“Up North is a certain way the wind feels on your face and the way an old wool shirt feels on your back. It’s the peace that comes over you when you sit down to read one of your old trip journals, or the anticipation that bubbles inside when you start sorting through your tackle box in the early spring.

Up north is the sound of pots clinking across the lake. It’s a raindrop clinging to a pine needle and the dancing light of a campfire on the faces of friends.

Up north is a lone set of cross-country ski tracks across a wilderness lake and wood smoke rising from a cabin chimney. It’s bunchberries in June, blueberries in July and wild rice in September.

Each of us has an up north. It’s a time and place far from the here and now. It’s a map on the wall, a dream in the making, a tugging at one’s soul. For those who feel the tug, who make the dream happen, who put the map in the packsack and go, the world is never quite the same again.

We have been Up North. And part of us always will be.”

-Sam Cook as quoted from his book “Up North."

What Sam Cook is so eloquently explaining in this short excerpt is that “Up North” is as much a state of mind as a geographical area. We all have an inner desire to head “Up North” and experience the pleasures that the various seasons offer in the remote wilderness.

Exploration is the driving force behind humankind.  We have been exploring since the beginning of time.

Exploration and “Up North” go hand in hand. Exploring is to travel through the unknown to learn or discover new areas and new information. Everything we know today has been the result of explorers who have gone before us.

Real exploration cannot be experienced second hand through a cell phone or television screen, it must be experienced first-hand. The great explorers of history knew this and it remains the same today.

This is why observing the experiences of others on social media only creates a greater yearning for your own exploration.

There are many good reasons to continue to explore the outdoors throughout your life. All kinds of studies have been published on why more time in nature is important but at the end of the day, we explore the outdoors not because science says it does something healthy to us, but because of how it makes us feel.

Sunset Country Ontario would meet even the most experienced explorer’s definition of “Up North”.

With no major metropolitan areas in the region and vast wilderness between communities, you’ll be left in awe of the beautiful Canadian Shield landscape.

The ease of access for Manitoba and American guests to this untouched part of the country makes it a favourite getaway for groups from these areas.

Sunset Country is located in Northwestern Ontario and has all the ingredients required to satisfy your desire for outdoor exploration: hiking, mountain biking, camping, swimming, canoeing, boating and of course fishing & hunting are all available.

This is the land of 100,000 freshwater lakes and rivers. It is perfect for viewing wildlife as you canoe or boat for miles upon miles across rivers and lakes and appreciate Canada's wilderness beauty.

The area is known throughout North America as Canada's premier fishing destination with fish populations in great numbers and size. All in all, Sunset Country is a must visit for any lover of wilderness, adventure, nature and especially fishing & hunting.

If you ignore your inner need to explore its not going to go away. Choosing to ignore your yearning for time “Up North” will not eliminate the need for this experience.

What most people do with the desire to get out and explore is stuff it down and tell themselves that the expense can’t be justified or their time is better spent taking care of some never-ending responsibility.

Luckily, you’re not like everyone else and realize that the more time you spend on the activities that ignite your soul, the more energy you have for these “responsibilities” when you return.

If you’re wondering if its too late to come explore our particular area of Sunset Country this summer it’s not.

We’d love for you to come explore our area of the world and hopefully we can become your “Up North”.