winterdance dogsled tours

We recently had our first Winterdance experience and absolutely loved every minute of it! We did the half day tour and next year would love to do a full day. Our guides Mark and Nathan were very knowledgable, helpful and made everyone feel so comfortable and confident. I loved hearing the barking & howling of 65 dogs together as our guides were hooking them up to the sleds. They were so excited to start running. I still get goosebumps when I describe it to people! About half way, we had a hot chocolate & strudel break and got to know our dogs (they had treats too) Phoenix, Govenor, Spring, Willow & Andy. Such beautiful and well cared for dogs! Thank you Hank, Tanya and your staff for an amazing experience!

Great day great people can't wait to go next year did the half day tour and will do the same for sure. The dogs were the stars I had 5 dogs and I give 5 stars.

I had the most amazing experience partaking in a half day tour with Winterdance! The dogs are so friendly, clearly well-loved and cared for, and they love what they do. It is the best way to experience the beauty and nature that Haliburton offers. The guides are very knowledgeable and great teachers. If you haven't tried this yet, you are missing out.

Will definitely be back! Our guide Moses was helpful, funny and super nice! The dogs of course are adorable and it's nice being able to interact with them before and after the tour. We did the 2hour tour and wish we did a half day at least - time flies when you're having fun!! We will definitely be back to do it again!

We started the day with some of the most professional people I've met and they shared their expectations of us clearly. Then the experience started and all I can say is WOW. We live in the area and yet they treated to a piece of heaven. The dogs are amazing and the guides made us feel so confident and comfortable. As the sun came out when we were on one of the lakes I actually got lost in the scenery .... just the sounds of the sleds and the dogs .... peace at it's best. I HIGHLY recommend this adventure .... highly experienced staff whose desire to make your day the best and very safe. Hank and Tanya have a gem in the wild!!!!!

Winterdance, “thank you” for giving our family an exhilarating dogsledding experience along with wonderful memories and photos to cherish for a lifetime! Our guides great personalities, expert knowledge and instruction made it easy for us to learn about the sport and the basics of driving a dog team. The dogs…what can I say…we fell in love with each and every one of them. The day’s sunshine, warm temperatures along with the scenic well-groomed trails we travelled showcased the beauty of our Canadian north. Winterdance cottage had easy access and the accommodations worked perfect for our family. We all hope to visit again soon and next time to include a kennel tour.

Another awesome day with Winterdance. The new trails are more challenging but very exhilarating. What a day. Kudos to Mike in particular but also to all your guides. The perfect example of customer service and how to be tourism ready. Great job by you and Hank in pulling all this together in such short notice with the new lot and trails.Will be back next year for sure. The two adult kids can't stop talking about it. Wish we were here for the race next weekend.

Winterdance Dogsled Tours offers a unique and memorable experience. The half-day tour is awesome but physically challenging. I planned to both ride and drive but the driving appeared to be more than I could handle. My friend Linda, a year older, took control of the sled and survived. We both enjoyed the dogs, the striking scenery on the 15-20 kilometer run and appreciated the help of the professional guides. A once in a life time experience not to be missed especially by the younger set.

My teenage daughter and I did the half day experience and had an great experience. The guides were very encouraging and helpful - and the dogs were amazing! The sound of 50 dogs howling and getting excited to go run is the best sound in the world. We loved that we got time to get to know them and bond with them before we went out. We luckily went on a milder day (-10 C vs. -32 C the day before) and there was a light snow coming down all afternoon. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a different winter experience.

The experience was amazing - the staff were not. If Josh was not our main guide I would of gave Winterdance a TERRIBLE rating. Josh was very charismatic and engaged the guests, whereas the other staff looked miserable and were very rude. Customer service goes a VERY long way and if Winterdance expects those south of Barrie to travel hours to their location - they need to reevaluate the way their staff presents themselves. The location of Winterdance is in the middle of nowhere and is a "hut." Do not expect this place to look legit because it doesn't. There is literally a wooden medium sized empty, one room hut located on the side of a road with a sign that reads "Winterdance." I thought with the price of $199/person charged, Winterdance would be a bit more established. The outhouse was disgusting, but what outhouse is nice really?The training the team had prior to taking off on our half day adventure was very well done. Although my friend and I had never been on a dog sled before, we felt very comfortable and eased our way into driving the dog sled and took proper precautions to ensure the safety of our team. The route chosen for the half day adventure was VERY up hill... don't get me wrong is was A LOT of fun but we had no idea how much physical strength was involved in dog sledding - Not Winterdance's fault obviously but thought I would add that comment in this review. The view was breathtaking and very photo worthy - be sure to bring your camera, but to only allow the passenger to take photos - HOLD ONTO YOUR SLED!

