Living Prairie Museum is a unique urban nature preserve that protects endangered tall grass prairie. The site has walking trails and an interpretive centre. Events and education programs are held year-round.
Location
You can get here by car, by bus on routes D15 and 220, or by active transportation on the Yellow Ribbon Greenway
Hours
Interpretive Centre
May and June: Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
July and August: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
September: Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
October to April: Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Access to the Interpretive Centre at other times can be arranged by appointment.
Prairie preserve
The prairie preserve and trails are open to the public 365 days a year.
Group visits
Our centre is small, so please contact us before bringing a group during open hours.
Groups can:
- Take a self-guided visit
- Book a group program through our Education Program Brochure (PDF, 3.7MB)
Admission
Admission to the Living Prairie Museum is free. Donations are accepted and welcomed.
Upcoming events
Monarch Festival and 50th Anniversary Celebration
August 8 and 9, 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Our annual Monarch Butterfly Festival is back with special activities to celebrate 50 years of Living Prairie Museum
About Living Prairie Museum
Living Prairie Museum is a unique urban nature preserve where you can see 13 hectares of tall grass prairie.
Tall grass prairie once covered more than 1 million square kilometres in central North America. It spanned from Texas to southern Manitoba. Today, tall grass prairie coverage has shrunk to just one percent of its original size.
We are one of the few places in North America where tall grass prairie remains. Our preserve is home to more than 150 different grass and wildflower species as well as an array of prairie wildlife.
We offer:
- Walking trails
- An interpretive centre
- Year-round education programs
- Seasonal activities like snowshoeing, talks, and planting workshops
- Special events to connect Winnipeggers and visitors with our tall-grass prairie
- Bookstore stocked with nature and prairie titles, and prairie seed sales (seeds are $3/pack)
- View our book and seed list (PDF, 841KB)
- Environmental education programs and group bookings (PDF, 3.7MB)
Living Prairie Museum Medicine Garden
Our centre also features a medicine garden with sweetgrass and sage – two of the four Sacred Medicines that naturally occur in the tall grass prairie.
The garden is in the nature park west of the preserve (north end of Prairie View Road at Ness Avenue). Visitors can harvest plants in the summer months, but we ask that you take only what you need. Please leave the roots and seeds to allow the plants to regenerate between harvests.
It is good practice to consult with an Elder to learn more on the harvest and use of sacred medicines.
More information on the Directional Teachings and the Four Sacred Medicines (PDF, 1MB).
Learn more about the Living Prairie Museum
- Download a kids activity book (PDF, 3.1MB) to learn about prairie wildlife and how you can become a citizen scientist
- Visit Friends of the Living Prairie Museum to become a Friend of the Living Prairie Museum
It’s a special year at the museum. This year marks 50 years since it was created. Museum Curator Marika Olynyk shares more about the site’s history and why it is so important to protect on this past episode of Our City, Our Podcast. It was released in April 2026.