Duff Roblin Provincial Park

Duff Roblin Provincial Park (PDF)

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Land Designation

Provincial Park

Landscape Description

Duff Roblin Provincial Park is located at the Floodway Inlet Control Structure, approximately four kilometres south of the Winnipeg Perimeter off PTH 75.  It is 56 hectares in size and includes the Floodway Inlet Control Structure and a portion of the Red River Floodway.  The park has both Heritage and Access land use categories (LUC).  The 32 hectares of Heritage LUC land recognizes the historical and socio-economic significance of the floodway, while the 24 hectares reserved for Access LUC purposes accommodates an existing tower and utility needs in the floodway inlet area. 

Outstanding Features

The park commemorates construction of the flood control system for the City of Winnipeg and celebrates the establishment of Manitoba’s system of provincial parks.  It was named after former Manitoba Premier Duff Roblin, recently voted “The Greatest Manitoban”, who created both during his tenure as Premier from 1958 to 1967.  

Construction on the Red River Floodway, known as Duff’s Ditch, began in 1962 and took six years to complete.  As the largest excavation project in Canada to date, and one of the largest earthmoving projects in the world, it required the removal of 76 million cubic metres of earth.  At a length of 47 km and a width equal to that of the Red River, the Floodway is large enough to be seen from space.

Since the Floodway’s completion, it has been used twenty times to help control the Red River flood levels.  Without the Floodway, it is estimated that the 1997 flood would have crested at 10.5 metres, flooding 80 per cent of Winnipeg and forcing the evacuation of 550,000 of its citizens.  In 2000, the Red River Floodway was designated a National Historic Site, as an “outstanding engineering achievement in flood control.” In 2008, with expansion underway, the Floodway was officially recognized as one of 16 engineering marvels in the world by the International Association of Macro Engineering Societies.

Manitoba’s Parks and Natural Areas Branch worked with the Manitoba Floodway Authority to establish this provincial park which will provide opportunities for recreational activities while respecting present and anticipated utility needs in the Floodway inlet area.  Proposed amenities for the site include a viewing tower, parking lot, picnic areas and shelters, interpretive kiosks, walking trails, washrooms, drinking water, fishing facilities, a toboggan hill and landscape improvements.