Did the half day dogsled tour yesterday afternoon and had a great time! Great experience, wonderful guides, and beautiful scenery. Our dogs were fantastic and raring to go. The hot chocolate and snack halfway were also a nice touch. Would definitely come back again for another tour.

Girlfriend and I are visiting Toronto(yes in the winter, no we're not crazy) and wanted to check off dog sledding as something both of us had always wanted to try. With a few options in the day trip region of Toronto, Winterdance was phenomenal from booking to departure from their grounds.Had wonderful help both via email and over the phone with the office, getting us in before a major cold snap coming in the next few days. The directions on their website are not only spot on, but REQUIRED reading. Your GPS WILL NOT WORK when you're roughly 15-20 min away and you had better know where you're going prior to it cutting out. We arrived roughly a half hour early. Went into the lodge and checked in with the staff. I'll leave the details for you to find out on your own. The crew was wonderful, hard working, friendly and very informative. Important notes, follow their directions as your gps will go out just before you arrive. Get there early. Theres a lot of instruction and theres no reason to make it harder on the staff, you're also cutting into everyone else's time. Wear good footwear. Your feet will be cold if not. All in all I cannot recommend this experience and this company enough. I wouldn't suggest even looking anywhere else. You won't be disappointed in choosing Winterdance.

After reading Paulsen's book Woodsong to my grade 8 students I have been wanting to try dogsledding for years. We didn't count on minus 35 degree temperatures but were dressed for it and loved every minute! Great staff, from start to finish, wonderful, affectionate dogs, especially "Owl", and patient ( very patient!) guides, Moses and Mark, (when some of the people in the tour realized they were not prepared for the weather) . I can't wait to go again!

This is my 3rd dog sled experience and the first with WinterDance. The entire group of people were fantastic, enthusiastic, knowledgeable, welcoming and especially very caring for their wonderful Siberian huskies. They are truly impressive in how they managed both the people and their dogs. I was impressed by their dedicated nature to this sport having been to the Iditarod and Yukon Quest races in Alaska and Yukon respectively. They are the real thing. Especially loved the spirit of the dogs and got to know some of their personalities. Big thanks to Governor, Viper, Zeus,Peach and Flash who worked hard to provide us with a great experience . The people worked hard to getting all of us organized and mushing !!!! Much success in your business. We'll be back :-)

We booked this amazing experience as a surprise Christmas gift for 13 of our family members, ranging in age from 17-65. Every one of us had a wonderful, thrilling ride. The friendly team at Winterdance was very dedicated to their guests beginning the day we booked. Phone calls and emails were returned promptly, brochures mailed to us. Their gorgeous, friendly and very powerful dogs are so loved, so very well looked after and part of the family. Being a first time experience for our group, the detailed instruction and information from Mike was well received by us and very necessary to ensure the dogs' safety as well as our own.We booked a 1/2 day tour, time needed to really get a feel for dogsledding. The sled riders were happy for the cosy blankets considering the -18 temperatures. The snow was falling all day so the beauty of the Winterdance majestic trails was even more obvious. One of our riders did not wish to go on any ice so Mike easily chose another trail.We would definitely recommend this adventure to anyone looking for some excitement on a brisk winter's day. We can't believe the 3 negative reviews but those kinds of people are never happy!Absolutely nothing negative from this group.Hank has just recently constructed a beautiful log building, not quite completed to change clothing etc. Our only advice to Winterdance would be to have a small gift shop (which may be in the works). We definitely would have purchased long sleeve t-shirts, hats, keychains … something to remind us of our great day with them.Can't wait to encourage our friends to also enjoy Winterdance.