3 Ways To Safely Enjoy Hiking In Toronto This Winter

Following last winter’s unusually warm weather in Toronto, which at some point left many people collectively wondering whether there would be snow falling at all; a colder-than-usual winter has been predicted this year and already showed up this week in Toronto, which means that with the milder snow here often quickly turning into slush or ice, an increased risk of slipping and falling is present that can potentially lead to a nasty cut or even breaking a bone. 

On the other hand, hiking in Toronto, especially in winter, brings significant health benefits to fight seasonal depression and is a great way to enjoy the city and stay active and even makes a fantastic excuse to make social plans, particularly as other activities such as swimming or going to the beach take a seasonal break. There are some ways to stay safe while enjoying the winter scenery:

Get Spikes Or Chains For Your Hiking Shoes

Although more recommended for non-asphalted trails like Beare Hill (they can produce a dragging feeling when walking on an asphalt trail, that gets exhausting quickly), spikes or chains easily fit over any hiking boot, significantly increasing your grip and making it harder to accidentally fall down. 

What’s more this means that, especially with the perils of inflation, you may not need to spend anything on buying new hiking shoes, as they can increase the grip on your existing shoes. Most major retailers such as Amazon, Walmart or Canadian Tire have these spikes in stock and most are easy to take on/off when you’re not on the trail.

Microspike types are probably the best for Toronto and nearby trails as they are very multifunctional and meant for the varied terrain and snow/ice often found here in winter.

Choose Trails Within Or Near Toronto

If hiking alone, falling down on a more isolated trail can be a significant risk. Even many trails within the city limits, may not be used as often in winter. 

Thus particularly in snowy weather it may be better to stick to hiking within a park such a High Park, the Toronto Islands near the ferry or the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail near Rouge Hill GO, over hiking a remote part of some of the larger trails alone.

Not only does it mean safety in case you do fall down or trip and can’t get back up, as these trails are more popular and will have more people passing by or living nearby, these trails are usually better maintained as they are more commonly used in winter as well.

Try And Let A Trusted Person Know Where You’re Going Hiking Or Ask Them To Join You! 

Even if you generally walk the same trails and know well where to go, it can still be helpful to let someone know exactly what trail you plan on hiking and how they can get to you if something were to happen. Even smaller parks like High Park, can feature multiple trails and it can be harder to tell where in the park someone is. Most parks have named trails visible on Google Maps and even if you like to venture further than that, services like Alltrails, Google Maps or Life360, offer free location sharing that is easily turned on/off before and after the hike.

Even better, a great way to meet people in Toronto is through hiking groups, particularly as it’s one of the few outdoor sport activities that can be done all year round. Going hiking with a group doesn't just mean the assurance of having people around you, it can be a great way to make new friends. Many Meetup and Facebook groups focus on both shorter and longer-term hikes and also organise non-hiking events!