The images and video in this article were actually taken at the end of March, 2014. The temperature of -12 Celcius, the icy river and heavy snow pack would suggest otherwise. Since global climate change kicked into full gear over the past few decades, typically all the snow is long gone by this time of year in Southern Ontario. Not so this year.
Hockley Valley Provincial Nature Reserve, aka Hockley Valley Provincial Park, is located not much more than five kilometres northeast of Orangeville, Ontario. The park encompasses 378 hectares of significant natural land and is looking to expand in order to include nearby Cannings Falls.
Located in Mono Township, Hockley Valley is not an operating Provincial Park so there are no facilities. However, because of this, there are no fees. There is a parking lot off of Hockley Road that necessitates a walk along the shoulder of the sometimes busy Hockley Road for about 100 metres before entering the trail system. At that point, the you are on the Bruce Trail and have entered into an ascent of over 2km before reaching the top of the Niagara Escarpment.
The above image is what the Bruce Trail looks like within Hockley Valley Provincial Nature Reserve as it passes through one of the few open meadows in the park. Once spring arrives, this section is actually quite cozy when those sumac fill in with thick green leaves.
Nearly at the headwaters of the Nottawasaga River, if one could follow the river, they would end up in Georgian Bay at Wasaga Beach.
Although not a maintained provincial park, the trails within are well maintained by the Bruce Trail Conservancy. The Bruce Trail runs up the Niagara Escarpment from Niagara-On-The-Lake in the south to Tobermory in the north on the Bruce Peninsula. The park offers a variety of side trails that can provide nearly a days worth of hiking in themselves.
The park is an all-season destination with hiking all year round, along with nordic skiing and snowshoeing in the winter months. This is also a great spot for nature photographers. White-tailed deer are plentiful in the park, along with several other forest animals. This is a wonderland for wild flowers, especially in the spring when white and purple trilliums blanket the forest floor.
The bridge above is maintained by the Bruce Trail Conservancy and is located centrally in the park. At this point, visitors that enter at the main entrance off Hockley Road turn back. Local visitors who park at the lesser known and smaller lot on third line and have come in from the opposite direction also tend to use this as their turnaround point.
This is also where one would break off the ‘official’ trail in order to find the controversial Cannings Falls.
The below video was taken the same day as the images above. Typically, my videos have a much faster clip turnover but I was looking for a sort of zen-like mediation film long stationary views of the running water and the sounds of the water and birds in the background. Check it out – let me know what you think…
