This Winter, Horseshoe Valley Is Making Room For First-Timers

At 5:30 a.m. on October 17, with the thermometer at minus 2, Mount St. Louis Moonstone posted a reel of its snowmakers at work and a line that sums up the season so far: "Not announcing an Opening Day. That's up to Mother Nature." Up the road, Horseshoe Resort says only that its hills reopen "once the snow flies."

Nobody will put a date on the first chair, but the off-season work is finished and easy to see. Across Oro-Medonte's ski corridor, this year's projects share one target. Moonstone built a learning area. Copeland Forest's volunteers are building signed walking routes for people who don't yet know the trails. Craighurst's four corners are being rebuilt as a main street for households still moving in. The valley is setting itself up for people trying it for the first time.

The first fixed date on the calendar is a holiday weekend

With the snow still unscheduled, the earliest firm date on the local winter calendar belongs to Horseshoe Valley Resort's Holiday Weekend & Market, Friday, November 6 through Sunday, November 8, 2026.

The weekend's most useful pieces suit families and cost little:

• Santa's Holiday Workshop, presented by Curio, runs Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It's free with no registration. Curio Micro School enrichment students host it, and cash donations go to Gift-a-Family.
• Wagon rides leave from the Nordic Centre on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The resort asks guests to drive over or use the pedestrian tunnels under Horseshoe Valley Road. Ticket prices had not been posted at last check.
• The Holiday Vendor Marketplace runs Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with local vendors, handmade goods and seasonal treats.
• Holiday Movie Night is Friday at 7 p.m. in the Alpine Room. It costs $7 per person, popcorn and a small drink included.
• The Holiday Hustle Fun Run starts Saturday at 10 a.m. at the main Copeland Express Chairlift, for a $25 donation.
• The Ugly Sweater Après Party runs Saturday from 8 to 11 p.m. at Crazy Horse. It's free and 19+.

Hands-on workshops fill out the rest of the weekend at prices that add up quickly. Bean to Bar Chocolate and watercolour card making are $35 per person, garland making is $75 per adult, and the charcuterie workshop is $95 per adult. For a local household, the free workshop, the $7 movie and a walk through the market make for an easy weekend.

The workshop also serves as an informal start to the season. Guest Services will be selling winter passes and gift cards during the market, so it's a natural place to ask questions before the hills open.

Moonstone spent its summer on the beginner slope

Mount St. Louis Moonstone's main announcement for Winter 26/27 isn't new expert terrain. It's the Butternut Learning area, served by a new surface lift. The resort calls it a $750,000 investment that will move 1,800 people an hour, with a clear weather dome and LED lighting.

Every one of those features is aimed at someone still learning to ride a surface lift, from the dome and the lights to a capacity meant to keep the learning slope from becoming the slowest line on the hill. The resort's own pitch is that skiers and riders "spend more time on the slopes & less time waiting in line."

The terrain itself was built this past summer. In a staff profile, the resort credited longtime terrain-park builder Chris Connell, who has 30 seasons at the hill, with work on the "newly developed Butternut Beginner terrain."

Hardwood Ski and Bike is aiming at newcomers on Nordic trails in the same way. Its Winter 2026-2027 calendar starts the Trail Shredders youth program on December 5 and 6. Nordikids starts January 2 and 3, the Ski 4 Life adult program on January 2, and Learn to Ski on January 3. Hardwood also lists a Free Trail Pass Night on January 1 from 4 p.m. and the first night of night skiing on January 4.

Copeland Forest is getting signs for people who don't know the trails

The forest between the resorts is getting its own version of a learning area. Copeland Forest Friends Association has been building recommended walking routes with signed "points of interest" starting from the P1, P2 and P4 parking lots. The group plans to have maps and signs installed by next spring. It describes the project as "a great way to introduce new users to the forest" and names wayfinding as a challenge for new users in particular.

The volunteers are also doing their fall maintenance now. The CFFA update lists continued work on wet sections of the "Across the Green Lagoon" trail, a new platform through a wet area on "Low Rider," and wider, thicker tamarack boards on the Swamp Trail platforms.

The association also explains why some trail edges look thicker than they used to. It links heavier trailside growth to extra sunlight reaching the forest floor after the 2025 ice storm damaged trees.

For winter outings, CFFA's snow sports page notes that the groomed ski and snowshoe trails run by Horseshoe Resort require a daily or annual trail pass, while other forest trails are free. The north P2 access off Ingram Road is plowed in winter. Simcoe County's annual closure of County Forest trails to ATVs and off-road motorcycles runs December 1 to May 1.

Craighurst's four corners are building for households still arriving

Craighurst is the slowest example of the pattern and the one that will last longest. Oro-Medonte's 2022 Official Plan treats Horseshoe Valley Road as the hamlet's "main street." It directs growth to the "four corners" at County Roads 22 and 93 and reserves ground floors along that road for street-level retail and office uses.

The households that main street is meant for are only starting to arrive. The Township's 2025 performance report on Craighurst Crossing's wastewater system recorded first occupancy in September 2025 and 21 residential service connections in Phase 1A by year-end 2025. The Township describes the Georgian Communities development as a master-planned community rolled out over 10 years. It says the developer is working through planning permissions for a grocery store, a restaurant and other commercial uses.

Some of the corner's history is giving way to that plan. In March, OrilliaMatters reported that the S.S. No. 4 Craighurst School was slated for demolition to make room for commercial construction on the southeast corner. The school was built in 1886 and was home to Hartley Woodside's pottery studio from 1980 to 2018. The same report said part of the HQ Restaurant and Taphouse building on the corner was also slated for demolition.

In the meantime, the Township's October 21 Business Bulletin says plainly that Craighurst is "open for business" while construction continues on the residential side and work proceeds on a new commercial plaza. The Township's Craighurst directory lists the businesses at the corners today. They include Loobies Restaurant at 2066 Horseshoe Valley Rd W, Craighurst Foodland at 2106 and Dwellings Home Décor at 2093, plus The Whistle Stop Pet Shop at 3571 Penetanguishene Rd. The directory also lists local producers Steamy Kettle Sugar Bush at 3145 Penetanguishene Rd and Diane M. Florals at 3232. No tenant or opening date has been announced for the new plaza, so for now these are the businesses at the four corners.

The winter calendar, in order

These are the dates that are set. Ski-hill openings will follow the snow.

Full details for each are on the Ayers Christmas Tree Farm site, Hardwood's events page and Horseshoe's Christmas Day dinner listing. Butternut doesn't appear on the list because its first day, like the rest of Moonstone's season, depends on the weather.

If you own near the Craighurst corners or along Horseshoe Valley Road and want to know how a new main street and a learning lift down the road could affect your home's value, Tait Realty can show you where your property stands this season. Get Your Instant Home Valuation, and we'll go through the local numbers with you.