Categories: Travel

Ontario park known for its ‘frozen’ waterfall has a new ice skating loop

Photo via Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park on Facebook

Kakabeka Falls has added a new addition to its winter activities for 2025! Besides catching a glimpse of its ‘frozen waterfall’, you can now go skating on its thrilling new ice loop.

The Ontario park is a scenic beauty through all seasons, but it truly comes alive in the winter. For us here in Toronto, this park is not day trip-worthy. It’ll take you about 15 hours, more or less, to get there. But that doesn’t mean you should scratch this spot off your bucket list. This year, the team at Kakabeka Falls worked “diligently in these frigid temperatures preparing the new skating loop.”

Kakabeka Falls ice skating

According to Ontario Parks, the skating trail is a 160-metre-long loop located off the Luckens Road entrance, next to the ski trails. It can be enjoyed daily from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Just be sure to bring your skates and helmet as rentals are not available here.

Whether you plan to start or end your day with skating, there’s still so much more to discover at Kakabeka Falls.

What else can you do at Kakabeka Falls?

For those looking for another winter adventure, the park also offers several groomed cross-country skiing trails. With 15 km of trails available, both beginners and intermediate skiers can enjoy the snowy terrain.

If skiing isn’t your thing, snowshoeing is another great option. Ontario Parks recommends the Mountain Portage Trail, an “easy loop” that offers stunning views of the falls, gorge, and river.

As for the park’s namesake, Kakabeka Falls, it roars in the summer but transforms in the winter and typically freezes over. An ice sheet forms on the face of the waterfall, but the water beneath it still flows.

Nicknamed “the Niagara of the North,” the falls are a centrepiece of the surrounding provincial park, which offers stunning scenery, easy hiking trails, and a pedestrian bridge that provides breathtaking views from both sides of the cascading waters.

Sold on this outdoor adventure? Be sure to make a reservation online for a two-hour or four-hour daily vehicle permit. These can be purchased at the front gatehouse from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. but if you’re travelling from far, book it online. These are priced at $7.52 plus tax.

So whether you’re lacing up your skates, strapping on snowshoes, or simply admiring the frozen beauty of the falls, Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park is a must-visit winter wonderland this season. This skating loop just makes it even better.