Halfway Haven
Halfway Haven Lodge P0S 1K0 Wawa, ON, Canada

Well folks, last year on this date, March 21/2020 we had to shut down due to Covid. This season was a weird one all around! Back in October when it was snowi...ng and lakes were freezing it looked like we were in for another early start, but then the snow stopped and it took well into the new year before we could start getting some trails open. Snow conditions remained marginal at best most of the winter with some areas staying pretty thin all season. In mid January we packed the trail south to Halfway Haven, but there just wasn’t enough snow to open it. When the snow finally came mid February, we made another pass. Unfortunately with the snow, also came the permits to install the bridge at the Anjigami dam for the new power transmission lines. While we worked in conjunction with the contractors, we just couldn’t get a safe way to open the trail for sledders. So here we are, March 21/2021, trails have been closed for almost 2 weeks after unseasonably heavy rains that created to many hazards to recover from. It was +12 here today and we were able to get the markers off the lakes this weekend. So, between the border, covid and the power line project, if Mother Nature had to pick a year to not to cooperate, this was it! All that being said, we want to thank all the business’s, land owners and snowmobilers who supported us this season. We definitely missed seeing the riders and friends who normally come to enjoy our trails and the Wawa area. From all of us at the Wawa SnoRiders have a safe summer and hopefully next season things are back normal and we get to see everyone again! See more

Good Move! The OFSC just announced that March 22-28 will be OFSC Landowner Appreciation Week in Ontario. Check out their end of season release and new Landowner... Appreciation Public Service Announcement running on many radio stationsthen share this link with a landowner and your riding buds! https://www.ofsc.on.ca/category/news-release/ See more

Each year, close to 6,000 volunteers build and maintain OFSC snowmobile trails for all of us to enjoy. All of our volunteers continue to overcome many challenge...s to contribute to the recreational, social and economic well-being of their communities. Normally, we are able to celebrate these accomplishments in person at our AGM, but we were unable to gather this past year and then we were all swamped with keeping trails available during COVID uncertainties. However, we have not forgotten that our 2020 recipients still deserve their hard-earned recognition and it’s never too late to do it. So with our apologies for the delay, we are honouring them throughout March, on social media as part of our end of season Volunteer Appreciation initiatives. Each of the five major awards received by districts will be highlighted individually and recipients sent their award plaque. Next, the OFSC will announce our provincial recipients for 2020 in a provincial media release and congratulate them personally in a special Zoom call. Please join us in celebrating the district winners of the 2020 Outstanding OFSC Safety Ambassador. This award is presented to an individual, or group of individuals, in recognition of outstanding achievement and contribution to the overall safety of organized snowmobiling through one or more of the following areas: Promotion, Education and/or Partnerships. District 1 - Joe O'Neid Osgoode Carleton Snowmobile Trail Club District 2 - Ron Rutherford Paudash Trail Blazers District 4 - Robert Black Orangeville Snowmobile Club District 6 - Cliff Lister Maple Leaf Snow Skimmers District 8 - John Gee & Annette Blue Mountain Snowdrifters Snowmobile Club District 9 - Jeff Hoffele Maitland Valley Snowmobile Club District 10 - Bob Thorp, Nigel Munn, Ken Bretl, Ken Mihan, Jamie Bingham, Jeff Baker, Tim Brunton, John Britten, Doug Fraser Magnetawan Ridge Runners Snowmobile Club District 11 - Mark Lepage Bonfield Snowmobile Club District 12 - Charles Tremblay Valley Trailmasters District 13 - Penny Fullerton, Echo Bay Snow Falcons Algoma Sno Plan Affiliation District 15 - Serge Pominville Club Voyageur THANK YOU FOR ALL THAT YOU DO! See more

The washout 30 km South of camp on the Sault Side of the D Trail is wide open and we want nobody to hit this. Please share ALWAYS consult the OFSC Interactive Trail Guide for current status and trail conditions.

