Haliburton, ON
Stay Ever since I first discovered them, I had been longing for a Cabinscape getaway. At the lifting of last dregs of Winter, I planned a long weekend at the pup-friendly Pine Cabin in Haliburton. In fact, this cabin is right inside the Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Reserve and includes the entry pass with the cost of the stay. Pine Cabin is an off-grid, eco-friendly affair, running off solar power and propane (with a gasoline-fuelled generator as back-up). It gave the illusion of wilderness living, but there were a couple of other cabins 100m away and many safety features like a axe, propane alarm and fire extinguisher. It even had an indoor toilet! Other perks included a mini library of games and books, USB charging ports and bespoke locally made bathroom and kitchen products in collaboration with Harlowe Green.
At Pine Cabin
As the ground was still snow-covered, we had to hike a couple of kilometres from the parking area to the cabin. A toboggan was provided for carting our belongings. It was quite a labour-intensive task and I was very grateful I had planned to arrive in the daylight! Alternatively, we could have gone about hiring a snowmobile.
Check-in was seamless, using a lockbox, and there were helpful instructions about how to work everything, and troubleshooting. The cabin was compact with a surprising number of nooks and crannies for all my (and Rita’s) belongings. The bed was at ceiling-level and there was a hammock for relaxing. There was even a pull-out dining table with foldable chairs! In warmer weather, one could opt to sit outside around a campfire. In fact, I was so pleased with this cabin that I decided to extend my stay by an extra night!!
We spent some time on our first evening exploring the trails. There were snowshoes provided, which in hindsight, would have been helpful as the trails weren’t groomed or very compacted. In addition, you have to be careful not to hike the snowmobile trails. We could have spent a whole day hiking in Haliburton Forest (and visiting the Wolf Centre, no dogs allowed!!) but we had a lot more on the agenda so really used this as our base for Haliburton and Huntsville.
Taste We selected an add-on maple syrup farm tour with our Cabinscape stay. This took place at Esson Creek Maple Farm, about an hour’s drive away. I highly recommend this experience. Heather at the farm contacted me directly upon booking and was extremely hospitable. The farm is a family affair, and we were joined by Heather’s father-in-law Mark and her daughter Julia. All three of them were highly knowledgeable about forestry and the maple syrup production process. Soon after he purchased the land (which has since extended to 300 acres) over 50 years ago, Mark discovered an abundance of minerals in the ground, in particular fluorrichterite. The importance of this to the maples is it provides an optimal alkaline soil for the trees to thrive. Mark explained in a lot more depth about the interconnection of the soil, forest and wildlife but I will refrain from botching his words. In the summer months, the family offer mineral tours under the other branch of the business, Greenmantle.
Mark and Julia took Rita and me on a walk through the forest. Rita was very welcome and was allowed off-leash. She got a lot of special attention from Julia too, which she loved. I had not been expecting such a full-scale operation; the tapped maples are connected to tubes which carry the sap to the sugar shack, via gravity and a vacuum system. Mark had a specialised team from Quebec come to install it. Mark was extremely informative and taught me about how precise and strategic the production process is. We then returned to the sugar shack and learned about how the sap undergoes reverse osmosis, before being heated to very high temperatures to create 67.24% sugar content syrup!
The final part of the tour was maple taffy making! Heather heated some maple syrup, drizzled it on ice, and we rolled it round on a popsicle stick to make a maple lollypop! It was delectable and Rita enjoyed cleaning my stick! The tour included a take-home bottle of syrup, and in addition I purchased some handmade maple granola!
With Heather and Julia
Explore We spent the afternoon in Haliburton Village. Our first stop was Skyline Park, a great lookout for views over the village. There are some hiking trails around it but we spent 20 minutes tops here. We then wandered around the village and I dove into Castle Antiques Café (no dogs, but a patio is coming soon!) for a coffee and to sample some vegan and gluten-free delicacies. Our walk then led us to Head Lake Park, with gorgeous views of the icy (but melting) water! We also stumbled across an off-leash dog park where Rita got some playtime with a dog called Belfast!!! One of the highlights of Haliburton is the Sculpture Forest. This is a trail at Glebe Park with nearly 40 sculptures, and additional ornate benches, each with their own story. Rita particularly enjoyed posing with them!
After such a long and exciting day, Rita and I were in desperate need of some hammock-time
