Spirit Sands Self-guiding Trail — Attraction in Municipality of Glenboro – South Cypress

Spirit Sands is one of my favourite trails to hike in Manitoba and the best time to visit is in the spring before the heat of the summer. I most recently did this hike on April 27, 2020. This is a beautiful and moderately challenging hike and the trail conditions were perfect. The trail is unique as it passes through a variety of landscapes including sand dunes, forest and grasslands and there are some gorgeous views along the way.

The full loop through the sand dunes to the Punch Bowl and back is roughly 9 km. I always hike this one in the counter-clockwise direction, starting with the sand dunes and ending with the Punch Bowl. There are various lookout platforms along the way which offer beautiful views of the landscape. I love walking through the rolling sand dunes and it's something you would never expect to find in the middle of the Prairies! Once in the dunes, there is an optional 1.6 km trail that takes you around the sand dunes more, but I have never done this one. After the sand, the trail enters the forest again and goes through grasslands before arriving at the Punch Bowl. There were beautiful purple Prairie Crocuses blooming during my last visit! I loved the gorgeous views of the Punch Bowl from the first viewing area at the junction (to the right) and the water was a lovely blue-green colour. It is basically a small, crater-shaped depression in the ground. From there, I followed back along the main trail to the wooden stairway and bridge crossing a small peaceful lake. The boardwalk continued to the edge of the Punch Bowl where there were some benches for a nice picnic spot.

This is a moderately challenging hike. It involves climbing up steep sand dunes at times, multiple sets of stairs, various sections of ups and downs, and the added difficulty of walking through sand. I would suggest wearing sturdy hiking boots or shoes. It took me roughly 3 hours to complete the hike with a stop for lunch.

I arrived to the trailhead at 9 AM and was the first one there. On the hike back, I passed multiple groups of people and there were close to 20 cars in the parking lot. Would recommend arriving in the morning to enjoy this trail to yourself. Bring enough water with you and make sure to take your garbage with you. I was disappointed to see quite a bit of garbage (plastic bottles, coffee cups, candy wrappers, toilet paper), littered along the trail. Please respect nature and help preserve the parks!! All of the outhouses along the trail and at the trailhead are currently closed and boarded shut. If you need to do your business in the woods, make sure to take your toilet...

I hadn't been here in year since I was about 20 or so and prior to that as a child. I had incredible memories of it and pictures of my brothers and I jumping off the dunes with wreckless abandon. It's different coming here as a parent of 4 now! I think we chose the wrong day. There was a lot of complaining but it was very hot. 31°c therefore it likely felt hotter in the sand. And not a breath of wind. It was sweltering. We trekked the 2km to the dunes. A very pretty trek but long for young kids in such heat. I think they would have done fine if it was 5 or 10 degrees cooler.

By the time we finally arrived, one kid had blisters (wrong shoes) and one felt like throwing up with heat stroke and was bawling her eyes out. Now she is our kid that never complains so when she does you know it is real! So we pretty much turned around as soon as we arrived! If there was some shade we could have sat a bit to see if she improved but there was no shade.

I think this is a great place to go, and a fun trek, especially if at the 0.5km mark you take the harder trek. Half my family took the easy trek as they were tired (including the one that got sick), and half of us took the hard one. Stunning! Worth taking but it is a lot of climbing. It is where you find all the fun stairs apart from the one near the beginning. There may be more. I've never been to the punch bowl. Hubby and I would like to try that one day--kid free and in fall weather, perhaps! I'd love to return when the leaves are turning.

There are clean outhouses periodically throughout the path. All had toilet paper but were empty with the hand sanitizer. There are no sinks. At the parking lot there is a pump which was fun for our kids and we all soaked our heads and cleaned our feet to cool off and get the sand off when we returned.

We managed to see a Hog-nosed snake while we were there! It slithered right across the path a foot away from us which was so fun. I managed to snap a photo but he was already under the brush. Can you find him in the last photo?

I'm very curious about the horse buggy ride. They were done for the day when we arrived and we saw them taking the horses out.

A really great experience but unfortunately my kids may not have the same fond recollections...

Spectacular hike to and through the sand dunes in the desert environment of the Spirit Sands. Be sure to bring lots of water! This hike can be done barefoot or with flip flops/sandals if you are comfortable with hot sand and occasional sharp sticks, but otherwise bring something that will resist being filled with sand and work well on softer terrain. There are water pumps that are recommended not to drink from (though I seem to recall there not being signs for that and doing so when I was younger, so it may just be a liability style warning) but they are very refreshing to dunk your head under. Watch for Garter Snakes (non-poisonous, not very sharp teeth, and during the right time of the year I believe I saw raspberry canes and a couple strawberry plants. Be sure to take the Oasis trail if you really want to experience being in the middle of sand dunes, but be warned the Oasis itself is the water table below the surface a meter - covered in a small patch of pine trees and bush - this is not a pool of water with palm...