My wife and I were recently on a snowmobile trip where we stopped in at Halfway Haven for fuel and a good meal. During the ride back to the Sault she caught an ...edge in a corner and flipped her snowmobile injuring herself. Our only choice was to double back to Halfway Haven late in the night as she was injured. She suffered three fractured ribs and hematoma in her chest. We arrived late back at Halfway Haven. The staff opened their doors and took care of my wife through the night while I returned to get my vehicle to go and pick her up the next morning. Thank you to Darrell Hoag and Kymberli Aitkenhead for taking such good care of her and our safety overall. If Halfway Haven did not exist this would be a different story only option would be an air rescue. As an avid snowmobiler I cannot express enough on how we as a snowmobile community need to support Halfway Haven during these difficult times due to Covid. It is a critical location to the sport and also serves as a rescue station in the middle of nowhere. Thank you again Darrell for your rescue efforts! Hats off to the staff at Halfway! Also I would like to thank Tommy Nitro , Scott Long and the Sault Trailblazers club for pulling out all of the stops to help us out and rescue the snowmobile. What a great club we have always looking out for each other. Thank you all!

Our plan from our prior post is progressing. Deliveries expected tomorrow and Thursday. Hoping to offer fuel and food this weekend however, our well is frozen and it's been a challenge. Will update you on our status Thursday night. I apologize for not taking calls but those are minutes spent away from tasks at hand. Stay tuned here for more info and always refer to the OFSC Trail Guide for the latest status and conditions.

A picture's worth 1000 words!

OPP will be patrolling! Great to see them out. Stay safe everyone and enjoy the family day weekend!

We understand the timing of this is difficult but remain confident and committed to this season. We expect guidance shortly on service restrictions and fuel, food and staff are scheduled throughout next week. Hoping to be fully functional (within requirements) by next weekend. We appreciate your patience and support. Always consult OFSC interactive for trail status and conditions.

We know you're as upset as we are seeing posts about trespassing and snowmobilers going off marked trails. WE NEED YOUR HELP in showing our support and appreci...ation to our AMAZING LANDOWNERS who generously donate their land each winter for all of us to enjoy. If you're reading this, we know you likely aren't part of the problem but we hope you can be a part of the solution by holding your riding friends to the same standard! Thank you for riding marked trails and doing your part to ensure we have trails to enjoy for many years. #friendfriday See more

We would like to thank the team at SNOWTRAX TV for capturing our passion for our beloved D-Trail. Most importantly, we deeply appreciate their acknowledgement of the amount of hard work that we invest to make this happen! Camp is ready and waiting and as soon as conditions permit, WE WILL BE OPEN and at it again this season!!!!

Check out our friends from SnowTrax TV!!!

A little birdie keeps sending me photos. Halfway Haven a few years back. BR parking only! Thanks birdie!

A bit of an update, we are still waiting for more snow! Overall temperatures have been cold, swamps and wet spots are starting to pack and are freezing u...p nicely. Hopefully we get more snow soon and can get things rolling! Always refer to the OFSC Interactive Trail Guide for the latest trail conditions

Bush internet just isn't the same... MERRY BELATED CHRISTMAS TO OUR HALFWAY FAMILY!!!! Santa promised, while he stopped for gas, that he'd send snow! and yes, he wanted 91 and thought $2.50 a liter seemed high...May 2021 make up for 2020 for us all!!!

Need more snow!!!

Some great footage from last summer to remind us. We all look forward to getting back to normal soon!

