Safety in Schools). Our aim is to get more students outdoors and advanced training will become the new norm in the months and years ahead. We are committed to helping you!

There are prerequisites for this course so please refer to the graphics ☝️ and send us an email if you have any questions and to register!

Course Dates: July 11-14th, 2024

Course Location: TBD

⚠️ There is a chance this course may not be offered locally for awhile, so take this opportunity while it’s here ⚠️

We are intending to offer more beginner and intermediate level courses in the future. Currently we’re focusing on those through private group courses. So if you’re in urgent need for the certification of any Paddle Canada canoeing or camping courses, please reach to us. We may have availability in some of our courses this year.

To register send us an email: [email protected]

See you on the water!

01/04/2024

Paddling season is upon us and it’s time to let you know about courses and events this year.

The first canoe courses we want to highlight are in partnership with our incredible friends at Manitoba Pioneer Camp.

On May Long Weekend, we’ll be out on beautiful Shoal Lake alongside many of Manitoba’s most experienced Paddle Canada instructors.

Certified Paddle Canada Courses offered include:

🛶 Intro to Tandem Canoeing.
🛶 Intro to Solo Canoeing.
🛶 Intermediate Tandem Canoeing.
🛶 Intro to Tandem Canoe Instructor.

There are courses to help Educators, Summer Camp Staff, Wilderness Guides, and Anyone else wanting to further their paddling skillset.

Why you should join us out at this spring:

🏕️ Stay on rustic island oasis.

🧭 Learn from professional outdoor leaders.

🛶 Develop skills, experience, and confidence.

🥖 Delicious food and shared meals to facilitate fellowship and community.

🌅 One of the most beautiful sunset views in a true paradise only 2 hours east of Winnipeg.

Want to book your spot?! Details and Pricing are available by contacting Pioneer camp via email at: [email protected]

We look forward to seeing you out there!

P.s Can’t make it to these courses? We’ll have some more opportunities. Reach out to us for the most up to date info. Have a group?! We offer custom group courses 🛶

WILDERLAND.ca

23/03/2024

Spring adventures are just around the corner so it’s time to get our food prepped for an epic season of trips, courses, and programs.

What are some of your go-to backcountry meals?

22/02/2024

Hiking and Backpacking experiences are amazing ways to immerse yourself in Manitoba’s forests and wild lands.

We provide guiding and outfitting services to help you get there with the comfort of an experienced guide and assurance of the right wayfinding and equipment.

For the past 6 years as “Wilderland” staff and the decades beyond as leaders with other local organizations, our dynamic team will provide you with a fun, educational, and rewarding time on the trail.

🌲From the Whiteshell to Spruce Woods to Riding Mountain and many parks in between, we hold permits and work with MB Parks to ensure the safety of our guests.

💰On a budget? We have some low cost options.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Have a large group? We have a few wonderful routes in mind.

✅ Have some specific goals? We have the right leaders to ensure you have resources to reach for your objectives.

🏕️ New to hiking? New to Manitoba? We have some amazing treks that will showcase our incredible province while meeting your challenge level.

🚌 Have children or youth? This is one of our specialties!… we’ll help you facilitate a truly engaging adventure that your group will cherish for years to come.

🥾 Just need outfitting? Contact us for high quality gear rental packages including Osprey, Eureka!, GSI, MSR, Klymit, and more.

🧭 Want to learn about hiking and don’t know where to start?! Enjoy one of our many private courses we offer. Led by experienced and certified wilderness guides, we’ll help you gain skills and experience to grow your confidence and skillset to embark on your next backcountry endeavour.

✨Wilderland is a premier hiking and backpacking outfitter in Manitoba and we’re excited to help you on your next adventure!✨

15/02/2024

Voyageur Canoe tours and programs are one of our foundational services at Wilderland!

Nestled within the beautiful and tranquil St. Malo Provincial Park, we have a Base Camp where we launch many of our group programs. 📍

We create customized and private adventures for everyone:

🚌 School Groups

⛪️ Church & Ministry Groups

🏙️ Community Groups

🏠 Friends & Family Groups

📎 Corporate Teams

🇨🇦 Tour Groups & Visitors

…and MORE!

We offer stand alone paddling tours on the lake through an engaging narrative of life as a historic “traveller” or Voyageur to full days of events customized to meet your goals and objectives. 🛶

Want to really dive deep into local Metis history, we’ll invite our friend and local storyteller Georges from 🍁

Our guides are also backcountry culinary explorers who can put together delicious and nutritious snacks and meals. 🍲

Lastly, we offer multi-day events with the reward of all-inclusive camping. Sit back around the fire and relax or load up a day of activity…that’s up to you! 🏕️

We have limited availability this spring, a bit more yet this summer, and we’re now taking bookings for the fall (till end of September).

