Monday July 14, 2025 International Peace Park to Winnipeg Manitoba

Another lonely night with just a few other campers in this beautiful park/campground. We were plugged in so we ran the extra refrigerator all night to get it extra cold. We brought it this trip thinking we may bring something back from Vermont (like Heady Topper) but it actually works as an overflow to the minifridge.

We got nice hot showers in the worn but clean and loved washrooms, thanks to Dennis the campground host. Deb was up by the time I got up but we met back after showers.

This park has amazing grounds with annual flowers (that we learned they buy each year) and other potted plant assortments that they keep in the greenhouses all winter. They also have a conservatory with a cafe and a huge cactus and succulents collection. And I mean huge! A couple of local folks collected cacti in North Dakota and it appears to have gotten away from them because this is a huge collection, right here in nowhere land on the border between Manitoba and North Dakota.

The grounds are huge with fountains and sunken gardens and rock walls and stairs, a giant bell tower, a peace chapel, 9/11 memorial, and just for fun a Game Warden Museum. We hit it all after they opened at 10 and then on the way out ran into a retired couple who’d camped across from us. They were heading home to Winnipeg today and made it sound so good we decided to stay in Winnipeg tonight. 

The weird thing at the Peace Garden is that it’s in both Canada and the United States. You can get into the park with no border check but you need your passport to leave.

So we set Google Maps to Winnipeg and stopped in Boissevain to get some lunch, take a picture of Tommy the Turtle and fill up with gas.

Then spent the early afternoon watching more wheat and canola roll by and finally pulled into rush hour traffic, ending up at Inn at the Forks which the nice couple from Winnipeg recommended. It’s in a great location, within walking distance to food and museums nearby.

We ate dinner in the hotel since it was Deb’s birthday and we needed something special. After a delicious dinner we walked around the neighborhood and ended up in The Forks Market which appears to be an old train station. Winnipeg seems to be a young vibrant city way up here in Manitoba.