Recolett Falls - French River Provincial Park

The Recolett Falls trail is the only hiking trail in French River Provincial Park. It starts at the visitor centre just off Highway 69 and travels over uneven terrain for 1.5km before coming out at the falls.

I completed this hike in between two large thunderstorms so I had the privilege of having the entire trail to myself until I was on my back to the car.

The scenery is breathtaking ... it was my first time in this part of the Province and I fell in love with the area immediately. The trail consists of dirt paths and occasionally exposed bedrock. There is some minor climbing with thin footholds to navigate, but it is well worth the hike.

Recolett Falls

The trail

The falls themselves are more accurately called rapids. Although they undoubtedly present a large obstacle for water travelers, don't expect a massive plunge waterfall when you visit. But the shear cliff faces that surround the river are incredible.





View Larger Map

Frank Tract - Halton Regional Forest

The Region of Halton owns and manages 14 forest tracts totaling 665 hectares. The Frank tract is the most northerly tract and is 42 hectares in size.

The main trail starts fairly flat traveling along a fire access road. There is an 'S' turn where the road crosses an earth dam with swamps on the left and right. Re-entering the forest for another 200m before crossing a small bridge. There is a very nice lookout here, to the south, of a wetland.

The wetland

From the parking area to the end of the fire access road is about 600m (1.2km for the round trip). Should you choose there is a small dirt trail that continues from here. It has some climbs and it is much narrower than the main trail, but it takes you through a pleasant mixed deciduous forest. This will add another 500m onto your walk.

The Frank Tract is located on 1st Line just south of 25th Sideroad.




View Larger Map

Patterson Tract - Simcoe County Forest

The Patterson Tract in South Simcoe County is one of 124 forest tracts owned and managed by Simcoe County. There are over 31,000 acres of land and the forests are one of the most productive in all of Ontario.

The Patterson Tract

The tract lies on the Oak Ridges Moraine resulting in a beautiful rolling landscape and sandy soil. The eastern section of the trail is predominantly a pine plantation with large windswept White Pines dominating. The central section is higher and contains much more a mixed forest with a large number of beautiful Sugar maples. The western part is also dominated by a Pine plantation.

The main trail, part of the Oak Ridges Moraine trail, is blazed with white markers (although marked by a red line on the GPS log above) and is a there-and-back trail totaling 1.5km one-way (making a 3.0km return trip). There are a number of side trails which branch off the main trail that are used mainly by ATVs and mountain bikes (see orange trail on the map above) and these tend to be much more hilly than the main trail. The side trails also enter some wet areas so if you plan on using these trails after a rainfall be prepared for some muddy sections.

Jack-in-the-Pulpit

On a Side Trail

This is a simply stunning tract with an amazing mixture of Pine and Maple specimens. Be sure to bring along your camera as there is plenty of evidence that deer and coyotes frequent the area. Saying that, I should also mention that hunting is legal in the Patterson Tract. When hiking here please be aware of your surroundings.




View Larger Map

Smith Property - Guelph

The Smith Property is a piece of land running alongside the Eramosa River just south of Guelph. The land is managed by the Grand River Conservation Authority while the trail is maintained by the Guelph Hiking Trail Club. The trail is a loop that is 4.5km long.

The Smith Property

The trailhead is on Watson Road South and there is parking for about 15 cars along the gravel shoulder. The trail begins on the railbed for the long abandoned Toronto Suburban Railway. The cedar lined path can get quite dark in overcast conditions but it soon opens up. After 250m the trail splits. I chose the northerly route (the trail is a loop and will eventually return to this same place) and the trail climbed slowly out of the Eramosa River valley. The path is dirt with and for some sections follows an old farm road. There is a wonderful old stone wall that follows the trail for about 500m on your left.

There are several nice lookouts over the valley to be had about 1.6km into the walk. After 2.2km the trail begins to turn south and soon heads steeply downhill, back into the river valley. The clockwise route I took is certainly the easier one. Should you choose to travel in the opposite direction this hill will give your quads and knees a good workout.

The Trail at Sunrise

The Eramosa River

Once at the bottom the trail re-joins the railbed and is very flat from here back to the parking area. There is a small side trail that will bring you to a dam on the Eramosa River about 2.9km into the hike. This is a beautiful area to sit and watch the wildlife. But please stay off the dam.

The trail can get bust at times with joggers and dog walkers. I went very early on a Saturday morning and I only ran into 2 other people. The area has a wonderful mix of cedar forest down in the valley and a mixed deciduous/coniferous forest at the top.

For more photos of the Smith Property click here.




View Larger Map

Fletcher Creek Ecological Preserve

The Fletcher Creek Ecological Preserve is located just south of the 401 in the Region of Hamilton and the township of Puslinch. The preserve is the headwaters for the Fletcher Creek and Spencer Creek watershed and is an Environmentally Sensitive Wetland (ESW), a Provincially Significant Wetland (PSW) and an Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI).

The area was extensively quarried in the late 19th century and was eventually abandoned in the 1930's. The land was acquired by the Region of Hamilton in the 1990's and they began a rehabilitation program, in partnership with McMaster University, to reclaim the land and to create valuable ecosystems.

