Most of my life I've wanted to move North. The time is comming very soon!! So I'm dreaming & researching, from Parry Sound Ont. to Canmore Alberta. I started looking at Kapuskasing & Cochrane ONT. Then I figured there must be one heck of a good reason why everyone goes to Cochrane to snowmobile. Between Cochrane & Hearst there are 17 towns, yet Cochrane is the most popular. The Town of Cochrane website talks constantly about snowmobiling, even in there summer section!!

Do they get more snow, better trails, better snowmobile friendly service, or is it just closer to Toronto?

Just for fun - forget about real life, if you were "outdoor person" looking to live an active outdoor life (snowmobiling, mountain biking, canoeing, etc..) between Kap. & Cochrane, where would you choose to live?

Thanks for entertaining me!

either way kap or cochrane is a good choice,most the trails in the north are very good,fast and wide,i love skidooing in the cochrane area,i dont fish or hunt but if you love the outdoors there are so many lakes within 2 hour drive,the town is snowmobile friendly,there is only the odd place where you cant go on a sled,if your ever in the area id be more than happy to take you on a ride,i like powder riding,regor hunts and fishes he can explain that part better than me,same with rmk911 hes a big time poacher...i mean hunter,and traps and fishes,its a small town but most know each other and always welcome a new face

I'm from Cochrane born and raised. Any of the towns you mentioned are equally inviting to the outdoor enthousiast. Mostly we share the same great stuff. Cochrane is somewhat central to the region making accessing several trail systems possible. However our population is only 4500 and apart from snowmobilling, hunting,fishing, and tourism in general, local buisness lacks a bit so we do a lot of shopping in bigger towns wich are an hour or so away. Such as Timmins, Kapuskasing, and northern Quebec towns like Rouyn Noranda. :)

ZRT, what do you do for a living? You may want to do a bit of research on the job end of it.

Alberta would be a great place to move to, but I'm not walking away from 22 years of service.

I am goona go ride for the first time this year in the cochrane area with team renagade ! Must be a really nice place cause they have been dreaming of it all summer ! Maybe you can join us on the ride and get to learn the place a bit !

Should look into the Bracebridge & Huntsville area.Cochrane not that far from here and you are not far from other biger towns or citys. Eg- Barrie 1 hr Toronto 2 Hr. just make sure you look into it well. :thumbsup:

You really cannot beat the north. I am from Kirkland Lake, and ride in all of the mentioned northern areas. I enjoy the early winters and the late springs. We always have plenty of snow coverage and the trails are awesome.

Thanks for the replies!

Revrnd- I'm self employed - landscaping), Business is up for sale, I'm currently 25 & know that I belong up north, somewhere. So I've got a bit of freedom, & would rather try & fail, than not try at all. But as I said, right now, I'm just dreaming & researching, but more dreaming....

Need to move somewhere that has lots of snow!

I envy your ambition to up and move.
Do it now, or you never will, and will always be asking what if?

Good luck.

Thats where the ambition comes from Fish Hog. Don't want to wake up 40 years from now & say I wasted my life!

AMEN to that one!!! It took relocating for me to get out of a seemingly endless string of problems. Even though the direction was the wrong way, moving to TX was one of the best moves I've ever made. Now though, the time is coming for that move north as well. I can feel it in every bone in my body. It is alot of what I'm doing now with the heavy OT at work. There is certain "baggage" that I'm simply not willing to carry along.

I love the mountains, and miss being in them tremendously. I never thought that I would miss winter like I do now. :(

Cochrane is the best place for riding because you have a choice of 2 different riding styles in one place. You have the most amazing trails and the powder opportunities are endless. The best of both worlds.

You should try Sudbury

Lots of Lakes(140 withing 20-30 minutes from town)

Great fishing and hunting here too(brother caught a 13.8LBS Pickerel and a 15.6LBS pickerel over the summer here:D

Trails here are great :D

Lake riding usually starts late november:D usually 6+inches by then (last year was exception)

Good amount of snow too

riding offtrail in sudbury can hurt :p lots of rocks

My wife had a question ? Does Cochrane have a Tim Hortons ?? lol
I told her I did not know it was 3 years since I was there and she was with me .
As for moving north I was preparing to move and fulfill my life's dream 20 years ago , being young and adventurous . I had a person talk me out of it and I have regretted it ever since . Sure life has been great here with having the same job now for over 20 years and a good home life but I can't help but wonder where I would be now if I had moved north. Well I guess I’ll never know.
The good news is we have one kid off to college ( in the north where else ) and the other is 15 , maybe in a few years me and the mrs. will have a chance at moving north after all . Not sure just exactly where yet though..........

Indysks Cochrane has a Timmy's. The red truck is in the timmy's parking lot.
Closest picture I have ,lol.

Five years ago last MAy we did the BIG move up north and will never move back.

I think theres a Tim's there??? NOt sure...But if not that would be a hell of a bussiness to open there, Lots of tourists and truckers that pass through.
It's also a great place for "RIBS" I thinks it's called RJ's BBQ or something like that..Great food and hot waitress.

Originally posted by PANTERAONE@Oct 20 2002, 09:19 AM
riding offtrail in sudbury can hurt :p lots of rocks


LOL hope you are joking :D

Off trail riding is what I love and there is not many rocks ;)

Man some people think Sudbury is all rock :withstupid:

Try riding here and see for yourself

:D :p

i guess i shouldnt assume..lol,i went to college in sudbury,i never had a chance to sled off trail there,but driving into the city all i see is rock :p

Originally posted by PANTERAONE@Oct 20 2002, 08:40 PM
i guess i shouldnt assume..lol,i went to college in sudbury,i never had a chance to sled off trail there,but driving into the city all i see is rock :p
LOL

Have you ever been to the Valley ie:

Chelmsford/Hanmer/Capreol/Whitefish/Levack?

Yes inside the city its pretty rocky but drive 10 minutes west/south/north and the landscape is much diferent :p

You should all try to ride around here we have over 1500km of groomed trails and tons off trail riding :hallo3: :D

BTW The Tim Hortons in Chelmsford is right on the main trail with a Harvey's too McD's also bout 2 minutes away off main trail

Also a Tims right on the main trail in Azilda

Must be 'bout 15+ Tim's around here :D

Hey we also have SLOTS if you like to gamble with sled parking too boot :p

maybe one day ill make it to sudbury,im always up for new territory :p