Self-Guided Tour - Available Year Round

The Dawson Trail Heritage Tour brings to light the natural, cultural and historic legacy of the Dawson Trail, Canada's first all-Canadian route linking the early Dominion of Canada to the West.

It a self-driven tour that will have you travelling along a scenic and mostly paved portion of the current Dawson Road from Richer to Lorette, Manitoba. With our website as your guide, uncover the people, places, stories and events that helped shape our province and country.

The Dawson Trail Commemorative Project features 15 new wayfinding markers and a series of permanent art exhibits highlighting the traditional place names and the historic legacy of the first all-Canadian access road linking the east with the prairies of the west. This project is inter-regional in scope and complements the research, annual art tour and tourism itineraries.

Key points of interest are highlighted with rich accounts of the everyday heroes who lived, worked and travelled this road over time. Exceptional stories, historical landmarks, and a memorable drive await - We look forward to seeing you on the Dawson Trail!

Bring a friend and make a day of it with breakfast, lunch or dinner at one of our local restaurants, or bring a picnic and your hiking shoes!

We have some Suggested Itineraries and Travel Tips for you!

Tour Route

Our tour directions begin from St. Boniface in south-east Winnipeg, OR you can just start from Deacon's Corner, which is the corner of Transcanada Highway #1 at Highway #207, just east of the Perimeter Highway and the Floodway Bridge. (Deacon's Corner Google Map Location)

From there you will go southeast along #207 through the communities of Prairie Grove, Lorette, Dufresne, Ste-Anne and Richer, visiting historically significant locations along the way. Some parts of the #207 Dawson Trail are pavement and some are gravel.

Once you reach the end of the currently driveable Dawson Trail east of Richer, we bring you back along Highway #1 then north to the #501 to visit Ross and Ste. Geneviève, then westward on the #501 until it connects with #1 again just before the Centre of Canada Park. At this point you have completed our tour and can go back to Winnipeg by going west on Highway #1, arriving at Deacon's Corner where you started.

How to Take the Tour Using your Smartphone

Please click the Google Map marker wherever you see it () to view the exact Google Map location for each point of interest listed!  There is one a the top of each Heritage Tour Location page.

Your smartphone should open the Google Maps application, and if your "location" setting is turned on it will offer to give you Directions (if not, turn your Location settings "on" first).

IF your phone opens the link in your web browser instead of the Maps app it will not work properly. You can hold down the google map link and get a popup menu that includes "Open with Maps App" to solve this!

If you click to start the Directions it will give you turn-by-turn navigation to each point from where you are now.

Once you have seen a point and are ready to proceed to the next point, click the link at the bottom of the page to go to the Next Heritage Tour Location page.

Then click the Google map marker at the top of the new page for the next tour location's Google Map point and navigate to it the same way. In this way your phone will guide you along the route in sequence following the Heritage Tour Location pages.

Read the info about each Location point on its page as you drive to it or are visiting.

At the top of each "Heritage Tour Location" page in a menu you will also see "Nuggets" connected with each location. While you drive from point to point, you can click to read the Nugget pages and then click the navigation link at the bottom of each page to come back to come back to your same location page.

Start the Heritage Tour now!

Go to the St. Boniface Heritage Tour Location Page