Cornwall Historical Walking tour (St. Lawrence Seaway)

Cornwall is a very historical town - as part of the historical walking tour is the eastern entrance to the Cornwall Canal.  The completion of the Cornwall canal in 1843 provided a gateway to Canada’s interior for world trade and immigration.

This location were I was at, known as Locks 15, 16 and 17 were redesigned years later.  Lock 16 became a dry dock and was used for winter docking and repairs, while Locks 15 and 17 raised and lowered ships along the canal system.

 

The Cornwall canal was closed in 1958 and was replaced by the St. Lawrence Seaway – after which the canal was largely filled in around 1971 and 1972.

While I was there, there were plenty of provincial officers speaking to the local teens who were disregarding social distancing and making quite the ruckus for the neighbours who live nearby.

I didn’t want to stick around too long, but only long enough to hear a lot of unhappy back and forth as they were told to spread out or go back home.

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A few other historical mentions in Cornwall that I had checked out as well before heading out to Morrisburg the next morning.

I actually felt sorry for this engine as it sits in a large open park space right in the centre of two busy streets(Brookdale and 9th street) in Cornwall.  It looks really out of place.  Locomotive #17 was built in 1962 and was given as a gift to the City of Cornwall in 1977 from the Cornwall Street Railway, Light and Power Company.  It was the last electric-power engine in Canada according to Heritage Cornwall.  After years of neglect (it's been painted a few times in 1981 and again in 2006), and city council bouncing back and forth with whether to spend the 100,000 set aside to refurbish the locomotive engine, it may finally be donated to Smith Falls Museum who has expressed interest in giving it a proper home and the means to fix her up as good as new.

The RCAF - Royal Canadian Air Force has erected this fighter plane on  September 22, 1974 in dedication "to those Canadians who in war and peace earned for our country a proud place for man's conquest of the skies" Per Ardua ad Astra (last owned by RCAFA424 left wing)

Landon's Bay - 1000 National Park

 

After a quick breakfast stop at a quaint little spot called Gray's beach, I headed east on a recent road trip passed a large sign "Landon's Bay - 1000 Island Nati

onal Park" and decided to pull off  the 1000 Island Parkway between Mallorytown and Ganonoque to have a look.  

The entrance to the park was closed off, but there were a few cars parked along the side of the front gate, so I did the same.  Not sure what to expect, I brought my camera along. 

I ended up spending a couple of hours here checking out the some of the trails.  The Donevan trail was by far my favourite with mythical features like hand-laid stone walls and bridges and an old 'wishing tree' like something out of a story book.  

The Landon's Bay 1000 Islands Tower which stretches 400 feet above the horizon of Hill Island,  Ontario is unfortunately closed off due to COVID, but you are still able to find enough of a view in the area.  I was told by a fellow hiker that the area used to be a campground, but I figured since it is so close to Hwy 401, it wouldn't make for a good night's sleep with the noise, so probably the reason that phased out.

Overall, this was definitely worth checking out and glad I did.  There are plenty of signs to get around, but I'd suggest more might improve the experience.  It's pretty unique here and in it's entirety is encompasses over 225 acres of forested walking trails.  I'd definitely recommend if you are passing by.

Heart Lake Conservation Area

Another birthday went by without being able to celebrate it in an ordinary fashion - but we did enjoy takeout in the car and discovered this little gem in Brampton/Etobicoke  called Heart Lake Conservation Area .  Despite the gloomy weather, it was still a great walk.  The parks may not be open for cars, but they still monitor the closing hours and we were fast approaching that.

Here are a few pictures I took while we were there though.  You'll have to go yourself and see it through your own camera lens!

Heart Lake is a gorgeous spot to visit and seems to have a bit of everything for everyone.  over 415 acres of parkland which includes the Etobicoke watershed, blocks of forest, and a beautiful spot of water (which if you look at it from an aerial view) is in the shape of a heart.  

courtesy of www.brampton.com website

 

The park opens in the April up until October and offers public fishing, hiking, swimming and even treetop trekking (which I've never tried and looks pretty dangerous from the pictures I've seen on their website).

We saw a few others around, but the park itself is closed to the public due to COVID, but there's a lot close by.

I think the most exciting for me anyways thing that I saw was a large snapping turtle who just froze as I approached it.  In fact, I didn't know what it was at first, but I knew it was something worth checking out.

When I got closer, I noticed it's eyes flinched and his head slowly turned to look at me.  I have to admit although he is slower than a sloth, it still spooked me a bit but I am sure he is a lot kinder than he looks! 

As the weather approaches summer, this would be a good spot to have a picnic as there are several great locations with picnic settings.  You'll have to check out the tree trekking!  

Mountain Mill Decew Falls

The Morningstar Mill was a working grist mill owned and operated by the Morningstar family in 1872.

Today you can visit the Morningstar Mill as a heritage property owned by the City of St. Catherines with partnership with the friends of Morningstar Mill.

