Guide · Ski and winter
What to do near Blue Mountain when you are not skiing.
Every ski group has people who do not ski, or who stop at lunch. This is what the rest of the day can be around Blue Mountain, Collingwood and Thornbury: spa, snowshoes, skates, and a warm room with a pint in it.
By The Collingview · Published
Warm
Heat, cold, then rest.
Scandinave Spa Blue Mountain is the non-skier’s answer to the whole region. Hot baths, cold plunges, waterfalls, saunas and a eucalyptus steam room, indoors and out, worked in cycles of heat, cold and rest. The spa itself suggests three to five hours, and in winter you can watch the night skiing on Blue Mountain from the water.
Two rules shape the visit. Silence, everywhere on the site, and no screens. And a minimum age of 14, with 14- and 15-year-olds accompanied by a parent or guardian throughout, so it is an adults’ afternoon rather than a family one. Robes and towels are provided; bring a swimsuit and sandals.
Walk-ins are accepted subject to availability. For a group on a Saturday, book.
At the resort, without skis
The same mountain, on foot.
All run by Blue Mountain Resort, most on a single-use attraction ticket. Hours and open dates change through the season, so check the resort’s page on the day.
- Big Dipper Snow Tubing
- Up to ten lanes at the bottom of the ski hill. Everyone rides their own tube, including small children, and has to get in and out of it unaided.
- Woodview Mountaintop Skating
- A 1.1 km skating loop through the trees at the South Summit, suitable for any age. Rental skates are available; figure skates only without toe picks.
- Ridge Runner Mountain Coaster
- A 1 km coaster where you control your own speed, open all year, weather permitting. Solo riders must be 13 or older and at least 137 cm tall; children from 3 can ride as passengers with a driver aged 16 or over.
- Snowshoe trails
- Backcountry trails from South Base Lodge, with rentals. Stay on the marked trails. Dogs are allowed on a leash.
- Plunge! Aquatic Centre and Canopy Climb
- Heated indoor and outdoor pools and hot tubs in the Village, and an elevated net playground for children from 3. Confirm both are open for your dates before promising them to the children.
- The Village
- Shops and restaurants at the base of the hill, and in recent winters a holiday light trail. See Blue Mountain Village for what is on.
Cross-country and snowshoe
Skiing, the other kind.
- Scenic Caves
- On the escarpment above the resort: 27 km groomed daily for classic and skate skiing, 12 km of snowshoe trails, and a 420 ft suspension bridge that in winter can only be crossed on snowshoes. Tickets and rentals are sold on site only, card only, and the gate closes when the park is full. Pets are not allowed on the trails. Children 7 and under ski free. Scenic Caves
- Highlands Nordic, Duntroon
- A dedicated cross-country centre with classic and skate trails, 7 km of snowshoe trails, rentals from children’s sizes up, and a lodge with a café. Night skiing on some evenings. Tickets are bought in person, and dogs must be leashed. Highlands Nordic
- Kolapore Uplands
- About 50 km of wilderness ski trails southwest of Collingwood, best for intermediate and advanced skiers. When there is snow the trails are for skiing only: no walking, no snowshoes and no dogs. Kolapore Wilderness Trails Association
- The Georgian Trail
- The flat rail trail between Collingwood, Thornbury and Meaford. The Town of The Blue Mountains has groomed its section through recent winters, weather permitting, for walking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and fat biking, without set ski tracks. Dogs on a leash. Town of The Blue Mountains
Indoors
A warm room, and something to drink.
In Collingwood, Side Launch Brewing runs a taproom on Mountain Road, with fire pits outside from November through March. The downtown has more than fifty heritage buildings, and is an easy afternoon on foot.
In Thornbury, Thornbury Craft Co. has its cider house and taproom on King Street, open daily. In Meaford, Meaford Hall, the restored opera house on Nelson Street, runs film, music and performances through the year; its calendar is worth a look before you arrive.
Planning it
Two groups, one dinner.
The mixed ski weekend works when the non-skiers have a plan of their own rather than waiting in a lodge. Book the spa for the day the skiers go out early. Put the tubing or the skating on the afternoon the skiers are tired and the children are not. Meet back at the house, not at the hill.
Take two cars if you can. The spa, Scenic Caves and the resort are all around Blue Mountain, but nobody wants to be collected at three because somebody else is done.
And if the skiers need the answer to their own question — which hills you can actually buy a ticket for — that is in the ski weekend guide.
Sources: the operators’ own websites, linked above, and the Town of The Blue Mountains. Checked September 2026. Hours, season dates and prices change every winter and are deliberately not quoted here; check each operator before you go.
A winter base for the whole group.
Radiant floors, three fires, a rooftop hot tub, and room for the skiers and the non-skiers to have different days and the same dinner. Send us your dates.
Keep reading
- Ski and winter staysThe house in winter, and what a ski week from it looks like.
- Planning a ski weekend for a groupWhich hills sell day tickets, and how to organise ten people around them.
- Blue MountainStaying near the resort without staying in the village.
- CollingwoodWhat the town is for, twenty minutes east.