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Destinations_WinterCabins_Layout 1 17-12-06 5:02 PM Page 1

Story by Ian Froese
Photos by Matt Goerzen

elanie Granger’s cabin rental venture is a For many more guests, who sometimes travel hours
“hideaway” in more ways than one. to get there, it’s simply a tranquil weekend away,
MChristened as Nature’s Hideaway, she was albeit one experience that might be unexpected.
inspired to name her business based on its shrouded “You read in the very beginning few years, even the
location just outside the Brandon Hills Wildlife last, say, six years, a lot of people will come out and
Management Area. Some 15 minutes from the bustle say, ‘I didn’t even know you existed, it was such a nice
of the city, her guests relish their slice of a peaceful, surprise.’”
natural life, if only for a few days. Granger doesn’t mind the fact that for nearly a
But her romantic getaway spot is, perhaps, a decade her business hasn’t been widely known.
hideaway itself, in how it’s veiled from the public. Outside a social media presence and website, she
Should you drive past the property, it looks nothing doesn’t advertise. Nature’s Hideaway is a secret, in a
more than a farmyard. As such, few in the city are way.
aware of her vacation spot. “When people find out about it and come, they really
“Not a lot of people,” she admits know about it, “but I enjoy it,” she said, as sunlight glistened off a snow-
think we’re becoming more and more known.” covered pond near the cabin. “I have so many people
Granger shares a guest book brimming with who said so and so stayed, they loved it and now we
complimentary notes from guests. She remembers a want to stay here, too.”
couple who held their proposal here, and another who In a former farmyard rests two rustic cabins on a small
tied the knot at the same property. hillside, handcrafted by Granger, her husband and

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