Ontario's most epic ice skating trail opens in a month

Folks from these parts like to talk about "winter wonderlands" a lot. It helps us cope with the cold, dark truth of living in Canada between October and March.

The Ice Skating Trail at Arrowhead Provincial Park in Muskoka is only one such place in Ontario, but it's the creme de la creme de la snow.

There really isn't a better term to describe the picturesque, tree-lined 1.3 km skating trail. It's not a winter wonderland, it's the winter wonderland – which is why it's so insanely busy now that word of its existence has spread online.

Set to open this year on Dec. 20 (weather permitting), the Arrowhead trail experience is like something straight out of a fairy tale.

Skaters who partake are surrounded by snow-covered evergreen trees on all sides and, at night, the trail is illuminated by hundreds of tiki torches.

These late skating sessions are called "Fire & Ice Nights," which should excite Game of Thrones fans (even though the trail has nothing to do with the George R.R. Martin series.)

Arrowhead is almost a three-hour drive from Toronto, but plenty of people have made the trek specifically to experience the skating trail since it opened in 2012.

We are currently AT CAPACITY until further notice, vehicles are being turned away at the entrance of the Park, sorry for the inconvenience

— Arrowhead Prov Park (@ArroPark) February 19, 2017

"Saturdays are the busiest days for the Ice Skating Trail, and it often reaches capacity," reads the attraction's website. "On the busiest Saturdays wait times into the park have reached up 30 mins, and worst case scenario vehicles have been turned away."

To avoid disappointment, the park recommends you visit midweek or on Sundays.