Bruce Trail

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Bruce Trail
View from the Niagara Escarpment
View from the Niagara Escarpment
Length 800 kilometres (500 mi)
Location Southwestern Ontario
Trailheads Tobermory, Ontario
Queenston, Ontario
Use Hiking

The Bruce Trail is a hiking (and multi-use) trail in southern and central Ontario, Canada.

Contents

[edit] General

Winter at Bruce Trail
Winter at Bruce Trail

It follows the edge of the Niagara Escarpment, one of the twelve UNESCO World Biosphere Reserves in Canada, for more than 800 km (500 mi). The land the trail traverses is owned by the Government of Ontario, private landowners and the Bruce Trail Conservancy (BTC).

The name of the trail is linked to the Bruce Peninsula and Bruce County which the trail runs through. Bruce is named for James Bruce or Lord Elgin, Governor General of the Province of Canada.

[edit] Natural features

Waterfalls along Bruce Trail
Waterfalls along Bruce Trail

There are many waterfalls along the Bruce trail, where streams or rivers flow over the Niagara Escarpment. Niagara Falls, by far the most famous watercourse in the area, can be reached by a side trail of the Bruce Trail proper. There is also a wide range of plant and wildlife along the trail, including slow-growing centuries-old coniferous trees right on the limestone lip of the escarpment itself.

Quarry operation
Quarry operation

The Bruce Trail and the escarpment run through some of the most populated areas of Ontario, with an estimated 7 million people living within 100 km (62 mi). Golf courses, housing, and quarries are all examples of the threatening impact that this many people have on the natural environment. The popularity of the trail itself, especially near urban areas, and the careless attitude of many of its users also paradoxically threaten the quality and viability of the trail.

[edit] Route

Fall near Halton, Ontario
Fall near Halton, Ontario

The trail begins in the south in Queenston, Ontario, on the Niagara River, not far from Niagara Falls. The cairn marking its southern terminus is in a parking lot, about 160 metres (520 ft) from General Brock's Monument on the easterly side of the monument's park grounds. From there, it travels through the major towns and cities of St. Catharines where it passes through wine country near the Short Hills Bench, Hamilton, Burlington, Milton, Halton Hills, Owen Sound, Wiarton and Tobermory.

Winter near Halton, Ontario
Winter near Halton, Ontario

It passes through parks operated by various levels of government, including Woodend Conservation Area in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Battlefield Park in Stoney Creek, Dundas Valley Conservation Area in Dundas, the Hamilton-Brantford Rail Trail, Mount Nemo Conservation Area, Rattlesnake Point Conservation Area, Crawford Lake Conservation Area, Mono Cliffs Provincial Park, and the Bruce Peninsula National Park between Georgian Bay and Lake Huron. Its northern terminus is in Tobermory, the jumping off point for Fathom Five National Marine Park.

Approximately half of the trail runs through public land. In order to make a complete connection the trail runs partly on private property and partly on road allowances. When going through private property, the BTC has made agreements with landowners to allow trail users to pass through. Using roads is not the best route for the trail. In these sections the BTC is involved in acquiring land along what it calls the 'optimum route'.

[edit] Maintenance

Typical Bruce Trail blaze
Typical Bruce Trail blaze

The Federation of Ontario Naturalists surveyed the route in the early 1960s, and the responsibility for maintaining the trail was assumed by the nascent Bruce Trail Association (as of 2007, it is called the Bruce Trail Conservancy).

Currently headquartered at Rasberry House in Hamilton, the BTC marks and maintains the main trail as well as many side trails. Trail maintenance includes building bridges over streams and gullys, building stairs and switchbacks to climb slopes, building stiles over fences, and rerouting portions of the trail that have become worn through overuse.

The trail is subdivided into nine sections, each with a subsidiary club:

Club Name Start End Link
Niagara Queenston Grimsby [2]
Iroquoia Grimsby Kelso [3]
Toronto Kelso Cheltenham [4]
Caledon Cheltenham Mono Centre [5]
Dufferin Hi-Land Mono Centre Lavender [6]
Blue Mountains Lavender Craigleith [7]
Beaver Valley Craigleith Blantyre [8]
Sydenham Blantyre Wiarton [9]
Peninsula Wiarton Tobermory [10]

Volunteers inspect, repair and build footbridges, retaining walls, stiles and handholds along their section of the route. The BTC and subsidiary clubs offer badges for those hikers who complete the whole trail or any of its sections under prescribed conditions.

The main trail is marked with the BTC logo, a white lozenge with black text and drawings for the Bruce Trail and an upward pointing arrow which does not in fact offer directional assistance. The actual blazes are white markings, approximately 3 cm (1 in) wide by 8 cm (3 in) high, with turns indicated by stacking two blazes off centre to indicate the direction to take. The blazes for the 300 km (190 mi) of associated side trails are similar, except they are blue.

[edit] Long distance activities

The BTC regularly holds events called end to end hikes. These events which are sometimes held over 2-3 days, challenge hikers to walk over sections of the trail in the given time limit.

The Bruce Trail has also attracted other long distance events. In October, 2005, Clayton Smith ran the entire length of the trail in 15 days. This ultramarathon was performed as a charity fund-raiser for the BTC and the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada. [1]

[edit] Further reading

  • Rich Freeman, Bruce Trail: An adventure along the Niagara Escarpment (Footprint Press, 1998) ISBN 0-9656974-3-6

[edit] References

  1. ^ Omar El Akkad. Trail-blazing runner goes end-to-end on the Bruce. The Globe and Mail. October 4, 2005.[1]

[edit] External links

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Bike and Hiking Trails in Canada