Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
Subscription Form

Get notified of the best News

Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
22K Followers
25K Likes
5K Followers
1K Followers
Mountain Life
Mountain Life
  • Daily Content
    • Trips & Expeditions
    • Climbing
    • Mountain Biking
    • Mountain Lifer
    • Multiplicity
    • On The Trail
    • Paddling
    • Photography
    • Skiing
    • Snowboarding
    • Stay & Play
    • Surfing
    • The Great Outdoors
    • The ML Interview
    • Travel
  • GEAR
  • VIDEOS
  • STORE
  • Magazines
    • ML Coast Mountains
    • ML Rocky Mountains
    • Vie En Montagne
    • ML Blue Mountains
    • ML Annual
    • ML Subscriptions
  • ABOUT
    • What is ML?
    • Our Team
    • Newsletter
    • Adventure Grant
    • Distribution
  • Podcast
  • Contests
  • CONTACT
    • ML Agency
    • Advertising
    • Contribute
  • On The Trail
  • Ontario

Simcoe Hikes: An Explorer’s Dream

  • August 5, 2021
  • Mountain Life Media
Total
28
Shares
28
0
0
0
0
0
Total
28
Shares
Share 28
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0

words & photos :: Kristin Schnelten.

Simcoe County’s rolling fields, dense forests and sparkling waterfronts are an explorer’s dream, boasting a broad range hiking and walking paths, from paved multi-use trails to scrambling, rocky tracks. 

DSC5678

Thinking of taking a casual stroll? Just north of Orillia, the Ramara Trail is wide and gentle enough for a leisurely walk through the trees. Beginning at the historic fish weirs built by Mnjikaning First Nation people, the rail-to-trail path offers views of the historic swing bridge in the Atherley Narrows, making its way past breezy farmlands and beneath an intertwined forest canopy overhead. Historical markers along the path tell a tale of its long history as a CN Rail Line, running between Toronto, North Bay and Vancouver.

In picturesque Midland, sailboats bob at the Midland Town Dock beneath the largest outdoor historical mural in North America. Depicting Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons in 1640, the 80 by 250-foot painting greets sailors and visitors to the welcoming pier.

DSC5420

The Midland Rotary Waterfront Trail meanders past this imposing mural on its way from Sainte-Marie Among the Hurons to Pete Pettersen Park and Gawley Park, passing pristine parklands, bright gardens and varied historical sites as it offers both glimpses and panoramic views of the Wye River, Tiffin Basin and Midland Bay. The paved, multi-use trail is popular with walkers, cyclists and in-line skaters, with ample parking along its 8 km length. 

DSC5488

For an immersive experience in the natural world, a trip to Bradford leads to the 700-acre nature preserve at Scanlon Creek Conservation Area. The 3.5-km Scanlon Creek Loop Trail, with its shorter Evergreen, Sugar Maple, Chickadee and Kingfisher side loops, welcomes hikers, birders and families to a criss-crossing overview of the greenspace. Wildlife-filled wetlands and a forest thick with foliage are connected with scenic bridges, boardwalks and overlooks—and picnic areas and washroom facilities encourage a longer stay and connection with nature.

Just south of Duntroon, the Nottawasaga Bluffs Loop Trail treks along the Niagara Escarpment in the extensive 400-acre conservation area. Along the trail, watch for signs of settlers and their efforts to create a home and a living in the rocky forest with an abandoned stagecoach road, limestone kiln, original farmstead—and even a generations-old rhubarb patch.

DSC5708

The quintessential far-reaching views of the Bruce Trail here are filled with the soft pillows of an endless forest canopy, and side trails sneak into the bottoms of narrow crevice caves whose floors boast snow even into summer and whose walls are covered with bright lichens and tiny ferns.

DSC5611

Northwest of Barrie, just behind the Simcoe County Museum, the Warbler Way Loop Trail showcases an extensive effort to restore habitat and welcome wildlife. The Museum Tract Forest and Habitat Restoration Project aims to “establish suitable nesting habitat for the Kirtland’s warbler…a globally rare and endangered migratory bird which was nearly extinct 50 years ago, but has since begun to recover.” 

