Hockley Valley Provincial Nature Reserve

Continuing my exploration of The Niagara Escarpment, this past weekend I visited a place that has long held some mystery for me. A lot of my trips involve driving along Highway 10 and, once you pass Orangeville, you'll begin to see signs for Hockley Valley Provincial Nature Reserve. I always kept telling myself I needed to check it out but by the time I'd get home it would have slipped my mind. So when I started searching for places to visit this past weekend and Hockley Valley kept turning up in my search, I took it as a sign that I really needed to go. I kept digging but trying to find an accurate trail map turned out to be really difficult. All I could find was an artistic representation with no scale and a web site that I should prepare for a lot of hills on a route that would hopefully be about 15km. Thankfully, things became clearer (and a lot more interesting) once we made it to the southern trail head. Keep reading.

Forks of the Credit Provincial Park

Many years ago, when I just started getting into hiking and exploring, I paid a visit to Forks of the Credit Provincial Park with some friends for a leisurely fall day out and about. The park was great and had a lot of interesting features. There were old ruins, waterfalls, rivers, lakes, hills and cliffs, everything you want when you're out enjoying nature. One of the things I remember most about that day was the sheer amount of people parked at the side of Forks of the Credit Road enjoying the fall colours along the river. It was packed! It was quite the contrast to my visit last weekend as I drove through two blizzards to enjoy a cold, brisk hike through the park. But, the thing is, it was still great! Keep reading.

Petroglyphs Provincial Park

If you're looking for a unique experience that includes some interesting history then Petroglyphs Provincial Park is your destination. Not only does this park have about 20km of trails, it is home to 900 petroglyphs that were carved 500-1000 years ago! It was really hard to leave the camera behind, but you are asked to not take photographs of the petroglyphs, so you'll just have to take my word that they were awesome! Keep reading.

Restoule Provincial Park

Restoule Provincial Park was the last stop during our Thanksgiving camping trip and the stay couldn't have been better! Not only was the park opened for an extra day, but it was also virtually empty. It's incredibly fun having an entire campground to yourself! One of the perks of it being deserted was that there were numerous deer wandering around the park. When we came back from our hike there was one resting in the site across from ours and we frequently saw them around the comfort station. It was an amazing experience to have a doe and fawn grazing five feet away! Keep reading.

Presqu’ile Provincial Park

I love when one adventure leads me to another. A few friends had setup a camping trip to Sandbanks Provincial Park and on the way there we saws signs for a different park, Presqu'ile Provincial Park. Having never been in the area I knew nothing of Presqu'ile, so I made a mental note to look it up when we were home. When I started doing a bit of research I found out that Presqu'ile Provincial Park is a birder's paradise in the spring. A park I hadn't been to before, that specializes in birds, some of which aren't typically in the area? This I had to see! Keep reading.