Your Guide to Being a Winter Opportunist
Updated: Feb 18, 2021
6 tips on winding down or ramping it up in the Haliburton Highlands, Ontario
We want you to see opportunity in the snow like looking into a crystal ball. Cottage Care Rentals sees unique Haliburton cottage experiences in your future and here’s how to embrace them:
Winding down:
1. Snow Sleuths
A fun and free activity at your doorstep. Winter provides an excellent opportunity to learn about the wildlife in our forests by tracking their tracks! Bundle the family up and step into the woods around your cottage rental property. Use the tracks to *identify which critter is around and what kind of activities they have been up to. Follow the common trail of a squirrel, rabbit, or deer and get a glimpse into what their day in the woods looks like. Snow sleuths strike again? Take a picture and upload to Twitter with the hashtag #AskanOPNaturalist and Ontario Parks will help with identification! You can also check out their awesome blog post on winter tracking tips.
*Grab a copy of Lone Pine’s Field Guide to “Animal Tracks of Ontario” on Amazon for around $15 or #Buycloseby and visit Master’s Bookstore in Haliburton and pick yourself up a laminated quick guide to Animal Tracks of Ontario for $7.95.
2. Snowga
This funky noun is being talked about all around town. Yoga and snowshoeing collide at Abbey Gardens! Envision a peaceful day on the trails and on the mat with a nutritious lunch waiting for you back at the Food Hub. Rentals, freshly prepared lunch, expert snowshoe guide and yoga instructor are all included. Contact Yours Outdoors to book this all-winter wind down activity. The opportunities don’t have to end there… Browse the Food Hub facility and shop the local produce and products or head over to Haliburton Highlands Brewing for a pint!
3. Radio Bingo with Canoe FM
A truly authentic Haliburton experience, brought to you by our not-for-profit volunteer based community radio station. Bring the family together around the radio and tune into Canoe FM (100.9 on the dial) Tuesday nights at 6:00pm. An opportunity to “chill out” indoors with a chance to win up to $800 each week! Very cool😎. Visit Canoe FM for rules and a list of where bingo sheets are sold.
Things are heating up:
It is mighty difficult to condense a list of “things to do” in the Haliburton Highlands, as it doesn’t matter the time of year, the calendar is always busy!
We found these to be truly authentic Haliburton experiences that speak to our desire to be outdoors! These outings are great for souls and soles of all ages.
4. Fire and Ice
Strap on some skates and work up a sweat on one of the many outdoor rinks in Haliburton County. Go for a skate under the stars, surrounded by the forest or beside one of our local breweries! Most have boards and nets for your hockey playing pleasures.
Don’t have skates? Check out SIRCH's Thrift Store on Industrial Park Road in Haliburton for a selection of used skates or head into Delancey Sports for a wide selection of new skates.
Insiders Tip! Arrowhead Provincial Park offers skate rentals for their ice skating trail. Yes, you read right… a fairy-tail-like flooded trail that winds through the forest.
*Note: a pass to enter the park (to access the skating trail) is required, visit Ontario Parks for more information.
5. Dog Sledding at the Haliburton Forest
The renowned Haliburton Forest, with over 100,000 acres of forest and 300km of trails is also home to 100 Siberian Huskies waiting for you to go exploring with them. As one of the many experiences the Forest has to offer, you and the family can bundle up and find winter opportunities all around you! Contact the Haliburton Forest for booking information and inspired adventuring ideas.
6. Dashing Through The Snow
Some of us have only seen it in the motion pictures - a horse-drawn sleigh ride dashing through the snow - how magical. The Haliburton Highlands is making dreams come true with a Hollywood-worthy two horse-drawn sleigh ride through forest, field and a maple sugar bush. Book your family’s ride with Yours Outdoors.
Seize the day, Opportunists! Visit our Cottage Care Rentals website to book your winter wonderland lakefront cottage. *Pssst* we are locals and would love to help you plan your winding down or ramping it up activities.