DSC5563

In this short and gentle loop, beauty abounds—beauty in both destruction and rebirth, as the controlled burn of non-native species in the 74-acre swath made way for the planting of more than 150,000 native trees. Around the fringes of this restoration project, open and airy pine forests alternate with tunnel-like paths through dense woods.

DSC5642

With a wide variety of trails, and locations from one far-flung corner of the county to the other, hitting the trail in Simcoe is as simple as selecting a location and tying your shoes. Choose a full day hiking a nature preserve, a speed-walk on a paved town path or a quick stroll with the dog on a former rail line and visit trails.simcoe.ca for interactive and printable maps, descriptions, photos and histories of 25 area trails.

ML Blue Mountains Summer Issue Out Now
Total
28
Shares
Share 28
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Related Topics
  • Bruce Trail
  • Hiking
  • Ontario
  • Ontario hikes
  • Ontario hiking
  • Ontario trails
  • Simcoe County
  • Simcoe County tourism
  • trails
  • Visit Simcoe County
Mountain Life Media

Previous Article
Wave-Chasers-Chasseurs-de-vagues-Magdalen-islands-Grande-Entree-Island-ALEXANDRE-GREGOIRE
  • Stay & Play
  • Surfing
  • Travel

Wave Chasers / Chasseurs de vagues

  • August 5, 2021
  • Mountain Life Media
View Post
Next Article
Gear-Shed-Mountain-Life-Platypus-Quickdraw-standing-in-lake
  • CAMPING GEAR
  • FALL GEAR
  • HIKING GEAR
  • SPRING GEAR
  • SUMMER GEAR
  • THE GEAR SHED

Gear Shed: Platypus QuickDraw Microfilter System

  • August 7, 2021
  • Ned Morgan
View Post
You May Also Like
The-High-Route-Kaytlyn-Gerbin-Jenny-Abegg-North-Cascades-High-Route-glacier-hiking
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • Trips & Expeditions
  • Videos

Friday Flick: Alpine Ultra-Run Sufferfest

  • Ned Morgan
  • March 10, 2023
Ryan-Osman-ontario-splitboarding
View Post
  • Ontario
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding

Off-Piste ON

  • Mountain Life Media
  • March 6, 2023
Skiis-and-Biikes
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • Ontario
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding

Skiis & Biikes Looks to the Future

  • Mountain Life Media
  • March 6, 2023
View Post
  • Mountain Lifer
  • On The Trail
  • Photography
  • Stay & Play

Let It Roar

  • Sarah Bulford
  • February 9, 2023
Life-Time-Grand-Prix-gravel-bike
View Post
  • Mountain Biking
  • On The Trail

New Docuseries Profiles the World’s Elite Off-Road Cyclists

  • Editor
  • January 30, 2023
Mountain-Life-Blue-Mountains-stack-winter-2023
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • Ontario
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Trips & Expeditions

ML Blue Mountains Winter-Spring ’23 Issue Out Now

  • Ned Morgan
  • January 6, 2023
Golden-BC-mountain-biking
View Post
  • Mountain Biking
  • On The Trail

Shifting Gears

  • Mountain Life Media
  • December 18, 2022
Nicholas-Spooner-moose-skier-touring-Quebec
View Post
  • On The Trail
  • Photography
  • Skiing
  • Snowboarding
  • Trips & Expeditions

