Going back to the wild: guests experience Northern ambiance while staying in yurt.

• Author: Kelly, Lindsay
• Position: SMALL BUSINESS

Nestled in a copse of trees abutting Algonquin Provincial Park, the yurt is in an idyllic setting. Pasture rolling out before it and gentle hills rising behind, for many visitors this past summer, the Buffalo Farm Destination has been a slice of heaven.

"It's very beautiful at any season of the year, and I think, because of this wide open space here and the sky, it's never the same," said owner Stan Gibson, surveying the acreage. "It's constantly changing."

Four years ago, Gibson and his family moved to Northern Ontario from the GTA with a love for the open air and an idea. This past summer, his Mattawa-area farm opened to the public for overnight accommodation in which visitors are immersed in a wholly Northern experience.

For less than $100 a night, visitors can hunker down in the 23-foot yurt--hand-built from wood harvested on the property --along the bank of the Emable du Fond River. Canoeists can launch a cedar-strip canoe, also hand-built, to explore the river and its sand beaches, while land lovers can enjoy the view from the yoga platform, which doubles as an eating area and observation deck.

It's not uncommon to see moose, bears, and deer wandering the property, but those more comfortable with domesticated fauna can interact with any of the 11 rescued horses on site.

Listed on the global accommodations website Airbnb, enthusiastic reviewers have described the site as "magical" and "reenergizing," commending their hosts for their hospitality. Visitors have trekked from across Canada and the U.S. to take in the experience, but a healthy percentage of their clients are European, which was a surprise for Gibson.

"I would say we've had about as many people from Europe as from Canada," he said. "That, I wasn't anticipating. I felt that we could eventually build up a European clientele."

It wasn't a distaste for Toronto that spurred them to move, but the family--comprised of Gibson, his wife Mariam and their three adult children--loves the outdoors, and it had been a long-held dream to own property in a rural area. After deciding on Northern Ontario as their preferred destination, the Gibsons looked sporadically for about a year for their ideal property, centring their search in the New Liskeard area. But disappointment with the lack of available options soon set in.

"I think we...