One-Tank Trip for
Nov. 10/12
(c) By Jim Fox
Consider booking a
yurt or heated cabin getaway now or face being left out in the cold this winter
at Ontario Parks.
For those hearty
souls looking for a winter escape that doesn’t involve hibernating or migrating,
the parks’ roofed accommodation could be the answer.
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| Wintertime camping is cozy in a
heated yurt at Ontario Parks. (Ontario Parks photo) |
“We're seeing more
young families who camp in summer at Ontario Parks book winter yurt or cabin
adventures especially at parks that have skating, snow tubing and tobogganing,”
said Lori Waldbrook, senior marketing specialist.
This makes it easy
for families, couples and groups of friends to visit Ontario’s signature
landscapes this winter, she added.
Get your yurt on
Traditional yurts originating
in the 13th century were portable, bent wood-framed dwellings used by nomads in
Central Asia.
The tent-like
structures have been adapted in Canada and the U.S. at ski resorts and
campgrounds and are semi-permanent, canvas-covered structures mounted on a
wooden deck above ground.
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| Winter tent-like
camping means staying warm and dry inside a heated yurt. (Ontario Parks photo) |
At Ontario Parks,
they are ideal in the winter as they have electric or propane heating and
lighting, bunk beds, tables, chairs and plywood floors.
All winter yurts
and cabin rentals have heat and electricity and most are accessible by cars.
Yurts sleep six
while cabins accommodate five or more to provide warm, dry winter digs.
Let the snow fly
Ontario Parks
provides details about three of the seven “dramatically different” provincial
parks with winter activities and roofed accommodation.
First of all is the
Pinery Provincial Park on Lake Huron that has a new camp cabin and deluxe yurt
this season.
These are the latest
accommodations to be added at the park west of London, Waldbrook said.
The park has 12
furnished campsites, each of which has an eight-sided yurt, at the Riverside
campground located
beside the picturesque Ausable River.
The yurts are attached
to a wheelchair-accessible platform and have bunks for sleeping, table and
chairs, electric lighting and a heater. As well, a gas barbecue and picnic
shelter is supplied with each facility.
Pinery’s visitor
centre is open most days and guided nature hikes on trails are held on select
dates throughout the winter.
There are 38
kilometres of cross-country ski trails that form a series of loops and in the
centre of the park is a heated chalet and toboggan hill.
Expect to see
flocks of black-capped chickadees, red and white breasted nuthatches and the tufted
titmouse at Picnic Area 9. Owls also breed in the park in the winter.
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| Among the winter activities
offered at Ontario Parks is tubing on snow-covered hills. (Ontario Parks photo) |
It’s a howl at Killarney
Hear the wolves
howl at
Killarney Provincial Park on the north shore of
Georgian Bay.
“Don’t be surprised
if you hear one of the park wolf packs howl at night,” said park superintendent
Chuck Miller.
The forested park
in Killarney offers a “ski-in yurt adventure” with sleds available to carry
gear to the accommodation located about a half-kilometre from the park gate in
the George Lake Campground.
There are 30
kilometres of groomed classic ski trails in a backcountry wilderness setting
and summer portage routes become winter snowshoe trails.
Spot a Canada lynx
A perfect place to
spot and photograph the elusive Canadian lynx in the wild is Quetico Provincial
Park, west of Thunder Bay.
That’s because the
park’s Dawson Trail Campground is close to an area in the park populated by snowshoe
hare, a winter food source for lynx.
Accommodation is
available in one of the campground’s heated yurts easily accessed from Highway
11.
Here’s where to order
In addition to
Pinery, Killarney and Quetico, the parks are Algonquin, MacGregor Point, Silent
Lake and Windy Lake.
Details on the
parks with winter activities and fees for yurts ($91.50 a night plus the reservation
fee of $9.50 online or $11.25, call centre) and cabins are at
www.OntarioParks.com
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