IN A LAND better known for brutally cold winters, widespread floods and vicious mosquitoes, it’s quite extraordinary that Manitoba’s vast prairies are also home to some of the best beaches in the country. In fact, Grand Beach Provincial Park, on the Sea of the Prairies – Lake Winnipeg is the sixth largest lake in North America – was ranked as one of the Top 10 beaches on the continent. With three kilometers of fine white sand, volleyball and tennis courts, a boardwalk and even a patio lounge, Grand is the ultimate place for winter-weather Winnipeggers to see and be seen – think southern California without the surfing.

 

But this park provides much more than a place for sun-worshipping nymphs to frolic. There is an on-site campground, several interpretive walks, a children’s play area and a quieter, more family-oriented second beach. Grand is an exercise in debunking stereotypes and carrying on a Winnipeg tradition dating to the dance hall days of the 1920s- all within an hour of ‘Peg.