Ontario's New Goat Walks Will Let You Stroll Through A Forest With Phoebe, Monica, & Rachel

Sometimes, all you need is nature, trails and adorable animals, and you can find all three at this new spot outside of Toronto.

Muskoka Goat Away, located in Huntsville, is a goat-walking experience that opened during Thanksgiving of 2021.

The venue lets you take goats for a stroll along forested trails, and the whole thing started after the owner Stephanie Brooks lost her job due to the pandemic.

What inspired you to start a goat-walking business?

"Two years ago in February, I bought a little Nigerian dwarf goat," Brooks tells Narcity. "I used to walk him with my dog on a leash. I was bringing Trouble [the goat] to work with me at Stoneleigh Farms, so during the day he was hanging out with all the critters."

"When I lost my job at Christmas time, [during] that big lockdown last year, I had to bring Trouble home, but then I panicked because they're herd animals."

"So I went and bought some more goats, but Trouble loved walking with the dog, so I figured, well, why not walk all the goats all the time."

Brooks didn't consider creating a business until one fateful day when she was out walking her goats.

"I walk on the Morgan House Bed and Breakfast here on Morgan's Road, and so the kids and I were walking one day with the goats and this lady stopped and asked if I had a business card and I'm like, 'I don't have one.'"

"So then I was talking to Pam at the Morgan House, and she's like, 'Do it!'" Brooks explains, adding that she still didn't think much of the idea. "The next day she calls me and she's like, 'I have four goat walkers here'. I grabbed my goats. I didn't even know where I was going. I was just winging it."

After starting an Instagram page, Brooks says the response has been "insane." She has been "fully booked" with people wanting to take her adorable goats on a walk.

What is the experience like?

"We walk the goats on the Morgan House Bed and Breakfast wooded farm trails. It's a winding trail through the woods, we go around two ponds."

"People get to pet them, and cuddle them, and take lots of pictures. It's really nice to hear laughing people again," she says. "Even if it's for that one hour, you forget everything that's going on around you because you're so entailed in these little goats."

On Tuesday nights, you can even take the goats along the glowing trail at the Eclipse Walk With Light.

At the end of January, three new baby goats named Monica, Phoebe and Rachel will be joining the herd. According to Brooks, these goats should be trained and ready to walk along the trails by the end of February.

You can book the experience over the phone or by email. Weekends fill up fast, so it's a good idea to plan ahead.

Before you get going, check our Responsible Travel Guide so you can be informed, be safe, be smart, and most of all, be respectful on your adventure.

In Ontario, a vaccine passport is required to access some events, services and businesses, including restaurants and bars.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.