Haliburton County: Trails, Art and History

Discover Haliburton County through a range of interests: seasonal trail use, outdoor sculptures, forest and wetland landscapes, and local history. To help choose your vacation rental, decide in advance what you want your trip to focus on: trail activities and outdoor art, or museums and galleries? The locations below offer specific guidance.

Trails and seasonal use rules

The Haliburton County Rail Trail is a multi-use trail maintained by the County’s Public Works Department. Permitted use depends on the date and trail conditions. From April 1 to May 1, it is open to all non-motorized activities, provided trail conditions allow. From May 1 to November 30, the same condition applies to non-motorized activities; ATVs are permitted during this period with a permit. From December 1 to March 31, when trail conditions are suitable, the trail is open exclusively to snowmobiles, which require a permit. Side-by-sides are not permitted. Check trail conditions before setting out, and note that permits are required for ATVs and snowmobiles.

Beyond this trail, Haliburton County also has multi-use trails for hikers, cyclists, paddlers and snowmobilers. The Rail Trail rules show why it is worth considering the specific route and time of year together: the general designation “multi-use trail” does not indicate which activities are permitted on a particular date.

Outdoor art and nature trails

Glebe Park is on the north shore of Head Lake in the town of Haliburton and covers 175 acres of forest and gently rolling hills. The park is home to the Haliburton Sculpture Forest, an outdoor collection of sculptures by Canadian and international artists. The trails are suitable for hiking and cycling in spring, summer and fall; possible winter activities include hiking, snowshoeing and skiing. If you want to combine art and outdoor activity, this is a distinctive focus for your trip planning. Check current trail conditions before a winter outing.

The Barnum Creek Nature Reserve in Dysart et offers a different landscape: its three hiking trails total seven kilometres and pass through forests, open fields and wetlands; Barnum Creek is also part of the reserve. Habitats include hardwood and mixed forests, young successional forests, grassland, marsh and swamp. Activities here include hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, plein air painting, photography and birdwatching. Cycling is restricted to the Heritage Hike. This restriction is especially important if you are planning a bike ride.

At Abbey Gardens, about five kilometres of marked trails wind through 140 acres of mature forest and can be explored free of charge year-round. The Dorset Scenic Tower Trail in Algonquin Highlands offers a different point of comparison: the loop is 1.5 kilometres long and challenging. This gives you both an approximate trail length and a stated difficulty level to consider when planning.

Museums, galleries and cultural history

The Minden Hills Cultural Centre includes the Minden Hills Museum and Heritage Village, the Agnes Jamieson Gallery and Nature’s Place Interpretive Centre. The Heritage Village consists of five historic buildings relocated here to preserve and celebrate Minden’s history. They include Bowron House, a log cabin from the 1860s with a working wood stove, Stanhope Schoolhouse and exhibits in the Stirling Bank building.

The Minden Hills Museum & Heritage Village offers self-guided tours from the long weekend of Victoria Day through the Thanksgiving weekend, Tuesday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Hands-on activities are available daily in June, July and August. Seasonal hours and offerings may change, so check current visitor information before your visit. Nature’s Place was built in 2007 and originally designed to minimize its environmental impact.

The Agnes Jamieson Gallery preserves and presents the life, work and artistic legacy of André Lapine, ARCA (1866–1952), and exhibits work by local and regional visual artists. For a different perspective on the region, the main gallery at the Haliburton Highlands Museum is open year-round, with exhibits on early local businesses, sports history and the local logging industry. This gives you the option of weighing art and regional history as distinct focuses for your stay.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Minden, Highland Grove, Harcourt, Haliburton, Carnarvon, Cardiff, Tory Hill, Oxtongue Lake.

For the broader travel overview: Ontario.