Barrie's beautiful Arboretum - Sunnidale Park

Another perfect day on Saturday! Not much changing yet with the colours of the leaves, but it's still early.  I'll bet by the end of this month these pictures will look a whole lot different.

As with every season that passes I always miss the green.  Although the autumn weather brings with it less humidity - it's also a reminder of the impending long winter nights.  For me that means less exercise as I love cycling. 

 

Barrie's Arborteum in Sunnidale Park was a project that began with the tireless effort and inspiration of Norman E. Synnott, a horticulturalist and past president of the Barrie Horticultural Society in 1973.  

 

As chairman of the Arboretum Committee its first ten years, Mr. Synnott spent most of his time nurturing the young plantation through the critical stages of its development.  His hard work and leadership paid off well into the beautiful park that we all enjoy almost 50 years later.

The layout of the park is accessible for everyone with his paved walkways that circle in a loop with intricate pathways in the centre allowing you to experience different species of trees and gardens with ease.

In the 'Tranquil Garden' I never saw so many squirrels and tiny chipmunks scurrying about filling their cheeks with nuts running off to hide them than coming back for more!  It was so cute.  People brought their treats to sit around a circle where one by one the animals would come.

The park offers a great backdrop for wedding pictures as you can imagine - as we were looping back out of the park I noticed a small wedding party walking across the lawn so I took a shot as the sun streamed a light down through the trees on the bride.

There was a curious bundle of wood with holes in it that resembled a bee hived structure, when we got closer I learned it was actually a shelter for native bees which unlike honey bees are solitary and make their shelters in tunnels instead of hives.  They're 100x more successful at pollinating plants than honey bees and are the only bees able to pollinate tomatoes!  They're also gentle are never, but rarely ever sting.

Another curious piece of art work off in the middle of a meadow just to the far east of the park were beautifully crafted metal mushrooms with a little visitor in the centre.   It's amazing the work that went into piecing (fusing) everything together.  The talent of some people!

The Sunnidale Park loop is only 2 km of trails so it doesn't take that long to loop around but chances are you'll want to spend time just enjoying the peace and the scenery anyways.

 Happy trails!

Oro-Medonte Rail Trail (Barrie to Orillia)

Well we finally made it to the Oro-Medonte Rail trail (commonly known as the 'Barrie Rail trail')   We've been wanting to come up to Barrie to check it out for a couple of years now.  The weather was perfect, not too hot like the weekend before and not too chilly as September sometimes shocks the system!

The Barrie Rail trail runs from Shanty Bay (more or less) to Orillia covering the easiest bike path and most beautiful I might add that you'll ever travel on.  It takes 6 hours out and back, but as I mentioned you're biking on mostly flat crushed gravel with very little elevation.

In 1869 The Toronto, Simcoe and Muskoka Junction railway bought a right-of-way through Oro to link Barrie and Orillia.  To accommodate the railway, Concession line 1 was re-aligned along the north side of the newly built track. 

The bridge constructed to take the Ridge Road over the track was called, Thunder Bridge.  Whenever a car drove over the heavy timbers forming the road-bed on the bridge, they moved a bit in the steel braces, causing a loud rumbling noise.

In 1871: the railway from Toronto to Orillia was completed and a new era dawned in Oro-Medonte.  

For decades the railway station was a community focal point.  Long before the automobile became common, passenger trains took villagers for day-visits to Orillia and Barrie for shopping, doctor appointments, music lessons and high school.  During the summer, extra passenger cars were added to the north-bound trains bringing cottagers and visitors to this area's summer resorts.

Today, any remnants of the train tracks and old lodges where the Section men and yardmen lived at Watt's Crossing are all gone.  What remains is and will always be the history of what once was.

You'll see the occasional cyclists or families on foot walking the trail after lunch.  The area is so quiet and peaceful.  

 I love that they've preserved this land so others can enjoy it for decades to come.