Vie en montagne Winter-Spring ’22-’23 Out Now

  • Mountain Life Media
  • December 12, 2022
Featured Posts
  • Mustang-Survival-WOMENS-HELIX-CCS 1
    Gear Shed: Our End-of-Winter Picks
    • March 23, 2023
  • natural-selection-Redbull 2
    Friday Flick: Natural Selection Tour Highlights
    • March 17, 2023
  • Powder-Highway-BC-ski 3
    Powder Highway Revisited
    • March 21, 2023
  • AleTrailsSouthernInterior_Vernon_MikeGamble_LookoutTrail_BenHaggarPhoto 4
    Ale Trails: Southern Interior Part 1, Vernon + Shuswap
    • March 20, 2023
  • Bora-Boreal-Quebec-winter-cabin-stars 5
    Bora Boréal: Frozen in Time and Ice
    • March 14, 2023
RECENT POSTS
  • Elements-Outfitters-Filson-cabin
    Elements Outfitters Partners with SALTS to Protect Alberta’s Incredible Landscapes
    • March 16, 2023
  • Uncertainty-mountains-Rockies
    Facing Uncertainty: The Role of Chance in Mountain Adventures
    • March 13, 2023
  • The-High-Route-Kaytlyn-Gerbin-Jenny-Abegg-North-Cascades-High-Route-glacier-hiking
    Friday Flick: Alpine Ultra-Run Sufferfest
    • March 10, 2023
Social Links
Instagram 22K Followers
Facebook 25K Likes
Twitter 5K Followers
Pinterest 1K Followers
Vimeo 34 Followers
LinkedIn 0
INSTAGRAM
mountainlifemedia
22K Followers
From The Gear Shed: Last Monday was the official start of spring, but we know there’s still some winter to be shredded. So ML staff and partners have picked the latest jackets, lanterns, bindings, mugs and drysuits for winter-spring.
Exploring the sights around beautiful Sutton, Quebec with ML creator @adv_bird ❄️🫶
Back on the road with three generations, dancing lifties, best-on-planet pizza and elusive-but-exquisite pow days.
Live It Up EP 24 is out now!
The Southern Interior region of BC holds an ecological cross-section of the province with alpine meadows, arid Douglas fir grasslands, damp cedar and hemlock forests of the Columbia Mountains and the warm expanse of Shuswap Lake.
Do Not Disturb mode activated ✅ #mountainlifer
Conceived by superhuman snowboarder @travisrice, the @naturalselection Tour highlights earth’s premier riders, from big-mountain mavens to Olympians, all competing on the most stoketastic—and unpredictable—terrain known to humankind.
Built upon a shared desire to enjoy, respect, and advocate for Alberta’s incredible landscapes, it was a natural fit for @elementsoutfitters to work with a local conservation organization @saltslandtrust to highlight the province’s rugged beauty and outdoor apparel to match.
THE UNINVITED INVITATIONAL April 13-16 @woodwardtahoe 😱 $40,000 cash prize purse and a whole lotta spotlight on a group of riders whose time has finally come!! Presented by @jess.kimura and @thenorthface and supported by @yeti @capitasupercorp @slushthemagazine @unionbindingco @smithoptics @sunbum @coalheadwear @fattire 🫡 watch the finals in person Saturday April 15 and join the crew + @btbounds for a public ride day Sunday April 16 @borealmtn. Time to make some history!!! #linkinbio to learn more!
Close your eyes and, for a moment, imagine yourself deep in the polar regions aboard an expedition ship stuck in the ice. The white pack-ice is dazzling, and the immobile vessel seems frozen in time and space. That experience piques your curiosity, doesn't it? Without having to go all the way to Antarctica, you can experience these icy sensations 30 minutes from Quebec City in one of Bora Boréal 's two floating cottages.
Follow

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

From The Gear Shed: Last Monday was the official start of spring, but we know there’s still some winter to be shredded. So ML staff and partners have picked the latest jackets, lanterns, bindings, mugs and drysuits for winter-spring.
Exploring the sights around beautiful Sutton, Quebec with ML creator @adv_bird ❄️🫶
Back on the road with three generations, dancing lifties, best-on-planet pizza and elusive-but-exquisite pow days.
Live It Up EP 24 is out now!
The Southern Interior region of BC holds an ecological cross-section of the province with alpine meadows, arid Douglas fir grasslands, damp cedar and hemlock forests of the Columbia Mountains and the warm expanse of Shuswap Lake.
Do Not Disturb mode activated ✅ #mountainlifer
Mountain Life
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Advertising

Input your search keywords and press Enter.