Springtime can be awesome on any waterway when there’s been a good amount of snow over the winter. The Credit River at Forks of the Credit Provincial Park was no exception this April.
The waterfalls along the Credit (Churchs Falls) are impressive all year round. They are mostly unregulated upstream so the water flow is not cut off in the drier months.
Forks of the Credit Provincial Park
This is certainly not the first time Forks of the Credit has been featured here at It’s About Travelling. It’s close to home and is my go-to natural place to visit when I can’t get-to anywhere else.
What I want to bring to attention, though, is the art of trespassing on public lands.
First off, I don’t believe that you can be trespassing on public lands because we, the people, own that land. Provincial Parks in Ontario are administered by the Ministry of Natural Resources, a government entity. Therefore, residents of Ontario own the provincial parks.
However, I understand why certain areas are closed off to the general population. I believe that a little higher than 90% of the population has no common sense skills. Closing off potentially dangerous areas is done with good intentions – especially in a lawsuit driven society.
What you see in the two images above is my issue. Us good trespassers quietly go about our business, safely checking out and experiencing areas that may be too dangerous for those who haven’t taken proper measures and are not quite sure of the meaning of ‘common sense’.
Then, you have complete morons that draw massive attention to the fact that the signs and fences aren’t working. Therefore, these complete morons practically beg the authorities to install newer and better measures to keep people out.
All the graffiti at the old mill ruins on the Credit River is new since last summer. You don’t have to be in the ruins to see it – the ‘street art’ is in plain view from the heavily used trail above. I believe this art can be beautiful but in its place. Not here.
What was even more disturbing to me was that when we were exploring the north side of the river, a group of young adults (okay, teens) had entered the ruins. Despite the decibels created by the massive volume of water going over the crest of Churchs Falls, we could hear them loud and clear from the other side of the river.
It wasn’t just yelling, however. They were actually hammering away at the remains of the stone foundation in hopes of breaking it down. Not only were they drawing attention to themselves and ruining it for the rest of us, they were trying to break down the historic structure and ruin it for the rest of us.
There still exists a website named Infiltration. It is a .org site – I won’t link to it directly because there is a ‘may be hacked’ warning from Google. It’s safe to visit but you don’t get a lot of love from Google for linking to a site with a warning. Apparently, they were hacked by Russians recently but things are back to normal now.
Anyway, the site was originally maintained by ‘Ninjalicious’. Unfortunately, he passed away back in 2005. Before he left us, he left what is basically the bible of going places where you’re not supposed to go. Above all, he preached safety. Next to that, it was the same law as hiking – Take only pictures, leave only footprints.
Infiltration also serves as a directory to abandoned and off-limits sites in the Toronto area and how to access them. That’s infiltration dot org.
The above tracks are still active but not really. There is a dinner train that passes by from Orangeville to the north end of Brampton. This train moves slow and actually comes to a full stop at Churchs Falls, across from the ruins. However, once again, be careful and use all your senses.
The picture below is taken from the north side of the Credit River, a bit below the waterfall. For some reason, the cliffs of the Niagara Escarpment, the red dirt and patchy snow remind me of scences from the original movie ‘Red Dawn’, starring Patrick Swayze.
The HD video below was taken the same day as the images above and gives a better idea of the volume and strength of the Credit River at this time of year. If you like what you see, please give it a ‘thumb’s up’ in YouTube. If you love what you see, please share with friends!
Forks of the Credit Video
