July 7 Highway of the Dams

I was asked to go to Pine Falls and Lac Du Bonnet to take care of a few shops. Well, actually, I requested the trip and my request was accepted.
I remember going out to Seven Sisters Falls as a child and knew the area was quite scenic. My plan was to take in this wonderful scenery and maybe stay for a while at Seven Sisters, which is just down the road from Lac Du Bonnet, on the way back home.
As usual, I found a few other shops to take care of along the way and/or in the same towns I was already going. I picked up shops in Selkirk, Pine Falls and Lac Du Bonnet.
We started mid-morning, as I could not perform my shop in Pine Falls until noon.
The trip was uneventful up to Selkirk. I have been on that road so many time, and we had new highway to explore. After Selkirk we took the “Bridge to Nowhere” from Selkirk, heading North. The bridge actually goes somewhere now. It used to cross the Red River and stop.

We took the road through Stead, Manitoba to get to Pine Falls and Powerview. We stopped in Powerview and took some nice scenic pictures of the Dam on the River.


There was a sign in the park showing the Dam System along the river, and I noticed there were several dams in the system that we would be passing on the way to Lac Du Bonnet. I was going to try and stop at as many of the Dams along the route as possible.
There were a few workers in the park trimming trees. We went over and talked to them, saying how scenic it was. They mentioned a gravel road in town that will take you to a very nice location at the end of a Point.

We followed their directions and found the place. There were some people on the rocks watching the water. After a while of seeing them standing on the rocks, just watching the water, we asked what they were looking for. Minnows. They had nets and were catching minnows to sell. They did not catch any minnows while we were there, but I am sure they know what they are doing.
We left the scenic stop and took care of the shops that needed to be done in Pine Falls, then off we went down the Highway of the Dams.

The next dam we saw was at Great Falls. We parked the van and took a walk across the Dam.

There is also a large propellor on display which was retired from use.


The plaque says "This 190 inch diameter, 28,000 horsepower, fixed blade propellor hydraulic turbine runner was first placed in service at Great Falls generating station on March 25, 1923. It was retired from service on May 11, 1984 after generating 7.4 Billion kilowatt hours of electrical energy. It is erected at this site as a tribute to the pioneers of the hydro-electric industry in Manitoba".


The next Dam along the route was the McArthur Falls Dam.

The McArthur Falls dam was constructed between 1952 and 1954 and went online in 1954.

We pulled in to Lac Du Bonnet and took care of the shops that needed to be done. After that we went into an Antique store in town. The entrance to the store was on 2nd St. The guy named his shop “What’s on Second”. After expressing an interest in old junk, he took us through the back to the store across the alley. It was full of amazing old stuff. He even had an arcade game from 1911. If you are ever in the area of Lac Du Bonnet, drop in and have a look.

After the brief stop in Lac Du Bonnet we headed south to Seven Sisters.


We found a dirt road that took us to a picnic area and the water.

There were pelicans in the water at the bottom of the rapids, just waiting for lunch to arrive. We stayed for a while and enjoyed the view.

Along the road back to the highway we pulled over to get a look at the Dam.
Then we drove into the town of Seven Sisters and got ice cream. That was just what we needed after a day in the sun.
After that we were back on the road, and on our way home.