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.



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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.




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