We’re officially in the thick of winter, especially with the snow that’s been coming down lately and the holidays coming up! I don’t know about you, but I usually like to hibernate at this time of the year because I’m not much of a fan for winter sports, but there is so much more that you can do in the winter besides just skating, skiing, and snowboarding. If you’re on the search for fun winter activities to do in Toronto, then you’re in the right place! I’ve put together a little list of 5 of my favourite things that have absolutely nothing to do with sports for the non-winter inclined like me—trust me, we can all use a break from our Netflix binges. It’s time to make an impression on winter 2019, not your couch.
Go Sledding
I’m going to start off with this one because it’s the only one that bares any sort of semblance to a winter sport—but it’s not!—so I’ll just put it out there and you can make do with it what you please. I consider this more of a nostalgic activity because it reminds me so much of my childhood as opposed to an actual winter sport, but be careful because you can still incur some injuries nonetheless.
We drove the Volvo XC90 T8 up north for a bit to get some more snow because it never quite snows enough in the downtown core to really have fun sledding down. We were on the search for that nice densely packed snow at the top so that your sled slips smoothly across it, and finish with a powdery punch at the bottom so that you stop without spinning out of control—but if you also like a little bit of action in your life then totally make your sled spin out of control! After about 5-6 rounds of this I’m totally pooped. It’s not just the adrenaline rush that I can’t handle, but the frequent trips back up the slope that kills me. Boy do I wish that I was 10 years old and doing this for hours again.
Remember to bring a thermos of hot chocolate with you so that you can warm up after a fun adventure down the hills!
Hike a local Christmas Light Trail
On the same day that we went hiking, we also popped by the Kortright Centre for Conservation while we still had the XC90. It was close by so we figured why not make a pit stop? The roads leading this far up north are much snowier compared to downtown Toronto, but we felt perfectly safe in the car thanks to its robust safety standards. I never once felt concerned that we were going to slip on a patch of black ice or skid on a mound of fresh snow. As a native Ottawan, there’s an innate fear built into me that I’ll encounter this every winter.
Parking at the Kortright Centre for Conservation is easy as there’s a lot of space available in their parking lot, and you enter the trail via the right side of the centre by following the lit up signs. Unfortunately we went during the day time when the holiday inflatables had yet to be lit for the evening, but it was still cute nonetheless! I actually thoroughly enjoyed the deafening silence of the forest surrounding us (none of the kids were out and about on the trail yet as it was too early for the families to begin trekking out there), and it was a nice and calming experience. They even have a cute little Santa’s Cabin for you to grab a couple of shots with the family in front! If you’re looking for a light and low-impact winter activity, this is definitely it.
Chop down your own tree from a Christmas Tree Farm
If you’ve never had the chance to chop down your own tree, or to even pick up a pre-chopped tree at a local Christmas tree farm, then I highly recommend that you do. It’s such a fun winter activity that you can do with your friends, your partner, or your family. Most farms also offer other activities to do besides just the tree chopping such as a wagon ride, a small Christmas market to shop from, and sometimes even free hot chocolate! I just personally love the tree selection process and it’s so fun to walk among all of the adorable little Christmas trees.
After visiting the Kortright Centre for Conservation, we followed it up with a trip to Horton Tree Farms to pick up a tree for a friend of ours. As we all already had our own trees at home, but knew of a friend who had still yet to pick theirs up, so we offered to grab one for them. Why miss out on a fun winter activity when you can have the chance to do it anyways?! I love Horton Tree Farms because they have a massive quantity of pre-cut trees if you’re not a fan of chopping one down for yourself, and you also get free hot chocolate with the whole experience. I won’t lie when they had me at free hot chocolate. As a hocho junky, I’m always game when someone offers it to me! Remember to bring cash if you can because sometimes you can haggle for a better rate.
Go for a drive at High Park and visit the Animals
Chances are that you’ve probably already visited High Park in the summer, but it’s still worth a visit in the winter time. Not only is it just as beautiful with a light dusting of snow, but it’s also a lot less crowded than the summer time. Most people prefer to visit the park in the summer, but if you ask me, I’d rather take advantage of it in the winter when there are way less people, and the trails are quieter. If you didn’t know, there’s also a little petting zoo at the back of the park! On a good day if the animals are in a good mood, they might come out of their coops and shelters and you’ll be able to pet/feed them. So go ahead, schedule a little afternoon date driving through the beautifully snowy roads of High Park (it’s not slippery at all, at least we didn’t notice any slips in the Volvo XC90) and pet some animals too! Not only will you have some beautiful sites to take in, but you might make some new furry friends along the way too.
Walk and Feed some Alpacas
Speaking about furry friends, this isn’t an activity that we did this winter, but we did it last winter and I fondly remember and would highly recommend it. If you get the chance, take a quick 1 hour drive outside of the city to SAMY’s Alpaca Farm to learn, feed, and walk some of their alpacas! You’ll get to learn a lot about alpaca farming, the sustainability of it, meet the adorable animals, and touch them too. If you’re lucky enough and some of them take a liking to you, then they’ll allow you to take them for a walk to give them some exercise. I absolutely loved doing this and it was one of my bucket list items for the longest time, so I was so excited to finally be able to cross it off. If you can’t make it out to this particular one, there are quite a few others scattered directly outside of the GTA region as well. I would also highly recommend calling ahead and booking an appointment because they do charge a fee and you’ll be required to reserve a specific time slot.
