Monday 29 June 2020

Hiking Shade's Mills Conservation Area

When my alarm went off really early Sunday morning so we could beat the heat and the crowds, I almost shut it off and bailed on our scheduled hike. I was sore from painting the upstairs hall on Friday and Saturday, but I set some personal mileage goals for running and hiking and knew that the fresh air would be good for all of us.

We drove to Cambridge for a hike that promised good shade coverage and easy terrain at Shade's Mills. We decided on the Toyota, yeah that Toyota, 3.9km loop trail which took roughly an hour to complete. The cost was $21.00 for our family of four to enter the park.

The path is a wide, accessible one that you could even take a large wheeled stroller on if you wanted to, just keep an eye out for tree roots and the occasional rock.

Being near the water certainly cooled things off, but what I didn't account for was the bugs. Be sure to pack some bug spray. Our hike was considerably faster than usual because the bugs were leaving us less of a want to stop and smell the wild flowers.

The soft wood chip, pine needle, and sometimes gravel pathways were refreshingly soft to walk on. 

Molly spotted two snails on the path during our hike.

 A highlight of this hike was a small really dense section of forest with old trees that looked like something out of a fairy tale.

The kids discovered that someone had started a make-shift shelter they just had to explore.

We went to check out the beach area after our hike and Molly built a sand cave and a castle with a moat while distancing herself from others. If you went early enough a hike followed by a swim and picnic would be really nice here.

Although there was nothing extraordinary about this hike, I'm glad we checked it out. If you live nearby or love the beach it's worth putting on your list. The woods would be stunning in the fall with all the colours. Chris and I were particularly excited that Shade's Mills has snowshoeing trails, something that we're going to add to our "to do" list for winter 2021.  And yes, to reward myself for getting up early I had a lovely, lazy Sunday afternoon nap when we got home!



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