Another section acquired and made secure in Dufferin ☀️
Since about 1970, the trail from 20 Sideroad to Prince of Wales Rd in Mulmur has been made possible by 8 handshake agreements across private properties, a generous but vulnerable arrangement. Some of the properties are an integral part of Peace Valley Ranch for grazing cattle and horses. In November 2019 a key 100-acre property was going to be sold. The Conservancy agreed to negotiate a purchase that, if successful, would allow the grazing to continue. In return Peace Valley agreed to provide a corridor to link Honeywood Ridge to Prince of Wales Rd. Two very generous landowners to the south agreed to donate 20-metre wide corridors from their properties to provide a secured link to 20 Sideroad. All of this was happening during the covid turmoil and accelerating land costs. The Conservancy staff took on the challenges of property purchases and the approval process with determination.
Fast forward to March of 2023, the final 20-metre wide corridor linking the Conservancy’s Honeywood Ridge property to Prince of Wales was approved.
Hiker safety is always important and the old trail with sections where cattle grazed was not ideal. In 1985 the tornado that caused 12 deaths in Barrie had torn through the area covering the trail with remnants of farm buildings. The trail was “temporarily” rerouted northward, close to large concrete silos, eastward to Prince of Wales and south 700 metres on the road. The new reroute now eliminates both the danger of hiking near cattle and the “temporary” reroute.
With snow still on ground but grazing season coming soon, I knew many things had to happen quickly. Working with Adam Brylowski at the Conservancy we generated drawings for fencing and got a quotation from a fencing contractor. A group of old order Mennonites from Badjeros installed 6000 feet of fencing and 10 gates in two days. I have seen many work crews but none as driven and efficient as this one. The new fencing separates hikers from cattle except for 3 narrow, connecting crossovers.
For a first pass, I flagged a possible re-route, later hiking it with Rob Verhagen, the Club’s Land Steward Director, and Tom Thayer, Trail Captain for this section of trail, refining and improving as we went. Additional adjustments were made when clearing and blazing. The reroute to Prince of Wales Rd in the 20 metre corridor was straight-forward.
We made 7 new stiles which Don Stewart, John van Nostrand and I installed. Each stile required digging 4 holes, each a foot deep, to anchor the legs. A lot was learned about the glacial deposit of rocks! Dennis Floresco and I installed the final stile and removed 4 redundant ones, looking like paramedics carrying stretchers. Five of the stiles have locked bypass gates to allow access for grass cutting and when no cattle are grazing, they will be open for hikers.
At the south end of the Honeywood Ridge property a mature hardwood forest has been fenced to allow natural regeneration of the woodlot and a meandering trail that removes hikers from a cattle grazing area.
The northern re-route opened just in time for our Club’s 2 day End-to-End hike May 14, and the complete re-route opened May 18. The new trail is 3K long verses 3.9K on the old. It is truly a major improvement to have permanent trail on BTC secured land, unique with wide open spaces and sweeping long distance views.
Hats off to Conservancy staff, landowners and volunteers that made this happen. We had a lot of fun and a true feeling of accomplishment. A win-win for BTC, our Club and everyone involved.
Carl Alexander
Landowner Relations and Interim Trail Committee Chair
Carl and DHL crew and BTC staff, Thanks for all your good works.
Great that the new trail is established. It is good to separate the hikers and cattle.
The trail was part of my section in 1985. I remember well when the tornado went through. I went there the next day to check the trail, and it had disappeared! There was a large Beech tree with nothing but the trunk remaining – all the branches had been stripped by the storm. There were potatoes and pieces of metal barn roofing along the fence south of the twin silos. It took a few trips, but the trail was re-opened.
A few years later I was checking the trail and ominous storm clouds were forming. With thoughts of the tornado in mind, I found a depression in the ground and took cover until the storm passed!
In 1988, I found an abandoned cat on 20SR and took her home. We named her “Domino” as she was black with a white blaze and paws. Then two others joined her in our house.
I have many fond memories of that section and look forward to the hike.
Congratulations and well done!
Honey wood Ridge is one of my favourite sections!