Issue link: http://publications.winnipegfreepress.com/i/81685
REPTILIAN ROBOTS: You don't need a time machine to see the prehistoric creatures that inhabited land and sea some 80 million years ago. Just pay a visit to the Canadian Fossil Discovery Centre in Morden (www.discoverfossils.com), home to the country' s largest collection of marine reptile fossils — including the "T-Rex of the Sea," a 43-foot mosasaur. The Centre' s palentological staff are devoted to collecting and preserving the vast deposits still waiting to be discovered in the Manitoba Escarpment. Their Fossil Dig Adventure Tours have a 100% success rate in turning up new specimens, attracting scientists and enthusiasts from all over the world. You could also come face to face with some of the era's most fearsome denizens as they come roaring back to life at the Manitoba Museum (www.manitobamuseum.ca). Opening this fall and on view until April 2013, the new exhibit Dinosaurs Unearthed features a life-sized posse of beasties, including 14 animatronic dinosaurs, two replica skeletons, and 22 fossils. Designed to blend entertainment and education, the show reflects the latest discoveries in paleontology, and includes a hands-on dig site where families can excavate their own fossils. TAKE A HIKE: Let it never be said there's little for hikers to do in Manitoba. The local landscape affords plenty of opportunity for taking to the trails, leading hikers through unspoiled expanses of rolling prairies, forested hills, and undulating river valleys. Without a doubt, the granddaddy of them all is the mighty Mantario Trail (www.mantario.com) — also the longest Canadian Shield trail in Western Canada — running 66 km along the Manitoba- Ontario border. It's not a job for novices — most experienced backpackers take three to five days — but the rugged beauty of the terrain is well worth the effort. North of Thompson, a 22-km trail skirts the Grass River from the Pisew north to Kwasitchewan Falls, (www.gov. mb.ca/conservation/parks/popular_ parks/northwest) Manitoba's highest waterfall, while Hecla Island's (www.heclatourism.mb.ca) self-guiding village trail depicts the history of the lakeshore settlement, with stops at the sawmill, dockside fish station, and centuries-old icehouses. Outward Bound! Soak up the scenery fall foliage 21 and explore the RIDING MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK A C TIVITIES