Jul 21, 2014

Hilton FallsConservation Area



My new favorite escarpment.  It's half the distance to Hamilton; like Hamilton it is surrounded by some of the best natural beauty areas I have ever seen.  There are also quite a few other Conservation areas in the area as well like Kelso, Rattlesnake, Crawford Lake, Esquesing, Robert Edmondson and Mountsberg.  All of them are responsible for that gorgeous piece of glacier rock, known as the Escarpment.

Hilton Falls Conservation Area located in Campbellville, Ontario is a conservation area known for its ten-metre waterfall and hiking trails.


It constitutes 645 hectares and also offers mountain biking, cross-country skiing.


Some one else took the time to create an amazing site, I don't want to undermine their efforts.  Here's the link!


















Jul 6, 2014

Cheltenham Badlands



Well I wanted to find some interesting geographical pictures, while feeling like I wanted to see something different while trail blazing.

This certainly did the trick, and it's located right here in Ontario so no need to look way out west in Alberta for our version of the Badlands.

These are called the Cheltenham Badlands and I think you'll agree its a very mars-like and bizarre sight, with its' barren and windswept red hills and gullies which are so very similar to our western friends.  This area is hidden in the valleys and peaks of Caledon Hills.

If you are wondering what makes the Queenston Shale ground so red, it's caused by iron oxide, while the narrow greenish bands show us where the groundwater has transformed the rock from red to green iron oxide.

The real cause behind it just isn't science, this phenomenon was created by poor farming practices over 80 years ago sometime during the 1930's which caused overgrazing of the land, and the result as you can see is the exposure of the Queenston Shale that supports little or no vegetation at all.

If you are inclined to come here with your camera, don't do after a rainfall or when the ground appears soft.  It spans a vast area, although I found the best location to get the easiest and quickest access is along Old Base Line Road, just east of Creditview Road.

You'll notice some parked cars along the side of the road with eager visitors stopping by for a peak.

Jul 1, 2014

Kelso Conservation


Kelso Conservation Area is located near Milton, Ontario and is owned and operated by Conservation Halton. This park has an area of 3.97 square kilometres and contains Lake Kelso which was built for flood control of Sixteen Mile Creek and has a sandy beach for swimmers in the summer and is also open to non-motorized watercraft.



Glen Eden Ski & Snowboard Centre is located in the park and offers downhill skiing and snowboarding during winter months. In addition, the Halton Region Museum is also located on the Kelso grounds. The park also features marked mountain biking and hiking trails.

Some of these pictures here were taken of the Halton Museum, but was closed when we were there.
Also there is a beach onsite called Lake Kelso.  It's actually a man-made reservoir which was created to control the flooding of Sixteen Mile Creek. It is found within Kelso Conservation Area and is maintained by Conservation Halton.

One of the founders of Conservation Halton, Allan Day, recalls that before the reservoir was built, "Milton used to get flooded every spring thaw. Milton's main street would get flooded." It was Day who convinced the previous landowner to sell his property to the Sixteen-Mile Creek Authority in 1961. The authority purchased the land for $40 000 before erecting a $325 000 water control dam a few years later.

The strange thing about it is the wires that are directly above the lake.  I had to find out what they were there for, and surprisingly a lot of people didn't know, except for one wizened older man who said it was for the birds? The picture is pretty washed out, but at least you can see the wires.  Have you ever seen anything like it before?