Snow travel

There are numerous ways to enjoy winter in Newfoundland and Labrador.

One of a number of places you can go to enjoy some snowy activities in central Newfoundland is Rafting Newfoundland, which along with many summer activities, offers snowshoeing and snowmobiling tours during the winter months.

"We have high-end snowshoes here for our clients that they can use if they are staying at our chalets," said Paul Rose of Rafting Newfoundland. "Snowmobiles aren't in-cluded in the snowmobile tour but we are working on rentals."

There are different packages offered at the attraction. The packages offer chalet accommodations for two nights. There are different package for snowshoeing and snowmobiling, de-pending on the client's taste.

For snowshoeing, clients can choose different paths to take while on tour.

"We use the brooks here mostly," Mr. Rose said of the snowshoeing trails. "We hike up Leech Brook for one and Aspen Brook (for another). That's the beauty of snowshoes. You can go pretty well anywhere if some of us would rather not walk up a brook. We don't walk up Leech Brook itself we use the trail, but for Aspen Brook we use a combination of trail and the brook."

There are two different snowmobiling packages - one with a six-hour backcountry tour, the other with a ten-hour backcountry tour.

On the six-hour tour, visitors travel in to and then around Hodges Hills, and up to the Gaff Topsails.

The 10-hour backcountry snowmobile tour is for experienced snowmobilers who can ride for at least eight to nine hours a day. They should also have good riding skills, high quality gear and a dependable snowmobile.

During this tour, snowmobilers visit the Fore top, Main top, Gaff top and the Mizzen top before heading down Mary March Brook into a green valley for a boil-up.

After a day of outdoor fun, visitors can sit back and relax in the outdoor six person saltwater hot tub in front of the chalets.

Mr. Rose is also working on additional activities at Rafting Newfoundland.

"I just got back from Cormack yesterday (Wednesday)," Mr. Rose said. "The lady who does the dog sledding over that way is coming here, hopefully, this week and we're going to see what we can do together for packages in central. So we could have dog sledding here soon. She is coming over next week to size it up for trails and that kind of stuff and sit down and figure out how we can work together."

Mr. Rose added he is also building a groomer and is planning to have groomer trails for cross-country skiing

Mr. Rose said they have been very busy so far this winter.

"There is plenty of snow up this way," he said. "There is a lot more snow here even though we're only 25 kilometres outside of Grand Falls. We did the back of Hodges yesterday (Wednesday) and it's prefect going. The trail going up to the top of Hodges is honestly the best I have ever seen it. Usually the trail is pretty rough with "yes ma'ms" and that, and this year it's perfect."

The Red Ochre Inn in Buchan's also offers winter fun for snowmobilers and cross-country skiers. Guided snow tours are offered on a daily basis and snowmobile rentals are available. Like Rafting Newfoundland, the Red Ochre Inn offers different packages for its clients to enjoy.

For more information on Red Ochre Inn, visit www.redochreinn.com.

For additional information on Rafting Newfoundland, visit www.raftingnewfoundland.com.