Winter Fun in Burlington

I have a good friend who lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.  He always jokes that winter lasts eight months of the year here.  I usually roll my eyes and remind him he’s totally wrong, but I have to admit, once I think about it for a few minutes, there are many years when it seems to last at least six!  I can name plenty of times I’ve seen snow in both November and April!  That’s a long time to hibernate indoors, which is what we usually end up doing until the leaves start sprouting on the trees again.  Given how much we love parks, long walks and barbecues, the season can sometimes pass by painfully slow.

This year we decided to stop complaining and we definitely declared that we would not be deterred from our weekly family outings any longer!  As soon as the snow fell, we began to explore all the great winter activities Burlington has to offer.  We invested in some skates, some long johns and some solid gloves, and once we got started, we couldn’t believe how much we’d been missing!

Playbarn at Bronte Creek

It’s easy to rely a bit too heavily on the television when you have young kids and the temperature is freezing, but there’s really no need when you have exciting places like Bronte Creek Park open all year long!  Aside from their big outdoor skating rink, the kids can also run around, climb, slide and spin on tire swings in the children’s barn no matter what the weather.  I’m always delighted when they fall asleep at night in 2 minutes thanks to having gotten a little fresh air and exercise!  Bronte’s children’s barn will practically guarantee that every time!  Bundle up though – it’s covered, but it’s not heated!

Sledding at Lowville

Tobogganing is a blast no matter what your age at Lowville Park.  It’s not too steep for beginners, but it’s still high enough to thrill your senses with the joy of speeding down!  I never get tired of that feeling!  There’s a great kids park right beside the hill, and trails to hike along the nearby creek.

Just up the street from Lowville Park you’ll find the Crawford Lake Conservation Area, where you can enjoy 19km of snowshoe and cross country skiing trails.  There’s also a reconstructed 15^th century Iroquoian village to explore in any season.  It’s amazing to imagine how tough it would have been to brave the winter elements back then.  A great history lesson for anyone who loves learning!

Skiing at Glen Eden

I truly love to ski, but I haven’t been in years since the ordeal of driving at least an hour or two, just to fight the weekend chairlift crowds, is something I’ve never found appealing.   I seem to forget far too often that we have a great ski hill along the escarpment at Glen Eden!   With well-lit night skiing, it’s even a great option after work any day of the week!   They have lots of lesson options, from groups to private instruction, so even beginners can enjoy this invigorating winter activity!  Next year I am promising myself to enroll in snowboard lessons.  It just looks way too fun!

The Burlington waterfront continues to be a social hub for events all winter long, and skating at Discovery Landing next to Spencer Smith Park is fun for the whole family.  You really can’t beat the view!  Afterwards there are plenty of places to grab a hot chocolate or a delicious meal along Brant Street and the downtown core.

Hiking at RBG

One of my favourite places to go for a long walk starts at The Cherry Hill Gate at The Royal Botanical Gardens. If you love nature, you’ll want to bring your camera every time you hike here!  I’ve spent hours in the woods there at times, looping around the water on pleasantly challenging trails.  There’s tons of wildlife to see, and my kids are always thrilled when little chickadees eat birdseed right out of their hands!  If you’re skeptical of how brave & friendly those little birds are, check out the video accompanying this article and you’ll see the proof! 

Winter in Burlington Ontario: so many fun things to do!

Victoria Hughes, Guest Blogger

Victoria Hughes is a local entrepreneur, social media specialist and website & blog author. Born in Burlington and living in the GTA her whole life, her professional career has taken her through the diverse worlds of leadership consulting, fashion retail management, fine dining, communications technology and online travel. After launching her own business in 2008, she began authoring the daily Girl It Up! fashion and discount blog, tweets on topics of the day @vbhughes and recently spearheaded a site full of guidelines and resources to keep youth safe & smart as they explore the ever-changing world of social media: safesocialmedia.ca . Her greatest loves are travel, shoes, laughter and family. 

Bronte Creek Homestead Christmas

On December 3rd I took my daughter Hannah and her adorable friend Kate to Bronte Creek Provincial Park where we were treated to their special Homestead Christmas experience!  This weekend event throughout December sells out each year, so we were glad we booked early and scored our spots back in October.  (Moms: mark that down in your calendar now to make sure you get a spot in 2012!)

We got a taste of what Christmas was like back at the turn of the century – and no, young-people-reading-this, not when 1999 turned into 2000...I’m talking about the other turn of the century, when 1899 became 1900! 

Bronte Creek is a special place for my family, since my mom actually lived in the farmhouse there when she was a kid, not too many years before it became a provincial park.  My grandparents and great grandparents were farmers there, and built the Spruce Lane Farmhouse you can now tour when you visit.  I bet my mother never imagined thousands of people would one day be traipsing through her old bedroom and peeking around!  How crazy is that?

The kids got to do a bunch of Christmas crafts, dress up in old-fashioned dresses, learn about the history of the park, and meet Santa too!  They even got to taste Mrs. Claus’ famous cookie recipe and drink some warm apple cider. 

Homestead Christmas is a great tradition to enjoy with your family, but no matter what time of year, Bronte Creek is a great park to explore.  It’s open all winter long and those chilly winter weekends are a great time to hike the trails, skate at the giant ice rink, or play in the Children’s Barn!  In many ways winter is the best time to go there, since it’s a little less busy than the summer, and parking spaces are aplenty while pesky lineups are not!  

So the next wintery morning you wake up cringing because you’re thinking to yourself that you have totally run out of ideas of what to do with your kids, or yourself for that matter, grab your scarf and mittens and head over to my mom’s old place (also known more commonly as Bronte Creek Park). Trust me, you’ll have a wintery Burlington blast!

Victoria Hughes, Guest Blogger

Victoria Hughes is a local entrepreneur, social media specialist and website & blog author. Born in Burlington and living in the GTA her whole life, her professional career has taken her through the diverse worlds of leadership consulting, fashion retail management, fine dining, communications technology and online travel. After launching her own business in 2008, she began authoring the daily Girl It Up! fashion and discount blog, tweets on topics of the day @vbhughes and recently spearheaded a site full of guidelines and resources to keep youth safe & smart as they explore the ever-changing world of social media: safesocialmedia.ca . Her greatest loves are travel, shoes, laughter and family.