While The Kawarthas is a well-known summer destination, unique local businesses like Unbounded are helping to ensure the tourist economy thrives year-round by inviting visitors to enjoy thrilling adventures throughout the winter — including cold plunging.
Though it has become trendy in recent years, when Unbounded founder and co-CEO Nick McNaught first founded the business alongside a group of friends, it was before cold plunging was cool.
Then living in Toronto and facing social and mental health challenges during the pandemic, McNaught and his friends were committed to “figuring out how to live a purposeful, stress-managed” life. Over a winter, they spent time at Oak Lake in the Township of Havelock-Belmont-Methuen in Peterborough County, doing cold plunges, using a sauna, building fires, and ultimately connecting with nature, their bodies, and each other.
“At a time when social health, physical health, and mental health was pretty terrible for everyone, we found a lifestyle to really improve all those elements,” says McNaught, who now resides in Bobcaygeon.
Feeling more grounded and centred after that winter, McNaught and his friends wanted to bring the experience to more people and founded Unbounded, a lifestyle brand that has led world-record cold plunges with over 2,000 people at Woodbine Beach in Toronto. Unbounded also leads retreats, cold plunges, mini wellness festivals, and related events, while providing participants with the education behind the benefits of these activities and how they are alternate methods of managing health.
One of the ways this is done is through Cold Camp retreats where participants can stay in their own cabins or chalets and engage in high-end optional programming that could include breathwork, socials, Pilates, yoga, plunges in ice-covered lakes, sound therapy and, of course, outdoor human connection. Visitors come from across Ontario and Canada, as well as the U.S., Europe, and Mexico, to take part in what McNaught calls the “ultimate cold plunge.”
To host the Cold Camps, Unbounded takes over local resorts, providing them with business during the slow or off-season. For the company’s first few years, Unbounded took over The Trace at Oak Lake, a lakeside resort of winterized cottages, to host the retreats. This year, Unbounded is running the retreats out of Dimensions in the Algonquin Highlands, and Wander in Prince Edward County.
To make an even bigger splash in the local economy, Unbounded hosted a pop-up wellness event at LiveWell Strength & Rehabilitation in Bobcaygeon this past summer to introduce members to the benefits of cold water plunging and other experiences.
By bringing guests to the region, Unbounded continues to provide local businesses with increased visibility and new customers from around the world.
“We’re bringing people in to learn more about health and wellness, and also building amazing community through these experiences,” says McNaught.
For more information on Unbounded’s Cold Camps, visit unboundedcoldcamp.com or follow Unbounded on Instagram.
The Local Advantage in Peterborough County is a branded editorial feature series about locally owned independent businesses in Peterborough County, created in partnership with Peterborough County’s Economic Development & Tourism Division.
As part of its response to the impact of U.S. tariffs, Peterborough County is showcasing the many unique businesses located in the county, both by sharing their stories of success and how they support both residents and other businesses in their communities.
Whether by shopping at local businesses, dining at local restaurants, staying at local accommodation, or enjoying local experiences, residents and visitors can enhance the economic resilience of Peterborough County during these challenging times and help establish a sustainable foundation for the future.
For more information about economic development and tourism in Peterborough County, visit www.ptbocounty.ca/ecdev and The Kawarthas Tourism at thekawarthas.ca.
