The trails at Arrowhead Provincial Park haven't been groomed yet, and the first Fire and Ice night is still weeks away. For anyone in Huntsville who plans winter weekends around the park, though, it helps to know how a visit gets planned now. Your Saturday on the trails depends on what you did at 7 a.m. the Monday before.
Ontario Parks offers every daily vehicle permit at Arrowhead in advance. Its day-use FAQ says each permit is released at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time, five days before the arrival date. When a day sells out, the park is full for everyone, including people who already paid for the season.
The gatehouse is closed. The calendar does its job now
People who have skated Arrowhead for years still remember stopping at the gatehouse. That stop is gone. The Ontario Parks winter guide to Arrowhead says the gatehouse is no longer open to the public and the Visitor Centre/Park Store now handles permits, merchandise and supplies. If you reserved and pre-registered online, the guide says you can skip the office and drive straight in.
Some older habits no longer apply either. Arrowhead stopped selling separate ski permits, so one daily vehicle permit covers skiing, skating and snowshoeing. Snow tubing is no longer offered. A permit covers one passenger vehicle and everyone in it, for vehicles that hold up to 14 people.
Because of the five-day window, every day of the week has its own booking morning:
| If you want to be on the trails | Permits release at 7 a.m. on |
|---|---|
| Friday | The Sunday before |
| Saturday | The Monday before |
| Sunday | The Tuesday before |
| Wednesday | The Friday before |
Ontario Parks says Fridays through Sundays are Arrowhead's busiest days. So the decisions that count fall on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday mornings, when most people are thinking about the workweek. Because permits go on sale in advance, the park knows ahead of time when a weekend will hit capacity and posts those updates on its social media channels.
What a winter pass buys
A lot of people in Muskoka buy the seasonal permit and stop thinking about access. The numbers still favour the pass. On the Ontario Parks 2026 day-use fee schedule, which runs April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027, the winter vehicle permit costs $67.80. Arrowhead's own guide lists day use at $21 per vehicle. Three day visits cost $63, so the pass pays for itself partway through the fourth visit of the winter.
What the pass doesn't buy is a guaranteed spot. Ontario Parks says annual and winter pass holders still need to reserve a day-use spot to be sure of getting in. The reservation costs nothing extra, and you book it with the pass's serial number. The winter guide explains what happens when a day fills: if the daily vehicle permits are sold out, you can't buy one or use your seasonal pass at the Visitor Centre/Park Store, "and you will not be able to visit the park."
A pass holder should expect to book a free reservation for each visit, on the same release morning as everyone else. The pass lowers the cost of each visit.
The January days that will fill first
Two weekdays and a Sunday in late January already have reasons to draw crowds, and they all fall in the same stretch as Fire and Ice.
Sunday, January 24, 2027: the Muskoka Loppet. The Cross Country Ski Ontario calendar lists the annual Muskoka Loppet hosted by Arrowhead Nordic on that date. More details are still to come. Permits for that Sunday go on sale at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, January 19. Ontario Parks warns that race days at Arrowhead make the park extra busy and that some trails may close to the public during races.
Wednesday, January 27, 2027: Women of Winter. Arrowhead Nordic lists Women of Winter at the park on that Wednesday. Midweek is usually the quiet option, but this Wednesday has an event of its own. Permits for it release at 7 a.m. on Friday, January 22.
Fridays and Saturdays from January: Fire and Ice. Discover Muskoka lists Fire and Ice nights on Fridays and Saturdays starting in January 2027, weather permitting. Ontario Parks describes them as beginning in late January. Fire and Ice has its own permit option. When you reserve, choose "Day Use + Fire and Ice Evening Skate." That permit is good for the whole day plus the evening skate. A plain day-use permit for a Saturday is a different booking, so pick the evening option on the release morning if you want to skate under the torches.
Put together, late January has Fire and Ice weekends, a Sunday Loppet and a Wednesday event in the same two weeks. Ontario Parks suggests weekday visits for anyone trying to avoid crowds. On that calendar, the quietest January days are probably weekdays other than January 27.
When the season opens
Ontario Parks usually expects skiing at Arrowhead to start in mid-December and the 1.3-kilometre skating trail to open in January. Both depend on the weather. The Arrowhead ski report updates daily at 9:00 a.m. with skate and ski trail conditions. Since permits release at 7 a.m., you'll usually book a Saturday days before you know what the trail looks like. Anyone who lives close enough to come back the next weekend can live with that.
Once you're through the gate
A few details from the park's winter guide shape the day itself, and most of them reward an early start too.
- Rentals are first-come, first-served. Skates, snowshoes, classic and skate skis, and helmets are rented from the Pavilion next to the Visitor Centre, according to the Arrowhead facilities page. Ontario Parks says rentals often sell out on weekends. Arriving early in the day is the way to get a pair.
- Adaptive equipment is on site. The park has accessible sit skis and ice sledges. The Roe Skate and Classic Trails are rated accessible and adaptive for skiing, and the sledge can be used on the Skating Trail.
- Lookout Trail is the one for bikes and dogs in harness. The winter guide describes the 3-kilometre Lookout Trail as a moderate loop groomed for multiple uses: winter biking, snowshoeing, hiking, cross-country skiing and skijoring. It's the only trail in the park that allows fat biking and skijoring.
- Bring lunch. The park sells only limited food: hot and cold drinks, chips, candy and small snacks. Ontario Parks recommends packing a lunch.
- Expect construction. As of November 2, the park's alerts page notes a new comfort station under construction in East River Campground. Washrooms and potable water are available at the Visitor Centre/Park Store. The guide asks skiers to follow trail signs, stay on groomed areas and use the updated 2026–2027 winter map.
The Visitor Centre/Park Store handles permits, supplies and washrooms, and the Pavilion next to it handles rentals. Ontario Parks also answers questions by phone at 1-888-668-7275, daily from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. That line opens at the same hour permits go on sale.
At our cottages in Haliburton and Muskoka, we plan a winter weekend the way Arrowhead does: we book it early, and we treat the weather as the only thing we can't control. If you're weighing a place within easy reach of the Arrowhead trails, or want to know what your own property could earn or sell for this winter, Ryan Harkin and the Birchwood team are glad to talk it through. Get My Valuation.
