Snowmobile season hit hard with limited trail access in Simcoe County, Muskoka
The 2022 snowmobiling season has not been kind to snowmobilers in Simcoe County and Muskoka.
With trails closed or down to dirt, businesses that rely on snowmobiling tourism, such as sled rentals, have been hit hard.
"We don't get the snow, the groomers won't be moving. There's nothing to work with. No snow there to work with," said Bill Watts, Hill & Gully Riders assistant trail coordinator. "
The dwindling sledding season has impacted the local economy, with a significant decline in business.
"Hotels, motels, restaurants, it affects the whole Muskoka area. There's a lot of money to be made there. People come up from the city or even up from the states to snowmobile up here," Watts said.
The manager of Mid Ontario Snowmobile Trails calls this the worst snowmobile season since 2009.
Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs website shows most trails across the region closed, while others are limited on Thurs., Feb. 16, 2023. (OFSC)
"The season is so short anyway," noted Muskoka Wild co-owner Miriam Dick. "The previous seasons, we've gotten anywhere from six to eight weeks. This season it's only been two weeks already, with the other two being questionable."
With limited trail access, some sledders desperate to ride are taking risks, including turning to lakes and roads.
"It's a concern for people that don't understand the lakes in the area and want to go on a lake because they see other people doing it and think it looks cool, but it's a big safety concern," Dick said.
In Muskoka, locals remain optimistic with snow in the forecast, potentially allowing groomers to be in action as early as Friday.
"If we got some good snow in the next, say, week, we could be open for a while. It all depends on how cold it is," Watts said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Boeing's financial woes continue, while families of crash victims urge U.S. to prosecute the company
Boeing said Wednesday that it lost US$355 million on falling revenue in the first quarter, another sign of the crisis gripping the aircraft manufacturer as it faces increasing scrutiny over the safety of its planes and accusations of shoddy work from a growing number of whistleblowers.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Fair in Ontario, flurries in Labrador: Weather systems make for an erratic spring
"It's a bit of a complicated pattern; we've got a lot going on," said Jennifer Smith of the Meteorological Service of Canada in an interview with CTVNews.ca on Wednesday. "[As is] typical with weather, all of these things are related."
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.