Things to do & Places to stay in Ontario

JANUARY 17, 2019

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What are YOU going to do this weekend?

When you live in a place like Ontario, you either have to hibernate or you have to embrace winter. We think the latter makes the season go by MUCH faster. One way to enjoy the cold and snow is to visit one of Ontario’s skating trails. While we used to have to visit a rink to use our blades, now there are several beautiful trails that allow you to glide through nature.  By the way, Ontario’s city rinks are still a great place to skate; they also offer lessons for as little as $50 a term (8+ classes) and offer FREE Public Skating and free Shinny Hockey at many outdoor rinks. (see Toronto details here).

Central Ontario Region Trails

Woodview Mountaintop Skating Loop is at the top of Blue Mountain & can be accessed via Scenic Caves Rd. This 1.1 km long trail runs through a wooded area and has outstanding views of Georgian Bay. Lighted night skating available on select nights. Huntsville’s Arrowhead Provincial Park Ice Trail is a 1.3 km ice trail through the park & is the longest outdoor man-made skating rink in Ontario. It fills up though, so if you can’t get in, try Port Carling’s Hanna Park Ice Skating Trail, a free of charge, 200m trail with a packed walking trail right beside it so parents or grandparents can keep a close eye on little ones. Or Cranberry Ice Trail, a 1.2 km loop around 12 acres of cranberries that offers hot mulled cider & wine –a great date place! Discovery Harbour has a 1.5 km Skate Trail with live outdoor entertainment, and this year, has snowshoes and tubing too.

SW Ontario Region Trails

McGregor Point Ice Trail, just south of Port Elgin,  has a spectacular 400-metre outdoor skating Oval with trail lights for skating under the stars until 10:00 pm every day of the week.  In Peterborough, you can skate on the Trent Canal under the lift lock. This section of the Trent River system is regularly flooded so not only is it well maintained, it has really wonderful skating conditions. Watch for the green/red flag to know whether the ice is safe for skating.

GTA Trails

The GTA is an urban area but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a great place to find skating trails. Some of them are just in unusual places. Like the Bentway, for example, which runs between the concrete trestles of the Gardiner Expressway. This 1 km trail has DJ nights, hot cider and warming centres located in converted shipping containers. A bit out of downtown, in Brampton,  you can visit 2 trails. Chinguacousy Park​ is designed in a ‘canal’ shape with natural bends. It is so nice to enjoy the seating along the trail and watch the colourful skaters go by. Gage Park’s free skating trail has a DJ spinning tunes, fire pit and food too! Evergreen Brick Works Skating Rink isn’t a trail per se; it is an outdoor rink that weaves through garden areas under the roof of the old brick factory. The sides are closed but the roof is open to the stars.

Eastern and Northern Ontario Skating Trails

The Alice & Fraser Recreation Centre’s LV Skating Trail in the Laurentian Valley has a lovely natural ice trail through a scenic wooded area which is 1.5km long.  Running from the Sudbury Rowing and Canoe Club to Science North, the Ramsey Lake Skate Path is about 1.5 km long. Given its location in snowy Sudbury, the heated change rooms at both ends of the path offer a welcome place to rest and warm up.

Discover Eastern Ontario

Contact Natalie at news@summerfunguide.ca

The best suggestions come from others who have been there and done that!