Winter-Ready Trails: Exploring ATV Trails in Ontario During the Winter

No need to put your ATV into hibernation for the Winter! While many ATV trails in Ontario close for the Winter, there are several areas that have Winter ATV trails available. These Winter trails would be separate from the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Club trails for snowmobiles (please make sure to keep your ATV’s and UTV’s off of OFSC trails) and are open and maintained specifically for ATV use.

Some of these ATV trails available year-round are because they are in areas of Ontario that get little snow-fall, or at least not enough to make them impassable for ATV use, and some of these ATV trails are diligently groomed (similar to snowmobile trails) by the ATV club volunteers.

These club volunteers work with all kinds of different equipment to keep the trails open for us to enjoy, some are using tracked UTV’s with plows and smaller grooming drags towed behind them, and some are using the same full sized equipment as you would see an OFSC club using.

The Ontario Federation of All-Terrain Vehicle Clubs lists which of their clubs have Winter trails at www.ofatv.org/clubs (clubs with Winter trails have it noted on the club logo).

Central Ontario ATV Club, Johnstown ATV Club, ATV Club of Eastern Ontario, Lake of Bays ATV Club (tracked ATVs/UTVs only) and Nation Valley ATV Club are in areas that get snow, and groom select trails to keep them open for ATV use through the Winter months.

Essex County ATV Club, Tri Shores ATV Club, Northumberland District ATV Riders, and Quad Niagara ATV Club are clubs in areas of Ontario that do not get enough snow to close their trails to ATV use.

Glendalers Winter Sports Club is one ATV club in Ontario that is only open for ATV use in the winter! Their trails open (if possible – aka there is snow) on January 1^st until the Spring thaw.

Haliburton Forest, has groomed ATV trails available for Winter use (ATV’s only, UTV’s not permitted).

For OFATV trails, please check QuadON to see which trails are open and available for Winter use.

For all of these trails, please be sure to contact these clubs directly for current trail conditions, accessibility, and accommodations!

Dave Baker is a passionate outdoorsman with a deep love for hunting, fishing, trapping, and ATVing. He serves on the board as the past president of the Ontario Federation of ATV Clubs (OFATV). You can follow him on X: @bigman78db.