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?

Humber Arboretum Trail

A must-see through the Humber Valley is the Humber Arboretum. It's a really beautiful trek in Toronto’s west end. It covers over 250 acres of botanical gardens and natural, wilder areas that surround the West Humber River.

The Arboretum is located just behind the Humber College North Campus at the intersection of Humberline Drive and Humber College Blvd., so there's lots of parking available.  If you'd rather take a bus or go on foot, it might be of interest to note that there is an express bus from Kipling station to the college.  Terrific way to get there and save on gas.

Once you arrive, you can choose either to take in the beautiful surroundings of the manicured lawns and flourishing flora at the Botanical Gardens in the Arboretum first, or take a walk through many of the marked nature trails through the Arboretum.  I liked the "Meadow Walk" which had 3 separate gates.  Others include the "Survival Path", "Boardwalk", "Beech Vista", "Woodland", "Pondview" and "Garden Circle".  All these nature trails are encompass the Arboretum and excellent tools for educational purposes as well.

The areas surrounding these paths are filled with meadow flowers and forested areas of over 1700 different species of plants and old and new native trees.   The trail paths following out of the Arboretum will take you northwest from this point towards Humberwoods Park in the direction of the Indian Line Campground where you will come across the Claireville Dam & Reservoir, constructed in the aftermath of Hurricane Hazel.

Further northwest still is the Claireville Conservation Area, which is an 848-acre natural and forested area located on the border of Toronto and Brampton. It is one of the largest tracts of land owned by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA). Not all trails in here are accessible on bike, which is why it is sometimes a good idea to leave your bike at home.

Claireville is an unsupervised conservation area and supposedly has coyotes and deer (I've only seen a few bird species, though). Although Claireville is a passive conservation area, so it's popular with ‘birders’.  So, if your photographic interest is birds, then this is a good find.   I will be returning soon before summer's end to take a look at Claireville Conservation Area.  Unfortunately I have little patience unless I am alone to take any wildlife photos.  If I happen to see something, I will do my best to capture it.  Maybe you will have better luck!

For now, I am just content to take pictures of scenic landscapes. If you enjoy looking at the scenes, the photos will take care of themselves.

Happy Trails!