Winter Holiday speed limit for the Haliburton Forest tracks (but even at the 120 km per hour I reached on an frozen lake the snowmobile felt very stable). Most of the fun from riding a snowmobile comes from the vehicles ability to keep going, the skis keep the snowmobile gliding over the surface of the snow and even as you can see in the picture opposite across shallow streams . Having collected our “sleds” from the rental office and been given a safety briefing and instruction on use – which took about 10 minutes we were free to head off and explore the Hailburton Forest trails. Although, in some places, the snow was waist deep, not all of the trails were open for use. This was due to some heavy winds the day before which caused a number of trees and branches to come down, despite this we headed off looking for adventure and found plenty of it. The first trails away from the base camp are about as wide as a normal road with ample space to get to grips with the feel of the machine and the controls. The majority of the tracks in the forest are “groomed” (a snow tractor pulls a large heavy sled over the tracks to smooth them out) but before long and having built up our confidence we were able to find a trail with fresh snow on it and begin to enjoy the experience. The art to snowmobiling is to keep moving and the skis will help you to ride over obstacles, however stopping or finding really deep snow can sink the sled making the going a bit more challenging. Due to the heavy winds we had the added attraction of negotiating with fallen debris and even having to move trees out of the way but nothing seamed to hamper our enjoyment - in fact these extra obstacles help to remind us that we really were in a wilderness and not in some safely prepared environment.
Camp. All accommodation is equipped with its own kitchen facilities, three piece bathrooms are standard as are spacious living areas. Most feature fireplaces, very welcoming in temperatures of -10 to -15, yet heating is also provided by a central heating, fired by a wood boiler.
air” when going over bumps or attempting to ride over steep banks. One major advantage new snow has is that it is very soft - as a few of our party found out when they misjudged the depth of the snow and found themselves being tipped over.
The next day we woke to a fresh 6 inches of snow which not only made for excellent trail conditions but the scenery was spell binding - the kind I had only previously seen on postcards or Christmas cards. The keen eyed of the group were also able to spot some of the wildlife including squirrels and marmots in the trees and an abundance of winter birds including Blue Jays Cardinals and Woodpeckers.
As well as the modern snowmobiles they forest also offers visitors the chance to experience more traditional winter travel with dogsledding trips. For further information visit www. haliburtonforest.com and www.aircanda. com
As confidence grew over our three days we all tried to push our abilities from riding over deeper snow, “finding
Half a dozen shelter cabins line the trail system. These are a very welcoming sight, equipped with stoves and firewood to let you warm up, enjoy a snack or simply discuss the adventure so far or which direction to head off next. After a full day spent out on the trails (over 6 hours) we found ourselves back at the base camp. We stayed at the Hailburton Forest which offers on site accommodation in rustic, yet quaint 2 and 3 bedroom units as well as two open-loft log cabins located at the Base
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