Winter recreation enthusiasts have a new accommodation option at Viking Lodge in Cranberry Portage, which recently completed winterizing one of its 16 cabins for use by snowmobilers and ice fishers.
“Our business plan was to have a four-season lodge and with this cabin we have met our goal,” said Paul Wiens, who owns the lodge along with Anita Wiens, Matthew Wiens and Sharnell Wiens, in a press release.
The cabin sleeps up to eight people and will be available immediately.
“There have been requests from our customers for winter facilities and we have met those requests,” said Sharnell Wiens, noting that the completion of the winterized cabin was first announced in early December and that people had already started asking about booking it with a week of the announcement.
Fuel and a restaurant are also among the amenities at Viking Lodge, which has been in operations since the 1950s and is located on the Grass River system at the western edge of Grass River Provincial Park. The Wiens bought the business in 2015 and act as guides and outfitters for hunting and fishing trips on area lakes.
“All of our strategies have shown a need for more winter accommodation in the region,” said Alan MacLauchlan, a consultant working with Travel Manitoba to increase tourism in the province’s north. “Viking Lodge now joins 10 other lodges in the north that are open year-round. We will be attracting people to the north for the winter season and now they have additional choices of accommodation.”
For more information on Viking Lodge, visit their website at www.vikinglodge.ca.
