Bruce Trail Hike #6: DeCew Falls to Short Hills (Roland Road) 11kms

DeCew Falls to Short Hills (Roland Road)

 

DeCew Falls to Short Hills Provincial Park. There is free parking and washroom facilities at both locations. If you want to do a shorter hike it is about 5km to the entrance of the Short Hills on Wiley Road. Here you will find free parking and washroom facilities. You can also take the Black Walnut Side Trail through Short Hills Provincial Park to significantly reduce the trek; however, you will miss Terrace Creek Falls. 

Morningstar Mill



Take the Morningstar Side trail from the parking lot to the Bruce trail. 




This section definitely has several interesting bridges including this suspension bridge.  

The Bridge at Laura's Crossing

The Bridge at Laura's Crossing commemorates Laura Secord, who traversed the rain-swollen waters of this creek to warn Lt. James FitzGibbon of an impending American attack. 





Abandoned Millstones 

A tributary to 12-Mile Creek where we saw a large Blue Heron take flight. Unfortunately he was too quick for us to snap a picture. 

Tributary 12-Mile Creek 


This section of the Bruce Trail features several bridges. Below you will see collages of some of the bridges crossed along this leg of the journey.

Various bridges along the trail

More Bridges


Power lines through Short Hills Provincial Park

Wild Mushroom...post a comment if you know the species!

In addition to the meandering creeks, Short Hills Provincial Park has a nice mix of both dense forests and open meadows with plenty of wildflowers and butterflies. 

Portion of the Rim of Africa Friendship Trail through Short Hills






A good portion of this section of the Bruce Trail allows both mountain biking and horseback riding. A portion of the Bruce Trail joins with Terrace Creek Trail #6. This section of the Bruce Trail is for hiking only; however, there are other trails you can take to bypass this section.


Terrace Creek Trail #6



Portion of the Terrace Creek Trail #6


Both Swayze Falls and Terrace Creek Falls are often dry in the late summer. Early spring is the best time to view if you want to see rushing water. 


Terrace Creek Waterfall



Terrace Creek Waterfall




Bruce Trail joins with the Swayze Falls Trail #1.








Swayze Falls Trail allows both mountain biking and horseback riding. Watch out for the road apples (💩) scattered along the trail!







Horse Hitching Post
 


There is also a picnic spot 
with a horse hitching post. 
Note that Swayze trail does have some steep sections. 



Swayze Falls (dry in summer)






Berries along Swayze Falls Trail


The image on the top left is the Jack in the Pulpit propagating. It will turn bright red before it drops its seeds.







Hike #6

Date:                        August 10th, 2021

Start:                        DeCew Falls Parking Lot:  DeCew Falls Map

Finish:                      Short Hills Provincial Park: 193 Roland Road Parking Lot B

Distance:                11.35 kms

Time:                       3 hours

Difficulty:                Easy to Wiley rd (first 5km) then moderate through Short Hills

Trail Use:                 Hiking/Biking/Horseback Riding permitted in some sections

Total kms hiked:   43.6 kms

Kms remaining:    868 kms


Points of interest in the area: Howell's Farm

Please post feedback in the comments!!! 







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bruce Trail End to End #42 Forks of the Credit: Chinguacousy to McLaren Road

Image
  Chinguacousy, Cheltenham to McLaren Road, Forks of the Credit We started today's hike where we left off last time, parking our car on Chinguacousy. Initially we were going to park at our end destination on Highway 11 and Uber back to Chinguacousy; however, roadside parking was closed due to a bike race. As a result we continued through Forks of the Credit Provincial Park to McLaren road instead of looping back around to the #11 parking spot. From McLaren we called a cab service in Orangeville (Al's Yellow Cab) to transport us back to Chinguacousy ($22.70).  We tried Uber but no driver picked up the ride. There are restrooms along the Bruce Trail in Forks of the Credit Provincial Park. Roadside parking on Chinguacousy Road (northwest end) Trail Head at Chinguacousy Road At Chiguacousy Rd the trail continues northwest through the woods, passing through some low lying areas that look like great spots for breeding mosquitoes.   Looks like Thor dropped his hammer while ...
Read more

Hike #8: Rockway to Louth Conservation

Image
  Our trek today started at Rockway Community Centre. We parked our second car at the Staff Avenue Parking Lot (base of the Louth Conservation Area).  Both locations had free parking but no washroom facilities. There was limited parking at Staff Ave (12 cars) Rockway Side Trail We took the Rockway Side Trail to the Bruce Trail which leads towards the bottom of the Rockway Falls. When we got to the bridge we strayed from the Bruce Trail and headed south on the left side of the river to the base of the falls.  This is the only way to see the falls as you cannot see them from the top at the Rockway Community Centre or from the Bruce Trail. This involved a bit of a detour (about 500 metres each way) on an unmarked trail. Be cautious of falling rocks. Bridge at the base of the Gorge In order to get to the falls you will have to climb a couple of rock ledges.  Rock ledge on route to base of the Falls The second rock ledge is difficult to climb; however, there is a conceale...
Read more

Hike #53 BTC Parking Area 30 Sideroad Mulmur to Concession 10 South Nottawasaga & Garden of Eden Rd (Noisy River)

Image
Hike #53 BTC Parking Area 30 Sideroad Mulmur to Concession 10 South Nottawasaga & Garden of Eden Rd (Noisy River) We started today's hike at the BTC parking area on 30 Sideroad in Mulmur.  I do not recommend approaching the parking area from from Ist Line EHS as it can hardly be called a road.  The parking lot had washroom facilities (a porta-potty).  We only brought one vehicle and left Peter's mountain bike (and a camping chair for Amanda) at our final destination - Concession 10 South Nottawasaga & Garden of Eden Rd.  Biking out of the Noisy River valley after a long hike to retrieve the car was less than fun! BTC parking area on 30 Sideroad (holds 20 cars) Washroom facilities at BTC parking area View east towards BTC parking area from trail Trail from BTC parking area to Line 1 EHS The first section of the trail ran North on 1st Line EHS between farmers fields.  It then turns left (west) on Mulmu-Nottawasag Towline Rd passing the small community of L...
Read more