University Of Toronto
Outing Club
Doing It Outside Since 1957.
Who We Are
The University of Toronto Outing Club (UTOC) is a not-for-profit, non university-affiliated organization founded in 1957 by U of T students. Since our incorporation, we have expanded our membership and mandate to be as accessible and welcoming as possible to all outdoor enthusiasts from the Greater Toronto Area and Grey-Bruce County community, in addition to U of T students, alumni, and staff.
“One of our core principles is to run trips and activities for people with any level of outdoor experience in an effort to make them enjoyable and accessible to everyone. ”
We pride ourselves in being a friendly, welcoming community offering frequent, inexpensive weekend and day trips to many parts of Ontario (and sometimes beyond), with longer trips involving camping and hiking in provincial/national parks. Our most popular weekend trips are the group excursions to the cabin (located near the Georgian Bay - learn more in the next section), with trip sizes varying from 5-6 people to our occasional large trips of 30-35. The club also organizes regular social events within the city of Toronto for members and non-members alike, such as our monthly pub social.
UTOC mandates to protect the ecological and historical significance of the natural areas surrounding our cabin of Grey-Bruce County by promoting conservation, maintaining the ski and hiking trails surrounding our property, as well as having founded the Kolapore Wilderness Trails Association.
Everyone and anyone that is a club member can organize an event or run a trip (See our Q&A section below for more information). Popular past trips have included:
The annual Gourmet Cabin Weekend
Manitoulin Island and Killarney Provincial Park camping roadtrip
Day hikes in Toronto to the Leslie Spit, Rouge Park, Scarborough Bluffs, or the Humber River Valley
The annual bruce peninsula backpacking trip
We look forward to seeing you on one of our trips soon!
Equity Statement
At the University of Toronto Outing Club (UTOC), we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to experience and enjoy the outdoors. That's why we offer trips for all levels of outdoor experience, from beginner to advanced. Our trips range from short hikes and movie screenings about the outdoors to week-long camping trips and weekend cabin trips.
We strive to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all, and are always working on improving our cabin to make it as accessible as possible. While this has its own challenges, we welcome ideas from our members on how to make this a reality.
We are committed to promoting equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in all our outdoor activities. We celebrate and welcome differences in identities, backgrounds, and perspectives. We work to remove physical and cultural barriers to accessibility and provide accommodations to support the diverse needs of our community. We welcome everyone to join us in this mission - and if you’d like to be a more active member in this work, we welcome you to join our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion committee by emailing equity@utoc.ca.
Our Cabin
Our prized possession is our cabin in the woods, located just southwest of Collingwood, ON. The Cabin is owned and operated by our club, and was built by club members in 1968. It is located directly on the Bruce Trail, at the base of Metcalfe Rock, a gem on the escarpment (a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve) boasting the province's best rock-climbing routes, explorable fissures and caves, and unbeatable views over Grey County. The Cabin is used to host a variety of club events, trips, and excursion weekends. Popular activities at the cabin include cross-country skiing on the over 45km of trails leading right away from the cabin's doorstep, mountain biking, hiking, caving, rock climbing, swimming, and canoeing.
The cabin has no electricity, instead being lit by propane and solar lamps, and heated by a wood-burning oven for that extra cozy feel. It also has no running water - instead we get our water from a stream we have deeded access to, that we have tapped into directly from the depths of Metcalfe Rock.
Every user of the cabin is charged rent to cover basics costs. . Rates for club trips (sent out via the mailing list) are listed here. It costs us about $8000 a year to just to keep the cabin open (not including any repairs or upgrades), for our property insurance, property tax, propane, firewood, and snow clearing. Just by paying your share you’re helping us keep the cabin open and to be enjoyed not only for you but for years to come.
We also rent out our cabin privately both to members and occasionally members of the general public.
Pictures of the inside can be found here.
More details about staying at our cabin can be found in the Stay at our Cabin page.
Land Acknowledgement
The University of Toronto Outing Club (UTOC) was founded in 1957 by U of T students. Since our incorporation, our mandate has been to make outdoor recreation as accessible as possible, especially to enthusiasts from the Greater Toronto Area and Grey-Bruce County communities, in addition to U of T students, staff, and alumni.
We wish to acknowledge the land on which the University of Toronto operates. For thousands of years, it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. We would also like to acknowledge the land near Metcalfe Rock on which our cabin resides. For thousands of years, it has been the traditional land of the Haudenosaunee, Iroquois, Ojibway, Chippewa, and Anishinabek. Today, these lands are still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island. As an organization of largely settlers, we are grateful for the opportunity to operate on these lands and thank the people who have been the stewards of these lands for generations.
We acknowledge the central role that land plays in Indigenous peoples’ ways of being, creating, knowing, and living. Settler colonialism continues to disrupt and devalue these diverse knowledge systems and ways of life. Land acknowledgements like this one often serve only to allow settler culture to continue existing as it has for generations, without encouraging us to take the material actions required to support Indigenous peoples.
If anyone has any questions or suggestions for how UTOC’s might take more action to honour this acknowledgement, please reach out to us at equity@utoc.ca.
Gear Library
We are once again running our gear rental program! UTOC members and any other outdoor enthusiasts in the GTA are welcome to rent our affordable gear!
Our gear library is located within the U of T Clubhouse building, at 21 Sussex Ave, Room 422. For any other inquiries (long-term rentals, donations, etc.), please email equipment@utoc.ca.
Rentals will be available on a first-come first severe basis for the week prior to a trip. We do not make gear reservations ahead of trips to ensure a fair opportunity for all who use this program.
To rent gear, please book an appointment during office hours.
To return gear, please come to an office hour listed below (no appointment needed)
| Tuesdays | 4:30 - 5:30 p.m. ET |
| Wednesdays | 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. ET |
| Thursdays | 2:00 - 3:00 & 3:30 - 4:30 p.m. ET |
Please check our calendar or the link below for the most up to date time slots as they may shift week to week
We would like to thank the generous folks at MEC Outdoor Nation and MEC Toronto for donating outdoor equipment to us and helping kickstart this initiative. Also special thanks to UTOC executives Micheal Chahley and Jimmy Truong who have championed this initiative from the start.
Join UTOC & Get a Membership
Becoming a member means you will:
Be added to our email list, which is how we announce all our upcoming trips and activities
Be entitled to vote during our elections and meetings of members
Receive a discount on things like gear rentals, cabin fees, and private rentals of the cabin.
Be added to our discord server
Membership types:
Adult/Alumni Membership - $40 - Open to anyone.
Student Membership - $25 - Only for current students of any post-secondary school.
A membership can be purchased at any time and lasts one full year from the date of purchase. We accept Paypal, Credit & Debit. Simply complete the form below, once that's done, you'll be added to our members’ database and mailing list.
*Memberships are non-refundable
If you have any questions email us at secretary@utoc.ca!
