We are fortunate to live very close to the Niagara Escarpment, Canada’s first large-scale environmental land use plan, protected by the Province of Ontario AND designated a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in 1990. This forested ridge stretches 725km from Niagara to Tobermory and is home to the world-famous Bruce Trail that winds its way through a continuous natural landscape comprised of agricultural areas; recreational areas; wetlands, streams, waterfalls and watersheds; geological formations; rolling hills; wildlife habitats, and an endless number of a variety of species; mineral resources; and historic sites. Perhaps one of the most important details of this amazing greenbelt is that it traverses the most heavily developed and densely populated region of Canada (reference: www.escarpment.org/home/index.php)
After 29 years, I’m embarrassed to admit that, outside of hiking with our dogs in Forks of the Credit Provincial Park over a 20-year period, we have infrequently taken advantage of the rest of this convenient outdoor playground.
Today, we hiked the trails in the Limehouse Conservation Area, about a 15-minute drive from home. We were intrigued by the “Hole in the Wall” designation on the map but weren’t quite expecting what we found. But first we had to get there and were fascinated by the many crevices we had to cross as we carefully chose our steps. The geological formations along this part of the trail were surprising and made for interesting photos.
I’m all for taking your kids and dogs on hikes – we’ve certainly spent a great deal of time doing just that over the years – but frankly, would be quite reluctant to take them here. There are so many opportunities for misadventure. Despite my personal concerns, we did meet several dogs – most off leash – who appeared to be no worse for their trek, and who showed more instinct for survival than the kids. The only parents of young children we passed spent a good deal of energy yelling at Matthew to either “come back” or “get away from there”. I’m so glad those days are over…
After a while, to continue along this section of the Bruce Trail, you have to go through the “Hole in the Wall” which is accessed by climbing down 2 sets of ladders and squeezing between some fascinating and narrow rock formations, all the while watching your step in the (likely) event that you step into yet another crevice! We got down the ladders, we squeezed through the narrow rock formations, but we drew a line at the slippery slope to get up the other side to keep going. We know our limitations!!!
So, backtrack we did – all the way to the car – then drove around to the centre of the village where we started in from the other direction. Limehouse is aptly named, as it once was a processing site for lime and has several old and deteriorating lime kilns. The largest kiln, the “draw kiln” is in the process of being restored. For some reason (that I couldn’t find through research), the processing of lime requires an explosives house – a frightening thought but kind of cute…
No Ontario conservation area is complete without some kind of waterway and, sure enough, we were drawn by the familiar sound of running water. What a delight to come across a quick-flowing stream – water rushing down and around ice-encrusted rocks and dead tree branches – such a pretty site and a pleasure to hang around and listen to. At the top of a small climb, we arrived at the source of the stream and found a fellow hiker/photographer who was more than happy to snap a picture of both of us together – something we don’t have too many of.
The sun was dropping, as was the temperature, and it started to snow. Time to head back. The Bruce Trail has so many interesting sections so close to home and you never know what you’ll come across at any given time…