It is with great sorrow that we acknowledge the passing of Andy Twork after a courageous battle with cancer. Andy was a fellow snowmobiler and friend of the S...ault Trailblazers who promoted our area to snowmobilers south of the border while working for Michigan Snowmobiler Magazine. Andy and his wife Rose became members of our Club and participated in many Club events while forming many lasting friendships. We will miss him dearly on our Club rides. Our thoughts and prayers are with Rose and the family during these difficult times. Rest in Peace, Andy! We hope you found some well groomed trails on your journey ahead! P John Breckenridge President Sault Trailblazers

None of us could have predicted the requirement to end our season, but behind the scenes there’s a lot of work taking place using technology in place of face to... face meetings. District Grooming Committees have been working closely with the OFSC Fleet Team and efforts are underway planning for the 2021 season. Over the last 3 weeks, 11 Districts have attended fleet meetings virtually to discuss the necessary repairs and refreshments needed for their equipment as the fleet team is compiling the information to build a fleet plan for presentation to the OFSC Board of Governors. A big shout out to our volunteers for the hard work and determination to deliver the best season yet!

Getting the the Bully ready to put away. Even with the shortened season, we still managed 70 more hours than last year. Two seasons on it now and we wouldn’t... trade it, definitely a great machine for our area. It is equipped with a cell booster, 2-way radio with phone capabilities and Spot-X 2 way messenger for safety of our operators. This year we also upgraded our fuel system to avoid needing jerry cans on the longer runs as well as some extra lights and rear view camera for improved visibility. With all the uncertainty out there, we hope everyone stays safe and healthy! Plans for next season are all ready being made so stay tuned. See more

We would like to take this time to thank our volunteers, landowners and permit buyers for your support of snowmobiling in Ontario. Without you, there would be n...o us! Out of respect for our landowners, we will be taking the Interactive Trail Guide and Go Snowmobiling Ontario App offline on March 31, 2020. From all of us across the province, we hope you and your families stay healthy and safe during these unprecedented times. Together we will get through this!

Well there you have it snowmobile season has come to a bittersweet end. We thought with the early snow we were going to have a banner year - then it rained for... most of December - next came the heavy wet snow followed by a couple of ice storms with more heavy snow that crippled much of our District. With endless hard work our volunteers and many others stepped up to the plate to make some trails passable but too many key trail links were out of the question, that’s when we brought in the heavy artillery to clean up the rest. This didn’t happen overnight, it took almost a month to get the rest open a while after we had good riding snow but couldn’t get the groomers through. Since, we have encountered a few more mild spells and rain but the trails survived and winter seemed to be coming back then there were a few breakdowns but clubs pushed through and kept up the trails. We managed to get in a few trail side lunches, poker runs and a couple of Snowaramas so then we were amped up to RIDE out the season. Then not more than a month after Family Day weekend we were faced with a different force of nature, one that no one has any control over, COVID-19, and the right decision was made to end the season as a Province. District 13 praises our club volunteers for all their extra hard work this season. We commend the countless hours of other volunteers who wanted to help and local in kind donations of equipment, time, fuel and operators to assist in keeping the costs down where they could. A BIG thank you goes out to our valued partners and sponsors for never letting us down. None of this would be possible without our numerous land owners who share their land for us all to enjoy a great trail system, we can’t thank you enough. A special shout out to all the permit holders that literally keeps us a float. The 2020 sled season will go down in history as the one we will never forget and there have been some bad ones. You will also remember where you were when the all trails went red AT HOME with your family and loved ones. Can’t wait to see you all next year - stay safe and stay home - if we all do our part maybe we can control this MONSTER! See more

With the end of the day, also brings the end of the season, a big thank you to all our supporters and to all the permit holders. Weather you passed through, ... trailered to, or are a Wawa local, we hope you enjoyed riding in our area this year. From all of us here at the Wawa SnoRiders, stay healthy and safe out there and we will see you again next season. See more

Our sentiments exactly!

We have turned our trails yellow till the official closing Saturday night. Another round of heavy snow and continuing high winds have again brought down some brush. Always refer to the OFSC Interactive trail guide for latest trail conditions

We've received a few calls from guests intending to ride here for the last time this season: tomorrow before the bell tolls. We respect the directives to stay socially distanced, but if you are coming, please drop us a message here with the number in your group so that we can assure proper resources are available. Hopefully, it's warm and sunny so that we all can enjoy the outdoors together!