The property has several accessible buildings still such as the grist mill and turbine shed, a saw mill, a blacksmith and carpenter's shed and the home of the Morningstar family.

Mountain Mills as it was called operated from 1883 to 1933.  It had three turbines.  One for the grist mills, another ran the saw mill and third ran a generator which provided private lighting on the property.    The grist mill turbine also ran an apple cider mill.  There was an orchard of apples, cherries, pears and peaches.  Local farmers would bring their horses and wagons and wait for their apples to be pressed into cider.  The nearby barn had a team of horses, a cow, chickens and pigs.


To make repairs in the grist and saw mills, the Morningstars had a blacksmith and carpenter shop located on the property.

When the Morningstars first purchased the Mountain Mills, the sawmill building was used as a community hall where local dances were held.  After a serious fight had ensued on the property they closed it down and converted it into a sawmill which continued to operate for over 40 years!

After Mr. Wilson Morningstar passed away, the sawmill was not maintained and was eventually dismantled.  The current sawmill was built by the Friends of Morningstar Mill in the 1990s.


I love history and especially when it applies to architecture.  I want to come back and revisit again to take a walk along the Laura Secord trail and the Bruce trail, which is just located directly behind the Morningstar house.

Sheppard's Bush Conservation Area

We recently stopped for a visit and a lunch into Aurora, Ontario which is a small suburb north of Richmond Hill.  You can eventually reach it if you continue north on Yonge Street outside of King City.


Aurora is big on its historical buildings - in fact in 2008, the town was awarded the Prince of Wales Prize for Municipal Heritage Leadership.  Again in 2009, the town received the Lieutenant Governor's Ontario Heritage Award for Community Leadership in Heritage Conservation and promotion.



From the moment you step off the train at the old Aurora Train station (which also was built in the 1800s and still remains), you can see old houses with plaques proudly displayed under street numbers giving the dates when they were built.

After a nice lunch, we took advantage of the mild temperatures to check out a nearby conservation area.  Sheppard Bush Conversation Area has a few trail loops covering about 3 km of land that take a little over an hour to complete.  I had my running shoes on, so ended up doing a little cross country skiing instead of walking as the treads were wearing down.  It was above freezing and a great day to get around without mitts and a hat for a change.

The hardwood forest greets you as you enter the mature sugar bush and upland forest, pine plantations along the ravine and East Holland River.

The trails are hard-packed with gravel and limestone for the most part during milder temperatures (April - October) so there's no reason not to use them even in winter if you stick to the course.  It's good to note that once the park reopens, this trail connects to the Nokiidaa trail to go as far as Holland Landing, or the Oak Ridges Trail to reach Palgrave or Rice lake. 

We finished the marked paths of the Sheppard's Bush, Tim Jones and Klaus Wehrenberg trails.  It took slightly under a couple of hours to move through it though most likely much quicker without snow.

There's some spectacular sized sport fields (11 soccer fields in total) which you can gain access to through the parking lot entrance off Industrial Parkways South.

The parking lot has a 3 hr visitor parking in effect so also good to note.

Also another bonus is this trail is bike friendly - what's there not to love?  

Rockwood Conservation Area

My hubby and I went to the Rockwood Conservation area because of an Instagram photo I saw of how amazing this place was.  I wasn't really disappointed, although the sky wasn't what I would call ideal.  It had rained a few times but I managed to take some photos.


The park charges $7/each person.  They are friendly and had pointed us in the right direction to the waterfall I thought would be the main feature, but wasn't.  The real feature here are the caves.

There are over 194-acres of great hiking trails, boardwalks and idyllic sandy beaches.  It also houses an interesting array of castle-like ruins which are the remains of a woolen mill that once existed here.

Rockwood is just an hour outside Toronto. Its accessibility and proximity to major highways like the 401 make it an easy city escape.  What makes Rockwood Conservation Area unique from most parks is the sheer amount of activities it boasts and its rich geological aspects.   A few environmental features it’s known for are the glacier bluffs, extensive cave systems (12 in total) and some of the oldest dated trees in Ontario. 


Even with Rockwood being a nature lovers paradise, it seems over the years the biggest tourist draw has been the stunning Harris Woolen Mill ruins, the remnants of an ancient textile mill.

Built in the mid 1880s, the mill was forced to shut down during the Depression and has remained vacant since.

Over the past decade, the mill had gone through almost a million-dollar renovation to preserve its history and make it safe for visitors to walk through and appreciate.The site is part of the Grand River Conservation Authority, and is an extremely popular spot for picnics, hikes, photography shoots and weddings.

If you want to spend more than a day inside the park, there are over 120 campsites on four main campgrounds.

Fill your entire weekend up with swimming, fishing, canoeing, hiking, and even paddle boarding — which you can rent in the summer.  The conservation area is open year-round and camping is available from May to October.

I loved it here so much that at the end of the day I almost wished I brought a tent.