Staff Pick
Road Trip Bissett to Atikaki – Wild Shield & Anishinaabe Pictographs
Bissett
Parc Atikaki
60
km
1h30
drive
Summer
season
The Itinerary
Atikaki Provincial Park (3,981 km², UNESCO World Heritage with Pimachiowin Aki since 2018), 250 km northeast of Winnipeg, is one of the largest accessible wilderness areas in the southern Canadian Shield. It's also the heart of the Anishinaabe First Nations ancestral territory (Bloodvein, Little Grand Rapids, Pauingassi, Poplar River) — four communities guardians of the oldest painted pictographs in North America.
From Bissett, a former 200-inhabitant gold mining town, Provincial Road 304 — a 60 km gravel road — is the last accessible road before the wilderness. Beyond, access is by canoe or floatplane. The Bloodvein River crosses Atikaki for 200 km, dotted with over 100 ochre pictograph sites (3,000+ years old) on granite outcrops — Mosquito Lake, Artery Falls, Tulabi Falls are the most accessible.
Pimachiowin Aki ("the land that gives life" in Anishinaabe) is one of only two mixed UNESCO sites (natural and cultural) in Canada. Wallace Lake Provincial Park (50 campsites on the Shield) and Manigotagan River Provincial Park (heritage canoe route) are road-accessible. Outfitters: Bloodvein Outfitters, Adventure North.
From Bissett, a former 200-inhabitant gold mining town, Provincial Road 304 — a 60 km gravel road — is the last accessible road before the wilderness. Beyond, access is by canoe or floatplane. The Bloodvein River crosses Atikaki for 200 km, dotted with over 100 ochre pictograph sites (3,000+ years old) on granite outcrops — Mosquito Lake, Artery Falls, Tulabi Falls are the most accessible.
Pimachiowin Aki ("the land that gives life" in Anishinaabe) is one of only two mixed UNESCO sites (natural and cultural) in Canada. Wallace Lake Provincial Park (50 campsites on the Shield) and Manigotagan River Provincial Park (heritage canoe route) are road-accessible. Outfitters: Bloodvein Outfitters, Adventure North.
Points of Interest
-
✦
Atikaki Wilderness PP3,981 km² mixed UNESCO with Pimachiowin Aki.
-
✦
Bloodvein Pictographs100+ Anishinaabe pictograph sites, 3,000+ years old.
-
✦
Bissett Gold Mining HeritageFormer gold-mining village, 200 inhabitants.
-
✦
Wallace Lake PPDrive-in camping at edge of Shield.
Practical info
- Departure Bissett
- Destination Parc Atikaki
- Distance 60 km
- Duration 1h30
- Category Short (< 100 km)
- Best season Summer
Plan your adventure with our interactive map
Open the map