Visitor guide
Pinawa Suspension Bridge
54 metres of cable and plank across the Pinawa Channel, built by volunteers and opened in 1999. Where to park, how far the walk is, and when to go.
- Length
- 54 metres
- Width
- 1 metre
- Opened
- 24 May 1999
- Cost to cross
- Free
What it is
The bridge hangs across the Pinawa Channel north of town, on the Alice Chambers Trail. It is 54 metres long and one metre wide, which means one person at a time in the middle and a bit of sway underfoot.
Nobody was paid to build it. The Pinawa Trails Group put it up with volunteer labour and finished the deck in the fall of 1998. It opened on 24 May 1999 and has been the picture people take home from Pinawa ever since.
It also carries the Trans Canada Trail. Walk across and you are on a route that runs from one side of the country to the other.
How to get there
The bridge is a few minutes north of the centre of Pinawa, off Provincial Road 211. Follow the signs for the suspension bridge. The last stretch is gravel.
The walk
Alice Chambers Trail is 2.9 km and runs through town along the water. The bridge sits on it. Most people park, walk five minutes to the bridge, cross it, and carry on into the Pinawa Channel Heritage Walk on the far bank.
That far side is the good part. The Heritage Walk is 3.5 km through jack pine and bare granite along the channel, and you can loop back over the Manitoba Hydro diversion dam if you want a longer day. Give yourself an hour and a half at an easy pace. It is open spring, summer and fall, but not in winter.
The trail is flat and packed. Alice Chambers is the one trail in Pinawa that allows horses and off road vehicles, so you may meet one. Machines are asked to keep to the west side. Every other trail in town is walking and cycling only. No fires and no smoking anywhere on the network.
When to go
Early morning is the best light and the emptiest trail. The channel is usually flat calm and you get the reflection.
Late September and early October is the prettiest week of the year out here. Yellow poplar against the granite, cool air, no bugs.
Summer afternoons are the busiest. The bridge is the take out point for the channel float, so from noon onward you will be sharing it with people carrying tubes up the bank.
Winter is quiet and open. The trail is skied and walked all season. Wear boots with grip because the deck ices up.
If you are floating the channel
This is the one thing to get right. The suspension bridge is where you get out of the water.
The landing is on your left, just before the bridge. There is no other way out after it. If you float under the bridge you are committed to a long, cold walk.
Common questions
54 metres long and one metre wide. It hangs over the Pinawa Channel north of town.
Volunteers from the Pinawa Trails Group finished it in the fall of 1998. It opened on 24 May 1999.
There is a lot at the bridge that the town charges for. You pay at the sign with the HONK app. If you would rather not pay, park on Highway 211 and walk about 600 metres in.
Yes. The bridge itself costs nothing. Only the parking is paid.
Yes. The trail is used for cross country skiing and winter walking. The deck can be icy, so take care and wear grippy boots.
It is a public trail bridge with handrails and it sways a little as you walk. Hold small children by the hand. Most families cross it without a problem.
Make a weekend of it
Wilderness Edge is five minutes from the bridge, with 143 rooms, a kitchen and the tube rentals. Tell us your dates and we will price it.
