Searching for the best Santa experience near Toronto? This Christmas, trade the shopping mall lineup for a journey through a real Christmas tree farm, a ride aboard the Santa Express and a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus inside their cozy cabin in the woods.
Searching for the best Santa experience near Toronto? This Christmas, trade the shopping mall lineup for a journey through a real Christmas tree farm, a ride aboard the Santa Express and a visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus inside their cozy cabin in the woods.Located just north of Hillsburgh in the Town of Erin, Elliott Tree Farm is within an hour of Toronto and the GTA, offering families an authentic countryside Christmas experience that has been rooted in tradition since 1983.
And for five special weekends this Christmas, The Santa’s Cabin Experience makes a day at the farm even more magical.
This Isn’t Just a Santa Photo. It’s a Christmas Experience.
For many families, visiting Santa is one of those childhood traditions that only lasts for so many years.
That’s why we wanted the journey to Santa’s Cabin to feel just as memorable as the visit itself.
Your experience begins at Elliott Tree Farm, surrounded by Christmas tree plantations and the sights, scents and traditions of the holiday season. Then climb aboard The Santa Express, weather permitting, for a festive ride through Santa’s Enchanted Forest on your way to the cabin.
If the Santa Express is unable to operate because of weather conditions, families can enjoy the trail through the Enchanted Forest on foot instead.
At the end of the journey, Santa and Mrs. Claus are waiting inside Santa’s Cabin.
Bring along your Christmas wish list, say hello to Santa and Mrs. Claus and take your own family photos using your phone or camera. Children will also receive an Elliott Tree Farm maple lollipop from Santa.
It’s simple, nostalgic and centred around spending time together.
Exactly what a Christmas tradition should be.
What’s Included in The Santa’s Cabin Experience?
What’s Included in The Santa’s Cabin Experience?Your visit includes much more than your time inside Santa’s Cabin.
Families can enjoy:
- Complimentary parking and no additional farm entrance fee
- An Elliott Tree Farm maple syrup tasting flight
- A ride aboard The Santa Express, weather permitting
- A journey through Santa’s Enchanted Forest
- A visit with Santa and Mrs. Claus
- The opportunity to bring your Christmas wish list
- A maple lollipop for children
- Your own family photos with Santa and Mrs. Claus
- Photos with the Elf Mobile
- Photos beside Santa’s vintage airplane
- Vintage tractors and Christmas photo locations around the farm
- A Christmas bonfire
- Shopping in the Heritage Gift Barn
- Access to the Maple Syrup Museum of Ontario
- Hot drinks and food available from the Horse Barn Canteen
- A chance to explore an authentic Christmas tree and maple syrup farm
And yes, dogs are welcome on a leash, so four-legged family members can be part of your Christmas tradition too.
See Santa’s Airplane, Straight From the North Pole
One of the most unique Christmas photo stops at Elliott Tree Farm may be something you don’t expect to see parked at a Christmas tree farm.
The vintage 1947 Cessna 120, recently retired from the North Pole, is now at Elliott Tree Farm where families can stop for a one-of-a-kind Christmas photo.
You can also find the Elf Mobile, which Santa’s elves use to help move toys between the workshop and the sleigh.
They’re just two of the unusual photo opportunities families can discover while exploring the farm.
Buying Your Christmas Tree? Your Family Visits Santa for Free!
Buying Your Christmas Tree? Your Family Visits Santa for Free!Here’s where The Santa’s Cabin Experience becomes especially different from many Santa experiences near Toronto.
When you purchase a fresh-cut or cut-your-own Christmas tree at Elliott Tree Farm, you receive a complimentary Golden Ticket for up to five people to experience Santa’s Cabin.
There is no need to purchase a separate Santa ticket or reserve a scheduled time.
Golden Ticket access is available to Christmas tree purchasers for five weekends from November 14 through December 13, 2026, from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
One Christmas tree. One Golden Ticket. Up to five people.
It means visiting Santa can become part of the tradition of choosing your family Christmas tree rather than another separate holiday outing.
Start With the Search for the Perfect Christmas Tree
Make a day of it.
Before or after visiting Santa, wander through Elliott Tree Farm’s cut-your-own Christmas tree plantations and choose the tree that feels just right for your family.
Prefer a fresh-cut tree?
Visit the Fieldstone Christmas Tree Cellar, where fresh-cut Fraser Fir and Balsam Fir Christmas trees are displayed fully open rather than pre-baled. This allows you to walk around the trees, see their natural shape and choose your favourite before it is wrapped to take home.
Elliott Tree Farm harvests fresh-cut trees in batches throughout the season to help preserve their freshness.
There is no general entrance fee, no parking fee and no reservation required for the Christmas Tree Experience.
Not Buying a Christmas Tree? You Can Still Visit Santa’s Cabin.
You don’t have to purchase a Christmas tree to experience Santa’s Cabin in 2026.
For the first time, a limited number of advance tickets are available on three select weekends:
November 14 & 15
November 21 & 22
December 12 & 13
Ticketed visits run from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, with scheduled arrival times available throughout the day. Tickets must be purchased online in advance and availability is limited.
Individual admission is $25 per person, with a Family Bundle available for up to five people. Children ages two and under are free.
BOOK THE SANTA’S CABIN EXPERIENCE
Warm Up With Hot Chocolate and Something to Eat
Warm Up With Hot Chocolate and Something to EatChristmas adventures tend to work up an appetite.
Head into the heated Horse Barn Canteen to warm up with hot drinks and something to eat before continuing your day on the farm. Then gather around the outdoor Christmas bonfire and enjoy a few slower moments together.
You can also stop inside the Heritage Gift Barn to shop Elliott Tree Farm maple products and Christmas gifts, including pure Ontario maple syrup produced right here at the farm.
Elliott Tree Farm’s Golden Harvest maple syrup was named one of the Top 20 Maple Syrups in the World by TasteAtlas in 2025.
A bottle of maple syrup also happens to fit pretty nicely under a Christmas tree.
Step Into a Real Christmas Movie Setting
Step Into a Real Christmas Movie SettingIf parts of Elliott Tree Farm look like they belong in a Christmas movie, there’s a reason.
The farm was transformed into the fictional Knotty Pines Christmas Tree Farm for the Netflix Christmas movie A Merry Little Ex-Mas.
That means your Christmas visit gives you the opportunity to walk through some of the same farm setting seen on screen while creating a few Christmas movie moments of your own.
No movie set required. This is the real farm.
A Santa Experience Near Toronto That Can Become a Family Tradition
There are plenty of places to take a photo with Santa around the GTA.
Plan Your 2026 Santa’s Cabin Experience
The Santa’s Cabin Experience
📍 Elliott Tree Farm, Hillsburgh, Ontario
🎅 Weekends November 14 to December 13, 2026
🕙 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Purchasing a Christmas tree?
Receive a complimentary Golden Ticket for up to five people. No Santa reservation required.
Not purchasing a Christmas tree?
Advance tickets are available in limited quantities for November 14 & 15, November 21 & 22 and December 12 & 13.
Make Elliott Tree Farm Part of Your Christmas Tradition
Elliott Tree Farm’s Christmas Tree Experience is open daily from November 14 through December 23, 2026, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, with cut-your-own plantations closing at 4:00 PM.
Your family’s next Christmas tradition might be waiting just an hour from Toronto at Elliott Tree Farm.