Check out link in bio ☝️or check our website for more info…

www.WILDERLAND.ca

✨BONUS✨
Mention this post and create a booking by March 1st to receive 15% discount (off Base Rate) on your Voyageur Canoe tour this year!

Let’s get paddling!





cabinsstmalo

13/02/2024

⚠️DISCLAIMER…Hot topic⚠️

We are excited to share that we are now able to provide winter hikes, winter camping, and winter skills courses this winter.

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

The winter season is about halfway done and we have a fair amount of availability remaining for snowshoeing and possibly overnight programs (date dependant and weather dependant).

It has been a long process of waiting for our permits as a licensed eco tourism provider here in Manitoba. By law we couldn’t advertise anything winter program related until we hold the permits. Now with everything sorted out…thank you MB Parks!!…we are able to press forward.

Although the process takes time, we appreciate the staff and administrators as well as on the ground management and enforcement of eco tourism within the province. They make sure outfitters are operating responsibly, have thorough emergency and risk management plans, and strong communication.

We’re one of the few that hold permits to operate commercial guided winter programs (tours, courses) on public lands (parks, crown land, etc). We’re excited to see more outfitters like Wilderland providing life changing eco tours and skills courses.

The challenge we’re facing is a number of local individuals and businesses that are operating without permits and not currently licensed to operate on public lands (trails and waterways). The concern is that there isn’t any accountability of their risk management planning and ex*****on, their diligence to caring for the land, their standards for guides (experience and training) or what they are communicating (liability, due diligence, and insurance) to clients as they facilitate events. The licensing process helps create these plans and standards so we can grow as an outdoor sector.

We’re thankful for the licensed outfitters and guides/instructors who are in our local ecotourism network pioneering the way alongside us for safe and responsible ecotourism in Manitoba…you know who you are 😎

🛶 🧗‍♂️

🛶❄️

🥾

🏕️

🛶❄️

🛶

🛶❄️

Sorry if we missed anyone :)

11/02/2024

Want to support a great organization and *possibly* get a deal on a group paddling experience?!

We’ve donated a group package of either Canoe Skills lesson OR Voyaguer Canoe tour (winners choice) in St. Malo Park this summer. Winner gets to invite up to 9 friends and family!

Retails for $750…at the tine of posting this the next bid is only $255!!

Gimli Bible Camp has a long history of transporting and hosting marginalized inner city kids and families for a week of fun and engaging summer camp.

We’re very excited to partner with them in a number of ways like leadership training, etc.

Auction item 'Wilderland Adventure Company' hosted online at 32auctions.

07/02/2024

⛑️WILDERNESS FIRST AID

We are partnered with Camp Manitou Training Center to provide a wilderness first aid course 40 hrs) on the March 16/17 and March 23/24th weekends.

This foundational first aid training is ideal (and often required) for:

🧭 Guides

🏹 Summer Camp Staff

🛶 Outdoor Leaders

🎣 Outdoor Enthusiasts

…and anyone responsible for others in our natural places 🏕️

Spaces are very limited so please contact us via email to confirm availability and info for registering.

Contact Us: [email protected]

01/01/2024

2023 was a fantastic year of growth, challenge, and connection.

We are grateful for every guest, participant, student, and friend who joined us for an adventure this past season. We continue to find our identity and inspire others to get outdoors.

Although we feel we have made leaps and bounds with our outreach and community investment, we have a lot of areas we’re excited to grow in this next year. Thank you for helping us become a staple outdoor recreation and education resource here in Manitoba.

In 2023 we camped, SUP’d, day hiked, backpacked, canoed, canoe tripped, offered paddling skills and paddling leadership courses, risk management training, guided tours, private corporate events, outdoor skills clinics, professional development, and many private customized events and programs.

Overall, we are extremely thankful for the trust in our team and our ability to faithfully serve you. We are also thankful for health, safety, and successful adventures we can share with all of you who have joined us for some fun and exploration in Manitoba’s great outdoors!

Cheers 🥂 to 2024!

- Wilderland Adventure Co.

25/12/2023

We want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

From our family to yours, we hope you experience the warmth, friendship, love, and salvation that this season brings as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

16/12/2023

We completed one last outdoor leadership course to close out the year.

Manitoba now has 6 new certified Outdoor Council of Canada Winter leaders 😎

We’ll be hosting another course in the New Year, stay tuned to get signed up!

15/12/2023

This week we concluded a wonderful 6 week outdoor program with students from in Gretna. First we worked through 5 afternoons of trip planning, risk management, and outdoor skills. Then to finish the course we embarked on the students’ planned “final hike” into the Pembina Valley.

