Limited leisure activities on a long weekend often means that everyone is trying to go to the same places. This meant many hikes that you need a reservation to tackle were all booked up the moment the weekly window became available (for you Toronto folks think Parks and recreation registration bad).
We know that peak fall leaf colours are nearly here and wanted to see what we could by enjoying a nice fall hike. Lately we've gravitated towards the Hamilton area since there are some great trails there and it's less than 45 minutes away from our home. This past weekend we explored the trails of Cootes Paradise Marsh.
The cost to park here is $3 an hour. We paid $9 to hike these trails.
This trail was a mixture of dirt paths with some boardwalks along the marsh path to keep our feet dry. While the paths have signs to direct you where to go, it's unclear exactly how the paths connect so we ended up walking several different trails over the course of two hours.
On the Bull Point Loop section of the trails there were several lookouts where we could enjoy snacks with a view. There were also some steep hills on this trail which would be difficult for novice hikers, although we did run into one hardcore family who was pushing a stroller on some of these trails, so good for them! Stick to the trails as there is some poison ivy and our dog managed to "find" a few ticks.
Chris and I often like to think about what movie setting a hike looks like. We felt this hike looked like the set of the initial Hunger Games film.
The reeds were so high along the marsh it made for a neat experience.
View from the edge of the marsh.
We voted that this was prettiest trees on our hike. Both Chris and Molly managed to each catch a falling leaf while we were on the trail.
The diversity on this trail was great in terms of wildlife was wonderful. We saw hawks, ducks, blue jays, chipmunks, and turtles. In terms of flowers along the trail we saw over 10 different kinds including Barren Strawberry, Burr Marigolds, Blazing Star, Daisy Fleebane, Lupins, and more.
This was a pretty hike and I'd definitely do it again. We may attempt get back here again later this fall.
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