Rooted in Care
How La Belle Cabane in New Brunswick Shapes a Different Kind of Stay
On a quiet slope of forest on New Brunswick's Kingston Peninsula, a new building is taking shape: The Minogin Den.
In Anishinaabemowin, minogin speaks to the idea of growing well together. The space will soon host retreats, workshops, weddings, and community gatherings, but the name captures more than its purpose.
It reflects the heart of La Belle Cabane itself: a forest retreat shaped by intention, rooted in care, and designed as a place where people can reset in the quiet of the woods.
La Belle Cabane began as a simple idea: owners Tasha Robitaille and Cory Belcour left behind their lives in Ontario after the COVID pandemic and settled in New Brunswick with the intention of raising their children closer to nature.
They brought a single cabin kit from Ontario — just one small space meant for themselves — and created a social media account, simply to document their move.
But the forested hillside on their property offered room to imagine something more. Old ATV trails threaded up the slope, and the young trees created a natural canopy that felt both sheltered and wild.
It became the foundation for five off-grid cabins that now sit along the trail. Because they are fully off-grid, the cabins rest in seclusion from each other — some a 4-minute hike up the hillside and others a full 15.
Guests arrive at a small reception space before hiking to their cabin. The check-in process is quiet and intentional. Visitors choose a theme when they book — rest and restore, connect and explore, or create and dream — and the team tailors small moments around that choice.
"We try to be intentional where we can,” Tasha says. “People feel that.”
Each cabin has a wood stove, fire pit, barbecue, and thoughtful amenities that allow guests to travel lightly. But perhaps their most meaningful feature is their names — Wolf, Eagle, Bear, Bison, Turtle — each one tied to ancestral teachings that reflect Métis and Anishinaabe philosophies of balance and care. Both Tasha and Corey come from the Georgian Bay Métis Community.
“I love for things to mean something,” Tasha says. “Meaning brings energy, and I think people feel that when they’re here.”
Fire plays a significant role at La Belle Cabane, both practically and culturally. As a Métis woman and trained doula, Tasha carries stories of fire as ceremony, safety, and community.
“Fire represents life, growth and healing,” she explains.
Guests experience fire as part of their rhythm: warming the cabin, cooking meals, gathering under the stars. Even the scent of woodsmoke becomes part of the memory people take home. "I always smell like woodsmoke," Tasha says with a laugh. "But I love it."
Unique to La Belle Cabane are the private spas hidden in the forest that allow for private moments of wellness.
The forest spa grew from Tasha’s own healing journey. After she and her newborn developed autoimmune conditions, she began researching different kinds of wellness practices, including halotherapy.
“I wanted a salt room for myself,” she laughs, “and then it turned into something much bigger.”
Rather than building a traditional spa building, they designed two private pods (named Beaver and Bigfoot after the remaining two ancestral teachings), tucked discreetly into the forest, each surrounded by tall cedar fencing.
From the outside, guests see only a rustic wooden wall. Inside, a pod opens into a private sanctuary: sauna, cold plunge, hot tub, heated stone bed. Spa guests also have access to the region’s only halotherapy salt room.
As their small business continues to grow with intention and heart, Tasha and Corey are grateful they can be a welcoming space for their community. La Belle Cabane is Rainbow Registered to ensure members of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community feel welcome.
Everything that Tasha and Corey are building here — from the secluded cabins to the hidden spa to the gathering space that will soon open — stems from a shared belief that wellness is not a luxury or an escape. It is the grounding work of slowing down, paying attention, and choosing to care for oneself in meaningful ways.
Manogan Den may be new, but its name already captures the truth of this hillside retreat: growth happens when people — and places — are given the space to grow well together.
And in the quiet forests of New Brunswick, La Belle Cabane is offering exactly that.
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