Outdoor winter adventure awaits you in Kenora!

Winter Adventures

Winter is spectacular in Kenora. Take the family skating or skiing. Try winter hiking or snowshoeing. Drill a hole in the ice and catch some fish. Your outdoor winter adventure is here.

Skating

Lace up your skates and head out to one of Kenora’s many indoor and outdoor skating rinks. Enjoy an indoor public skate at Kenora Recreation Centre, a pick-up game of outdoor shinny at Evergreen or Rideout Community Centres, or a leisurely skate at Rabbit Lake or under the Whitecap Pavilion.

Kenora Recreation Centre

For indoor skating, visit the Rec Centre almost any day of the week—check the City schedule for open ice times, including youth hockey, public skating, and adult hockey.

Evergreen Community Club

Two recently rebuilt hockey and skating rinks are available to the public at Evergreen Community Club. Come out and enjoy a leisurely skating or a pick-up hockey game.

Rideout Community Club

Although it’s quietly tucked away in the residential area of Rideout, this newly renovated, outdoor hockey-style rink is open for public use. Visitors are welcome to bring their hockey sticks and start a game of shinny.

Rabbit Lake Rink & Skating Trail

The kilometre-long skating loop circles a large cleared and flooded rink. The trail is maintained all winter long and is free for all to enjoy. For a game of pick-up, bring your nets and a few pucks. Skate-tying shacks are right nearby for wind-protected seating.

Whitecap Pavilion

Located on the Kenora Harbourfront, this annually man-made outdoor rink is housed beneath the Whitecap Pavilion for the public to enjoy. As a smaller, sheltered rink on the shore of Lake of the Woods, this is a beautiful location for beginner and novice skaters.

Mount Evergreen

Mount Evergreen Ski Club’s downhill venue boasts 11 runs, two t-bar lifts and a terrain park. The Ski Club offers equipment rentals for all ages and sizes and offers individual or group downhill skiing and snowboarding lessons. You can also try tubing—introduced at Mount Evergreen a few years ago, the two parallel tube runs have continued to grow in popularity.

Day-use and seasonal passes are available online. The licensed chalet offers a retreat from the hills with warm drinks and snacks.

Cross Country Skiing

At the base of Mount Evergreen, Kenora Nordic Trails consists of 20 kilometres of exceptional trails. Looking for a unique outdoor winter adventure? Three kilometres are solar lit for night skiing!

Day and seasonal passes, as well as ski rentals, are available online or at the Mount Evergreen Ski Club chalet.

Hiking & Snowshoeing

Many of Kenora’s scenic trail systems are ideal for winter hiking and snowshoeing. Enjoy the crisp crunch of undisturbed snow when you venture out onto frozen waterways, and keep your camera ready for a close encounter with our over-wintering animals—deer, otters, mink, muskrat are common sights along our winter trails. Visit Green Adventures to be outfitted for your winter hiking or snowshoeing experience.

Snowmobiling

Kenora is a snowmobiler’s paradise. Thousands of rivers and lakes, combined with the thick layer of snow our winters are notorious for, make this region one vast snowmobile playground. The local Sunset Trail Riders club maintains over 600 kilometres of groomed trails, which makes exploring this winter wonderland by sled both fun and worry-free. Journey north through rugged, untouched wildernesses, or head south to explore the Lake of the Woods and all the picturesque views it has to offer. Be adventurous: while you’re out there, try ice fishing to catch your dinner. Nothing tastes better than walleye freshly caught in the ice-cold waters of northwestern Ontario.

Go to permits.ofsc.on.ca to pick up your Ontario snowmobile permit for the Sunset Trail Riders region.

Ice Fishing

If you have the gear to get out on Lake of the Woods, take a ride south on the ice road from Kenora and find walleye on the many humps and reefs scattered around the lake. The central section of the lake has the best population of fish, in the area known as the Manitou. If you’re interested in fishing some of the smaller lakes around town you can use the Ontario Fish ON-Line website to see a listing of the fish species in each body of water.

Ice Roads

Experience the Lake of the Woods as few ever do—by ice road. Heading south out of the City along these well-groomed, frozen roadways makes for an exhilarating day trip. Or head out after dark on a crisp, clear night and watch the sky light up with stars and aurora borealis, set to an eerie symphony of ice stretching and wolves howling in the distance. No outdoor winter adventure is complete without the unique experience of “ice roading.”

Stay up-to-date on ice road conditions on our Facebook page.

Ice Bikes

Try out something new and fun on the ice this winter—ice biking! Rent your bike from Mosswood Adventures & Rentals (next to the Hardware Cafe), choosing from three different models that cater to various ages and abilities. With a rear tire and skates or skis on the front, these bikes glide seamlessly across ice roads and rinks. What a fun way to see the Lake in the winter, get out and get active, and be environmentally-friendly!

Kenora • Ontario • Canada

In the spirit of reconciliation, the City of Kenora acknowledges that we are on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe and Metis of Treaty #3. The City of Kenora was originally the land base of one collective First Nation community, which was separated into three communities now known as Wauzhushk Onigum, Niisaachewan, and Washagamis Bay First Nations. Kenora now sustains many others, all of whom have been welcomed to peacefully share and care for these ancestral Lands and Waters.

To support stewardship of the land, the City recognizes the importance of a strong relationship with our Treaty #3 partners. The City of Kenora acknowledges that our economy greatly benefits from the Anishinaabe and Metis that live in and around the city.

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