Duntroon Highlands Nordic Trails

Yes, the sky really was this blue.  It was an awesome day for another cross-country ski, with the sun out and the sky deep blue all day.  We decided to try a new place east of here, near Duntroon, the Highlands Nordic Trails, which have a very good reputation.  We weren't disappointed.

These trails are located part way up the long Niagara Escarpment slope, and at a few points like this Lookout, you get an amazing view.  The trails do head uphill quite a distance after you start though, and then you wander in a series of loops back and forth on the slope and are rewarded with the long downhill at the end.

 

With the long uphill slope to get started, I was left in the dust pretty fast!  I enjoy the downhill runs, especially long ones, but uphill is just plain slow.  A lot of the trail was through beautiful hardwood forest as here, and the trails were groomed nearly 15 feet wide, with both a classic track (on the right), and space for skating.
 

The remainder of the trail we skiid was through old meadows coming up in young trees, or along scenic fencerows like this.  There are both numerous levels of difficulty and numerous loops, so you have a big range of choice, from easy beginner to advanced black diamond hills (that's not for me), and from short to long distances.

 

This is a big outfit that serves as an outdoor education centre the rest of the year, and caters to cross-country skiers in the winter, including a lot of school groups.  Their signage and maps are well done, as they need to be for younger skiers, and there's a store, cafeteria, ski rentals, etc.

The best view was from the lookout, where on a day like today you could see 30 or 40 miles in the distance.  I liked the scraggly branches of this old tree in the foreground.  I also enjoyed the long downhill run after this, back to the chalet.

A closer look at the view shows the wide expanse of Nottawasaga Bay, the southernmost bend of Georgian Bay, all frozen and white at this point.  Along the shore in the forest on the right is the popular resort Wasaga Beach, one of the longest sand beaches in Ontario.  Collingwood is just out of sight to the left.  A very satisfying adventure, and then believe it or not, my friendly ski buddy treated me to lunch at the locally popular Ravenna General Store.  What a great winter's day - perfect weather, good company, and great excercise!

With skies like this how could I not link to: