Photo Credit: Paje Victoria via Unsplash
The Canadian holiday season is about winter fun with the family, whether building snowmen, sleigh rides, or holiday winter crafts. so take a look at Family Activities in Muskoka Ontario this Winter.
It can also be a great time to get away with the family over the holidays.
If you’re looking for the perfect family holiday destination in Canada, look no further than the Muskoka region in Ontario.
Muskoka is known for its stunning scenic views, its many lakes, ski resorts, and gorgeous cottages – take a look at this Gravenhurst cottage for sale for an example of what we mean.
When it comes to this time of year, Muskoka is the definition of the Canadian winter wonderland for a simple reason; Muskoka gets snow – a lot of it!
Here are some top family activities to do in Muskoka this winter.
Table of Contents
Skating: Indoor, Outdoor, and Trails!
Skating is a Canadian winter tradition, and Muskoka offers some of the best places to do it in the country!
What sets Muskoka apart is the variety of skating options they have.
There are indoor rinks, outdoor rinks, and most exciting of all, no rinks at all!
Skating trails are a popular family activity in Muskoka, combining nature trails with ice skating.
Pathways are cleared through the Muskoka landscape and forests, allowing you to experience the best of nature.
Muskoka is home to the most significant man-made skating trail in Ontario, known as Arrowhead Ice Skating Trail, which describes itself as a “Fairy Tale Skate Through the Canadian Forest,” stretching 1.3km.
Dog Sledding
Dog sledding used to be a vital means of transportation across the icy winter conditions.
Nowadays, Muskoka offers dog sledding tours, which take passengers across specialized snowy trails spanning kilometers across the region.
Back in the day, dog sledding was used during heavy snowfall to reliably transport people and items across the snows cape.
North Ridge Ranch is one such dog sledding business, homing over 60 Alaskan huskies and several privately owned trails.
Ice Fishing
Ice fishing is another staple in Canadian winter traditions.
With so many frozen lakes in Muskoka, it’s one of the most popular family pastimes during the winter.
Ice fishing is the act of cutting an opening through the thick layer of ice above the lake and casting a line through it, down to the depths.
As a result, the lakes of Muskoka are full of fish such as whitefish and lake trout, which can then be fried up fresh for dinner!
Muskoka Stay n’ Play Tours offers you guided ice fishing tours, providing you with instructions, bait, snowmobiles, and a heated hut to keep warm in while you fish.
Horse Drawn Winter Sleigh Rides
Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh
Horse-drawn sleigh rides are a popular family activity in Muskoka, allowing you to bundle up with the kids and see Muskoka in style, as these powerful and majestic creatures draw your sleigh tour through the blankets of fresh white snow.
There’s plenty more!
These are just a few of the great family activities Muskoka has to offer, but there’s way more than the above mentioned, including:
- Winter carnivals
- Snowshoeing
- Gat biking
- Skiing
- Tubing
- Kid zones
- Provincial Parks
- Maple sugar shacks
