Hike #

Date

Location

Description

L14

mid May
2004

Forks of the Credit
Trimble Side Trail

The Trimble Side Trail has been temporarily closed due to severe geological slump conditions on the slopes. Initially expected to reopen within a week or two, the engineering analysis was worse than expected requiring a new bypass route to be developed. The trail will be reopened when this process has been completed sometime in 2005.
Alt Route: At waypoint 005 continue along Forks of the Credit Rd until you reach waypoint 007 at Mississauga Rd and continue along this road towards waypoint 008. This shortens the hike by a few km.

L16

beginning January 2007 until further notice

Cheltenham Badlands
Russell Cooper Side Trail

The Russell Cooper Side Trail has been closed for regeneration needs by the Caledon Hills BTC until further notice.

L14

2007

Forks of the Credit

Trimble Side Trail

We do not recommend this hike at present. The main descent down to the Dominion Road area (between waypoints 010 & 002)has been closed for regeneration and there is no viable alternate route. As well you can no longer make a loop hike out of this since Forks of The Credit Road is closed at the railway trestle and there is no way around this construction (between 004 & 005). The Trimble Side Trail is now opened but you will be asked to pay $4.50 each to use the Trimble Side Trail which is outrageous considering there is no sign to this effect at the Forks of the Credit entrance to the trail. You only find this out after you’ve done the whole side trail. It’s free if you show your Bruce Trail membership card however. As far as I know this is the only Bruce Trail Side Trail where you have to pay to use the trail.

Parking fees have also been increased at a time when the park offers so much less.
$11.00 for all day
$5.00 for 2-4 hours
$3.00 for 0-2 hours
I’d suggest the $3.00 payment since the only viable thing to do is to do is to walk to Cataract Falls. Or, you can do this for free by parking on the Cataract side of the falls.

F06

2007

Tiffany Falls

The dangerous upper trails to the falls have been closed. In their place stands a new lower safe wide gravel trail and two new bridges that criss-cross the flowing stream below. At the falls there is also a new observation platform. A very nicely done improvement to the Tiffany Falls site.

L16

Feb 12, 2008

Cheltenham Badlands

From  the Caledon Hills Bruce Trail Club:
“Hello, You have been contacted because your website includes a reference to the Cheltenham Badlands in Caledon. If possible, we at the Caledon Hills Bruce Trail Club were hoping that you could add the following message to your site in order to make an important clarification about the popular site: The Badlands, near the villages of Inglewood and Cheltenham Ontario, are an Earth Science Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI), managed by the Bruce Trail Conservancy. In order to protect the sensitive environment of this site from degradation, visitors are requested to respect the following:- no sliding, no digging, stay on the flat area in the vicinity of the interpretative sign, stay off during wet conditions, no toboganning, no motorized vehicles, no bicycles, no horses and please do not litter. The Side Trail is closed due to erosion. Take nothing but photographs and leave nothing but your thanks. For further information, contact the Caledon Hills Bruce Trail Club at info@caledonbruce trail.org.”

All Hikes

L01
L02
L03
L14
F05

Mar 14 2008

Warnings of high rivers and creeks  and major flooding and trail washouts this Spring due to above normal snowfalls.

To All Hikers (from Toronto Bruce Trail Club)

We’ve had almost record snowfall this winter and as we get closer to spring we will also have record snowmelt and run-off. Rivers and streams will be at extremely high levels; normally wet areas will be underwater with major flooding in many, and you will come across run-off and flooding in areas where you will not have seen anything before. Expect to encounter trail washouts and more mud than normal and remember that steeper slopes may be very slippery—both up and down hill.

It will not be possible to detour around many of these wet areas or flooding—please be prepared with an alternate route(s). Also, please consider the damage a large group of hikers can do to more fragile sections of trail especially under more extreme conditions such as may occur this spring. Please consider a different hike if necessary, on higher, dryer trail.

Re-consider your planned hikes based on spring weather conditions—if we receive a lot of rain it will compound the snowmelt flooding. If it is a very dry spring, conditions will improve but be prepared for very wet trail conditions well into May.

Please check your hike route before you lead a hike, the trail may be clear one week and impassable the next as the snow melts. If you can’t get out to check, consider your route very carefully and plan your alternates in advance.

There are too many low or wet areas to list but a few sections to check beforehand include the Credit Valley Footpath, Terra Cotta CA both east and west of Winston Churchill, Silver Creek CA (around km 36.5 after the bridge) and Hilton Falls CA often has sections of road flooded. These are areas that usually have problems in the spring and this will not be a “normal” spring.

F08

11 July 2008

Trail Closure due to railway accident

Spencer George Section Closure

The Iroquoia Bruce Trail Club has had to close a six-kilometre portion of the main Bruce Trail around the popular Spencer Gorge Wilderness Area in the communities of Greensville and Dundas in Hamilton . The closure was requested by landowner Canadian National Railway Company as a result of the death of a man struck and killed by a passing train in mid-June. The accident occurred near the point where the Bruce Trail crossed CN railroad tracks near the bottom of Spencer Gorge, (km. 59.6 of the Iroquoia section, Map 8, 24th edition of the Bruce Trail Reference Guide).

As a result of the CN directive, the Club had to close the entire main trail section between km. 59.6, near the intersection of Woodley Lane and King Street/Highway 8 in Dundas at the west, and the point where the Trail crosses Sydenham Road part way up the Escarpment to the east (km. 65.6 on Map 8.) The club also closed the 800-metre long “Old Dundas Station Side Trail” which ran east and west parallel with the tracks.

The main Trail has been re-routed for 2.5 kilometres through Dundas streets between Woodley Lane and Sydenham Road.
This is the route all through hikers must use. White blazes have been posted, primarily on utility posts.

Trail closure signs and barricades have been placed where the Trail had intersected the railroad property, and on the west side of the Sydenham Road crossing. Signs advising of the trail closure were also posted at the top of the stairs at Webster’s Falls, and at Tew’s Falls.

Hikers visiting Webster’s Falls may continue to hike the trail down Spencer Gorge alongside Spencer Creek , but cannot continue down to the railroad property. They must reverse direction. Similarly, hikers may use the Trail east from Tew’s Falls to the Dundas Valley Lookout and the Glen Ferguson Side Trail, but must reverse direction before reaching the railroad property.

The Club hopes this re-route will be temporary, and is actively looking at alternatives that might permit continued use of the Spencer Gorge as a continuous route of the Bruce Trail

L27

May 09

Parking change

Parking is no longer allowed at the golf course. See hike L27 for alternatives.

L31

Jun 10

Reroute

Due to a new landowner withdrawing rights to the trail on his property, the section between 002 - 005 has been rerouted along Hockley Road and 1st Line EHS. See map on hike L31.

L03

Jul 10

Trail Closure

The main Bruce Trail has been closed between Winston Churchill Blvd and Heritage Road until a new permanent route is found. In the meantime you will need to use the Terra Cotta ST to circumvent the closure.

L30

Jul 10

Reroute

Until the bridge on Mewburn is rebuilt, the trail is rerouted along the south side of the railway tracks.