GPS tracklog

Entrance Sign

The red trail is a gravel path with mild elevation changes. It starts at the parking area off Concession Road 7 and weaves it's way through the preserve before ending 2.55km later at Gore Road. There are 3 side trails off the main trail that make excellent loops. The 2 blue trails are mown grass trails with some uneven footing. The western blue trail measures 670m and the eastern blue trail is 710m in length. The orange trail is predominantly gravel but has a boardwalk section as well as some bedrock walking. This trail skirts the quarry before dropping down to the quarry floor, crosses the pond at the bottom by a boardwalk before climbing back out of the quarry. This section is 470m in length.

Clear Pond at Quarry Bottom

Budding Maples Over Main Trail

The trail winds it's way through diverse ecosystems. Initially passing though open meadows and upland deciduous forests, before entering a cedar forest about 880m into the red trail. This trail descends mildly to pass a bridge over Fletcher Creek in a cedar swamp forest. Ascending again the path leaves the cedar forest for open meadow and upland forest once more. The area of the quarries has been reclaimed as a calcareous fen. Ground water that leaches into quarries tends to have high concentrations of calcium. The McMaster scientists used this build a provincially rare calcareous fen. Flora here thrives in the calcium rich environment.

Calcareous Fen

Black Capped Chickadee

The Fletcher Creek Ecological Preserve is an excellent hike for anybody looking for something different, something unique that is not too taxing. The trails are well maintained and the red and orange trails are stroller friendly.

The path distances are as follows (see GPS tracklog above):

Start to A	100m
A to B (red trail)	725m
A to B (blue trail)	670m
B to C	550m
C to D	540m
C to F (blue trail)	710m
D to E (red trail)	100m
D to E (orange trail)	470m
E to F	360m
F to End	170m

* Please note. The trails are not marked or coloured. I use colour in my GPS log to identify individual trails.



View Larger Map

The Crack - Killarney Provincial Park

A recent addition to Killarney Provincial Park is The Crack Access Trail. Previously, hikers wishing to travel to The Crack needed to hike 18km (9km each way) along the La Cloche Silhouette trail from the George Lake campground.

This new trail starts off easily enough from the parking lot off Highway 637. It follows a fire access road for 1.6km until it meets up with the La Cloche Silhouette Trail and Freeland Lake / Kakakise Lake portage. The path soon comes to Kakakise Creek with a bridge built over a beaver dam and then comes upon Kakakise Lake proper.

Kakakise Lake

After crossing a swampy area over a series of narrow boardwalks the real climbing begins. Passing Kidney lake on your left the flora soon changes from principally deciduous in the lower terrain to more coniferous as you climb. This is not due to any temperature induced elevation change, but due to a change in the soil. The deciduous trees prefer the deep, rich soil of the lowlands, while the coniferous can adapt to the thin soil covering the quartzite rock.

The view from the top.

Looking over the Crack.

There are many outcrops of this stunning white quartzite and several areas where you are walking over the bare rock. In these places look for rock cairns to guide your path as there are few large trees for the blazes. The climbing remains steady for most of this area until you come across the Crack itself. This is, quite literally, a crack in the quartize ridge enabling hikers to access the top. Expect to climb over car sized boulders using both your hands and feet to make it through.

Killarney Lake (foreground), O.S.A. Lake beyond.

Once at the top the view is incredible with vistas in all directions. Georgian Bay is visible to the south but the best view is to the west. Here you will look between the Killarney Ridge (to the south) and the Blue Ridge (to the north) with beautiful Killarney Lake and O.S.A. Lake in between. Further past O.S.A. lake you might be able to get a glimpse of Baie Fine, a freshwater fjord off Georgian Bay.

The full route (GPS measured) was 3.5km one way for a 7km return trip. The first half is typical southern Ontario hiking and is quite manageable. The second half is much more difficult but is one of the greatest hikes in the province.




View Larger Map

Conley Tract - Halton Regional Forest

The Conley Tract, one of Halton Region's 14 forest tracts, is located off 1st Line just north of Sideroad 20 near the village of Brookville.

There are several trails in the tract of varying length and difficulty. The main trail (red) travels from the parking area in a NE direction  before becoming washed out by a swamp in the northern corner (this area might be passable in the drier months). The red path is 650m in length, or 1.3km for a return trip. It is fairly level and passes several swampy areas and one small pond.

Should you want something longer you can complete the orange loop across the northern section of the property which passes through and around a pine plantation. This will add another 620m to your hike but is very easy with few elevation changes.

The only other developed path is the blue trail which, according the the Conley Tract map, is supposed to join with the orange trail. When I hiked this area, however, the blue trail ends at a swamp with no evidence of it ever meeting the orange trail.

There are 2 other trails, the yellow and purple, which are narrow and rocky and have many trees across their paths. Both trails quickly fade out and are lost in the undergrowth.

* Please note, the colour of the trails that I mention are simply to identify on the GPS tracklog (the 1st image). The trails are not marked with any blazes or markings.



View Larger Map