The other half of our venture was mentoring a few amazing camp staff from to grow in their trail leadership skills and facilitation strategies.

The “valley” is a wonderful place to hike and explore with many trails and challenging routes to navigate and enjoy.

If you’re an educator or community group leader seeking unique opportunities for students (or adults) to learn systematic trail skills for either hiking or the winter environment, please get in touch with us.

In the coming weeks we’ll be announcing an incredible opportunity we will be launching in partnership with the Outdoor Council of Canada 😀

Get outdoors and have fun Manitoba!

15/11/2023

A great day for a hike. How are you taking advantage of the great weather this week?

📍Pembina Valley Provincial Park

11/11/2023

❄️ Winter is here and we want to help local outdoor leaders expand your scope of practice to the winter environment ❄️

This 1 day risk management course methodically expands the foundational Field Leader Hiking and/or Paddling certification to considerations including:

✅ How the winter environment impacts the event cycle.

✅ Proper layering techniques.

✅ Using terrain features to promote comfort and heat management.

✅ Pacing to ensure safety, comfort, and body heat management.

✅ Cold injury identification and management.

✅ Identifying winter specific hazards.

✅ Winter considerations for emergencies.

✅ and More!

📍 The course takes place at Camp Manitou on December 14th.

‼️The PRE-REQUISITE for this Winter course is currently holding the OCC FL Hiking or Paddling certification‼️

🧭 Our professional instructors have combined 200+ days leading backcountry events in the Manitoba winter environment.

SO, If you lead outdoors in the winter and are seriously considering professional development to glean from very experienced outdoor leaders, this course is for you!

We only have a few last minute spots left, so register ASAP.

As a BONUS the cost is only $155 +gst (regular $185).

Link in our bio 👆

09/11/2023

Change of seasons means time to get into the classroom with some amazing local outdoor leaders!

Educators, camp directors, outdoor program managers, guides, and outfitters took part in our Outdoor Council of Canada Field Leader course this week.

11 more outdoor leaders received this training and certification. Manitobas outdoor leadership standards are continuing to grow and we’re proud to be part of it.

A HUGE THANKS to True North Foundation for partnering with us to make the course a reality.

MISSED THE COURSE?!

or interested in learning more?

Please check out our website via the link in our bio 👆

We are anticipating another course within the next 2-3 months.

31/10/2023

Back in 2004, when I started out my involvement in high adventure, my interpretation of outdoor leadership was about strength, having solid outdoor skills, and being the “reliable guy” to make sure everyone was happy and safe in the wilderness.

I had role models that “had done it for a long time” and I developed habits based on what I saw and experienced.

Nothing seriously bad ever happened, so my understanding was that meant I was a good leader.

What I failed to realize was that outdoor leadership is more than technical skills training. It’s liberal arts discipline that combines those outdoor skills (like backpacking, rock climbing, canoeing, and winter camping) with theory and practice in interpersonal communication, behavioural science, conflict resolution, problem solving, counselling, and being a leader. Not to mention learning to cook for groups of people and dealing with dynamic environments and situations.

Fast forward to 2012 when I first learned of the Outdoor Council of Canada and took the Field Leader training course. Like everyone in our large group, my eyes were opened to what I was missing. From the frameworks, checks and balances, and methodology of operating within a community, it revolutionized my personal and corporate outdoor leadership.

Since then I’ve been blessed to be part of implementing these practices in local camps, outfitters, and outdoor programs. Leaders are more confident, feel more supported, and have practical skills to ensure safe and rewarding participant centered events.

In my VERY BIASED opinion, every outfitter, guide, instructor, educator, and outdoor leader should have this training 😎

We will be offering these very courses throughout the year and we invite anyone who leads others outdoors to join us for the certification PLUS the networking and community these courses bring forward.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is the last day to register for our DISCOUNTED course next week! Nearly $100 in savings.

Register via email: [email protected]

- Matt Peters (owner/operator of Wilderland Adventure Co.)

📸 #1-4: Paddling trips and events from 2005

28/10/2023

Just like that it’s winter camping season…time to tuck the boats away for their hibernation season.

27/10/2023

Only a week ago we were enjoying plus 16 temps and paddling with nearly 70 local Manitoban educators.

Paddling season is officially over, so now we reflect on the amazing year we had.

From tours, Paddle Canada courses, our in-house paddling risk management workshops, Outdoor Council of Canada Field Leader Paddling courses, wilderness canoe trips, and fun SUP adventures, we did a lot in 2023!

We calculated that nearly 1,000 amazing guests paddled with us since the spring. That’s incredible!

Thank you and we can’t wait to have you back in 2024!