Freestall-housed dairy cows, when given the option during the summer, have a strong preference to access pasture during the night but remain indoors for the majority of the day. Given that pasture access is not feasible for all farms or in all seasons, there is merit to investigate alternative forms of outdoor access. This study tested the preference of freestall-housed dairy cows to access an outdoor deep-bedded bark mulch pack (versus remaining inside the barn) in summer and winter. For both seasons, 72 lactating pregnant cows were assigned to 6 groups of 12 animals. Groups were formed and allowed to stabilize for 5 d, followed by 2 d of baseline recording to assess location and feeding behavior. Habituation to the outdoor pack took place for the next 2 d during which the cows were moved outside at 5 set times each day (if cows were not already outdoors). Cows were then provided free choice access to the outdoor pack continuously for 5 d (Choice phase). During the Choice phase, the location of each cow (i.e., in the free-stall pen or the outdoor pack) was noted using 5-min scan sampling. Data were analyzed using a mixed model with group treated as the experimental unit. Cows spent a mean (±SE; min - max) of 21.7% (±4.6; 9.0 – 37.0) of the time outside in summer and 11.1% (±6.1; 0.1 – 33.4) in winter. Time spent in the outdoor pack was higher during the night (i.e., between 20:00 and 07:00 h) than during the day (between 07:00 h and 20:00 h), both in the summer (day: 3.3% ± 1.5; 0.8 – 9.2 vs. night: 43.6% ± 9.1; 19.0 – 72.1) and the winter (day: 6.1% ± 3.6; 0.3 – 23.2 vs. night: 17.0% ± 9.6; 0 – 49.0). Total daily time spent feeding indoors did not differ between the Baseline and Choice phases for both the summer and winter. In summary, cows displayed a partial preference to be outside on a bark mulch pack when given the opportunity, especially at night in both summer and winter.