27-07-2025
‘Multitudes of activities': Halton Outdoor Club will keep you active in August with these events
Halton Outdoor Club provides a variety of year-round programs and trips. Club
volunteers lead cycling, hiking and paddling adventures
throughout the region and across Ontario.
With August approaching, the club offers a full month of outdoor activities — in Burlington's backyard and further afield.
Sue Mansfield, the club's director of marketing and communications, said they welcome adults of all abilities to join, meet new people, be active outdoors in several noncompetitive sports and have fun.
'There are opportunities to volunteer, learn, grow and connect year-round,' Mansfield said. 'On average, we are a group of over 500 members every year, who participate in multitudes of activities.'
Over its last fiscal year, the club delivered more than 400 events, supported by 81 trained volunteers. Winter programs including cross-country skiing and snowshoeing.
'This not-for-profit, primarily volunteer-run organization mainly serves members from the Golden Horseshoe, where many activities originate, but we also plan and enjoy active travel activities in many international locations,' Mansfield said.
The
Halton Outdoor Club website's events calendar
offers detailed summaries for all trips, with contact information, difficulty levels, reservation deadlines and more. Visit the website for information, and updates, on all upcoming cycling, paddling and hiking trips.
Sue Dane, the club's cycling director, noted a five-day cycling tour is planned in August in and around Ottawa and Gatineau, featuring the scenic Almonte rail trail route through the Ottawa Valley.
On top of new multi-day cycling adventures, the club's cycling calendar is built on a foundation of popular weekly rides — including Friday night trail rides in Oakville.
The weekly area rides feature 'scenic local rail trail routes, and quiet rural roads all within about an hour's drive of Halton,' Dane said. 'Rides are offered at three different skill levels, and we take pride in creating a cycling community that prioritizes safety, inclusivity, and the joy of riding together in a friendly, non-competitive environment.'
Hiking is a year-round activity for Halton Outdoor Club, with several local hikes a week.
The club has at least twenty active volunteer hike leaders who allow the club to offer hikes of varying distance and difficulty, in a variety of locations. They explore Burlington routes on the Bruce Trail, Conservation Areas, the Royal Botanical Gardens and the waterfront.
Planning is underway for a series of fall hikes called 'The Lookout Series.' Each hike will include a destination that captures an escarpment lookout.
Paddling trips are among the highlights of Halton Outdoor Club's August schedule.
Paul Leppik, the club's co-director of paddling, said day paddles continue in August and multiday trips 'ramp up to a more challenging level with back country visits to Philip Edward Island, Lake Opeongo, Achary and Barron Canyon, and the Mink and McCoy islands.'
Leppik said lodge-based adventure trips have been added in the last couple of years.
'We are so fortunate to have the support of so many club members who have stepped up to lead these adventures, and pride ourselves on our attention to safety and inclusivity,' Leppik said. 'In my experience since joining this club, I have seen so many new friendships develop and flourish, as we truly are one big extended family of like minded folks.'
