"Gateway To The Arctic" 4-Day Tour to Northern Ontario. Waaaaaaay north!
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Tour Dates4-Day Tour
Aug 27-Aug 30, 2022 $99 deposit to reserve your seat. Deposit is fully refundable if you cancel for any reason by June 24, 2022. Full payment is due June 24, 2022, sorry, no refunds after that date.
If this tour is cancelled due to government imposed lockdowns or other travel restrictions, full refunds will be processed automatically regardless of how much time is left before the scheduled tour departure date. PriceAll prices are per person, in Canadian dollars. All taxes and tips are included!
What do the words Double, Triple, Quad & Single mean? Click here for an explanation.
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Image courtesy of Moose Cree First Nation
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Image courtesy of Moose Cree First Nation
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Experience a unique summer adventure and a destination that is totally off the beaten track. Moosonee, one of the northernmost communities in Ontario, is only 12km from the southern end of James Bay. Yes, that James Bay! The one you may heard about when studying geography of Canada's arctic!
Moosonee is inaccessible by road. The only practical options to get there are either flying or taking the Ontario Northland Polar Bear Express train. There is the third risk-laden alternative of a drive on the ice road during the winter months but calling it a "road" is a bit of a stretch so we won't be attempting to use that route. :-)
On this summer tour will be using a combination of bus and train and boat. Our deluxe highway motorcoach bus will drive us from Toronto to Cochrane. The Polar Bear Express train will take us from Cochrane to Moosonee. And we will use water taxis to reach Moose Factory Island.
Moosonee is inaccessible by road. The only practical options to get there are either flying or taking the Ontario Northland Polar Bear Express train. There is the third risk-laden alternative of a drive on the ice road during the winter months but calling it a "road" is a bit of a stretch so we won't be attempting to use that route. :-)
On this summer tour will be using a combination of bus and train and boat. Our deluxe highway motorcoach bus will drive us from Toronto to Cochrane. The Polar Bear Express train will take us from Cochrane to Moosonee. And we will use water taxis to reach Moose Factory Island.
Image courtesy Polar Bear Habitat, Cochrane, ON
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Image courtesy Wikipedia, By P199 - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7815214
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If you decide to join us on this trip what you will get is some unique experiences like the visit to the birthplace of the Hudson's Bay Company and their fur trading post that was established in 1673 along with the church, the adjoining cemetery and the staff house that was built for HBC employees. You will learn all about polar bears and see the polar bears at the Polar Bear Habitat. And you will get a chance to do some guided hikes in one of the spectacular provincial parks of Northern Ontario.
PLEASE NOTE! This is not a typical sightseeing tour. If you prefer a tour that has 4 or 5 star hotels, a decent choice of restaurants, gourmet cuisine, shows, boat cruises etc. then this is not the tour for you; we have many other tours that include those activities. This tour will instead acquaint you to what life is like in Canada's very distant settlements.
The "Polar Bear Express" train ride from Cochrane to Moosonee is not a tourist train, it is a vital commuter and supply link for northern communities. Although the seats are comfortable and there are washrooms, the train is lacking in almost all other amenities; for example there is no dining car, no snack counter, no WiFi, it takes 5 hours to get to Moosonee and all you see is mainly mile after mile of boreal forest and scrubland. The name of the train is also a bit misleading -- there are no polar bears along the route -- but you will see lots of trees, some bridges and if you're lucky, some wildlife.
We return to Cochrane on the same train on the same day so it's a long day with 10 hours on the train and lots of sitting. Boxed meals are included in this tour that you will enjoy at your seat. The word "adventure" describes this tour and we hope you will embrace your sense of adventure and join us on this unique tour!
The "Polar Bear Express" train ride from Cochrane to Moosonee is not a tourist train, it is a vital commuter and supply link for northern communities. Although the seats are comfortable and there are washrooms, the train is lacking in almost all other amenities; for example there is no dining car, no snack counter, no WiFi, it takes 5 hours to get to Moosonee and all you see is mainly mile after mile of boreal forest and scrubland. The name of the train is also a bit misleading -- there are no polar bears along the route -- but you will see lots of trees, some bridges and if you're lucky, some wildlife.
We return to Cochrane on the same train on the same day so it's a long day with 10 hours on the train and lots of sitting. Boxed meals are included in this tour that you will enjoy at your seat. The word "adventure" describes this tour and we hope you will embrace your sense of adventure and join us on this unique tour!
Inclusions
- Round trip transportation on deluxe highway coach with a washroom.
- One Ontario Northland "Polar Bear Express" round-trip train ticket from Cochrane to Moosonee and back included.
- Admission, guided tour and presentations at Polar Bear Habitat included.
- Water taxi ride to Moose Factory island included.
- Admission to Kettle Lakes Provincial Park and guided hikes with field naturalists included.
- 3 nights hotel accommodation included.
- 3 breakfasts included.
- 1 boxed lunch on the train included.
- Escorted tour with ShortTrips.ca tour director available during tour.
- All tips & taxes included.
Exclusions
- Lunches & dinners except for the boxed lunch on the train which is included as part of the tour.
- Any shopping that you do.
Pickup Locations
- 8:00 AM - Mississauga Carpool Lot, Hwy 401 & Hurontario
- 8:30 AM - York Mills Station, Toronto
- 9:00 AM - Vaughan Carpool Lot
- 9:40 AM - Innisfil Beach Rd Carpool Lot
Additional pickup locations available north of Toronto on request.
Approximate Return Times On Last Day
- Vaughan 7:20 PM
- York Mills 7:55 PM
- Mississauga 8:40 PM
Deposits, Payments, Cancellations & Refunds
- $99 deposit required to reserve your seats. Deposit is fully refundable if you cancel for any reason by June 24, 2022.
- Final payment is due by June 24, 2022. Reminder emails will be sent a few days before due date. Final payments are not refundable once paid.
- If the tour has to be cancelled due to travel restrictions or government shutdowns, a full & prompt refund will be done regardless of how many days are left before departure.
Travelling With Children
- Children 12+ are welcome on this trip. Price for children is same as adults.
Note: At this time Ontario Northland has not released its summer train schedule and neither has the ferry to Moose Factory island. In summer both services are daily but depending on the situation due to COVID the schedules may be impacted forcing us to change our tour dates. Although this is not likely we did want to forewarn you. If we end up changing the tour dates you will of have the option to switch to the new dates or cancel and get a full refund. This notice will be removed once we have confirmation of schedules and tickets.
