July 23, 2021
There are two separate sets of trails, separated by a railroad track, that are part of the David Drive Tract (see page 42). I tried the McCowan road side.
Google Maps has a bit of a problem with it's address of 17242 McCowan Road. The trail entrance, with parking lot, do not show up on Street View. The parking is on the west side of McCowan between Vivian Road and Davis Drive. It looks like it is fairly new but easy to find.
I was attracted to explore this because of the large pond that the trail went around and it's outflow creek. Unfortunately, the pond was not that impressive; no signs of life except I did hear a frog. The outflow creek was a trickle so this pond is either spring fed or simply collects rain.
I only spent 45 minutes there and walk about 1.5KM (red portion). That includes the part of trail marked in yellow. I had a hard time finding this section and the exit by the parking lot has been blocked by new fencing. It doesn't look like they are planning on keeping that section open.
If you go, the entrance to the trail is at the back left hand corner of the extended parking
Some pictures of the pond with the outflow pipe
Some other photos I took.
On Thursday June 10th several TPS members met up at the Hall Road parking lot for a walk along the marsh and Lake Ontario shore line. A few swans, ducks and turtles were out as well as red wing black birds, geese and seagulls, of course. The swans had had their young ones
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The Drysdale Tract was made possible by a generous donation from the Drysdale Family of a 136-acre property between the York Durham Line and Ninth Line south of Vivian Road.
It presents a pleasant walk through old scotch pines and mixed forest. It's an even flat walk except for a couple of hills at the very southern side of the walk.
Care is required in navigating the trails:
- There are unmarked side trails, some of which appear to be main trails (see red lines above).
- There are no markers at trail intersections, or on the trails, to help determine where you are.
The combination of these two conditions can lead to confusion in finding your way around.
The southern trail borders a stable where horses can sometimes be seen in the paddocks. There are also farm buildings.
The tract has an old Iron Wood tree, thought to the largest in Ontario.
Here are some pictures of the Iron Wood Tree taken in the winter and spring.
Here are some general pictures of the tract.
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May 12, 2021
I've made two trips to the eastern portion of the Monarch Trail. They label two separate trails for Monarch. The one I walked was supposedly the non-cycling trail however, cyclists were using it. At present, there are no trail signs so you have to find information from the Monarch Trail web page. The Monarch Trail is listed as a 7.6KM loop. This makes it difficult to identify how long a segment is.
My first trip was from the parking lot at 7373 Reesor Rd. My second was from the parking lot at 7919 14th Avenue. On my two trips, I overlapped where I turned around. I figure that the distance from the 14th Avenue Parking lot to the Reesor Road parking lot is a little over 2KM; about an hour. If you car pool, you can leave cars at each end so you can walk straight through (unless you want a 4KM round trip)
When the trail meets the river from 14th, you will see a bluff on the river to the north. I haven't found a trail to it.
Here are some pictures from both my treks from either end.
A short hike, on this scenic trail, on a cool overcast day in early spring. Glen Major Forest showcases several headwater types, gigantic trees and a regenerated gravel pit. There are a large number of hills that the trail goes around and up and down. As noted, extremely rugged with narrow & hilly terrain.
This trail is just down the road from Walkers Woods that the TPS has also visited.
On this trip, I walked to G17. From the starting point of G24 and back, round trip was 2.2KM. Next trip I plan to go to the Lookout by G16.
It's interesting how the have restored the old quarry pits and how much life has come back.
Between G22 and G17 are the remains of the Hopkin's Homestead.
I believe this is likely the old house
The pictures below showed a larger foundation and I suspect was the barn.
This is as far as I got at G17 (they have a great trail marking system). I think the hill shown is the Lookout. You can see the trail winding is way around.
It's very scenic. More so once the leaves are out.
Here's a few shots from the trail.
Lands owned by the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority (TRCA) within the Duffins Creek watershed (totaling 23.3 km 2 ) are currently used for a variety of purposes including conservation, education, recreation, forestry and agriculture. For details see http://www.trca.on.ca/dotAsset/37451.pdf
The Secord Forest and Wildlife area is comprised of 93 hectares (230 acres) of ecologically sensitive land. The property also includes a barn, a pet cemetery, three ponds, and a mixture of wooded areas, wetlands and open fields. The largest pond is a dominant feature on the property and is maintained by the dam on the West Duffins Creek at the pond outlet
It is not well promoted but numerous links can be found by Googling the name.
The parking lot on Secord Road can be found on Google Maps at 44.017796, -79.182462.
A picnic lunch followed by a hike thru the trails, camera's in hand!
Posted by: Ed McDermott
see how things are "greening up" . Should be much greener soon!
We kept our social distance during these Covid times!
It takes more than a virus to dissuade a true photographer!!!
Posted by: Ed McDermott
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Posted by : Ed McDermott
Posted by Ed McDermott
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Posted by Ken Jarvis
There were a number of costumed interpreters in each building to explain what would have been happening during the Christmas season in days gone by.
The Victorian Farmhouse (the "Brown House") was set up for a traditional Christmas dinner and typical preparations in the kitchen.
Christmas Dinner SettingBrown Farmhouse
Preparations in the KitchenBrown Farmhouse
The Log Cabin was set up to read a Christmas story to the children. It was here you got the sense of the struggle of working after the sun went down and you had to rely on candles for light. If you look closely, you can see Santa in one of the window panes in one of the pictures.
Candles in WindowsLog Cabin
Is that Santa?Log Cabin
Reading a story to the childrenLog Cabin
Ready for SantaLog Cabin
There were other events in other buildings plus refreshments were set up in the main hall. These were included in the price of admission.
Posted by Paul Naish
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Sig taking a photo
Small stream
Bird flying overhead
Colourful leafI did some Photoshop editing to bring out these colours. The original leaf was very dull.
From left: Ken, Teresa, Kevin, Sig, Ed, Peter and Eleanor
Ken Jarvis SeminarLearning new concepts
From left: Eleanor, Ed (at back), Peter, Ken (at back), Sig, Kevin and Teresa
Ken Jarvis SeminarLearning new photographic skills
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A short video that I took using my Phantom 2 Vision Plus drone.
Post by Ken Jarvis
]]>On May 23 - 25 six TPS members went on a photo excursion visiting Perth, Almonte, Eagenville and Algonquin Park. We seen several good rapids, some nice towns and architecture along with good food and time to talk about photography. This photo was from the town of Perth at their town park. It was a very scenic place.
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September 16th & 17th a few TPS members travelled to the Kingston area to visit several old mills, ghost towns and waterfalls. This picture is from one of the best mills that we came across called Bedford Mill.
Post by Ken Jarvis
A few TPS members walked the beautiful pathways of the Rouge Valley path system in Pickering. This picture is located near Shepard Ave.
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A shot of Sig & Kevin capturing the rapids on our day trip to Fenlon Falls, Norland and back through Orillia on August 25.
Post by Ken Jarvis
]]>On July 23, 2013, Kevin, Sig and Ken headed to Coldwater, had a nice breakfast then headed over to Whites Falls. After we left we headed to Orillia to capture pictures of the Samuel Champlain statue at the park.
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