City life can become boring pretty soon if not we find enough time off from the concrete jungles and busy roads. Luckily Toronto is a city full of adventures and naturescapes throughout the city and surrounding it. There are numerous beautiful trails and provincial parks around the city which can be easily reached and are ideal for a day hike, biking and other activities either solo or with family.
Among the many, Forks of the Credit Provincial Park definitely stands out not only for its easier trails, but also for its immensely beautiful surroundings. There is no argue that this park is different in looks than its more challenging peers as the trails pass through very different terrains. In fact, we initially underestimated this park being so near to the city, but when we were there we were truly awestruck. Deep forest, green meadow, sparkling lake, feisty river, deep canyons, you name it and this place has it. And some parts of the trails overlaps with the legendary Bruce trail too.
-Quick Tips-
- The parking fees are $7.50 for 4 hours or $12 for full day
- To avoid crowd start the hike around 8 AM when the park opens, specially in summer
- Carry an insect repellent as there are a lot of annoying bugs and mosquitoes in the forest.
- Don’t forget to carry enough water as there is no source of drinking water inside.
- Carry some snacks if you are planning for a whole day hike.
This was our story about a day hike near Toronto to Forks of the Credit Provincial Park. We are a roaming couple who likes short trips and budget travel. We generally don’t spend a long time in a particular place. As our blog name suggests, we hop around quite frequently. So if we suit your travel style please subscribe to us or connect with us on the social network of your choice.
Forks of the Credit Provincial Park
The Forks of the Credit Provincial Park is a easy day hike near Toronto but immensely beautiful as we found it. Historically it was a mill area which was later converted to a hydro power station with a dam on the river. The power station was shut down in 1947 and later the dam was also destroyed. in 1985 this park was designated as a provincial park by the Ontario government.
It is just an hour of drive away from the city through some really scenic country roads that passes through stunning farms. The park opens at 8 AM in the summer an we will suggest you to reach around that time if you want a parking spot and less crowded trails. During the summers, towards the late morning, the trails can become as cramped with people as downtown Toronto.
Car Parking and Amenities
Forks of the Credit Provincial Park has actually two decent sized parking lot just at the entry to the trail. But don’t be fooled, you will be lucky to get a parking spot after 11AM in weekends and we saw that people were queuing up outside the park gate to enter the park. So try to arrive early not only for deserted trails but also for a parking spot.
We paid for a 4 hour parking permit which cost us $7.50. There was a whole day permit too for $12. The fee station is located towards the end of the parking lot and accepts coins and cards. There is a visitor information center near the parking lot, but it was closed due to coronavirus precautions. The trail itself starts right from the parking lot.
Also the public washrooms near the visitor center were closed too. But there were a few vault toilets near the start of the trail and also a couple of them mid way in the trails for convenience.
The Hike Through The Trails
There are multiple trails that run thorough the Forks of the Credit Provincial Park. Some of the trails are actually part of the Bruce trail which runs all the way from Niagara to Tobermory. Some trails allow bicycles and some even allow horse riding. Here is a map of the park showing all the available trails.
Since we were only doing a short hike within 4 hours, this this the route we took as marked on the map. The distances are not that long but were spending a lot of time clicking photos as the trails were really beautiful.
The trails are at most of the places quite well marked but do keep the map handy because it can be confusing at some points. Right after the Parking, there are two options to start the journey, either the Meadow Train or the Trans Canada trail. We started our hike along the Meadow trail. Now lot of people complete their visit by only following the Meadow trail and then following the signs to the falls and back. But we wanted to explore more so took a more indirect path.
The Meadow trail is really nothing special in itself and looks and feels like a most of other trails across Ontario. But some of the side trials and detours branching or intersecting the Meadow trail are pretty unique and amazing. And definitely the one that deserves a special mention is the Kettle Trail.
Now Kettle lake is the only lake you will find in the park and it is hard to miss. The Kettle trail is a short trail that connects the Meadow Trail and the Trans Canada trail and passes by the Kettle lake. Now this trial is pretty awesome we must say. It passes right through a green field with wildflowers blooming in full glory specially during the summers.
And on one side of the lush backdrop the Kettle lake resides. Sitting by the rocky bank of the lake amongst the summer bloom while the birds sing for you is a panacea in itself for all your worries.
After taking a quick detour on the Kettle Trail, we came back to our original route and followed the Meadow trail until it intersects the Trans Canada trail. Here, being in our explorer self, we took a right to take the Trans Canada trail. This trial passes along some private lands and catches up with the Meadow trail again. But this part of the Meadow trail is actually much less trodden and looks very different than the rest of the trail.
Following the Meadow trail, eventually we reached a staircase that led us to a bridge over the Credit river. It was a nice place to be but nothing special. Also our original plan was to catch up with the Dominion Trail (yellow) here, but alas, the entry to the trail was closed.
So we got back up the stairs and walked along the Meadow trail again till we reached another intersection where there was direction marker towards the falls. So we took right from here and this trail again caught up with the Dominion trail. Just for convenience, there is another vault toilet at too at this intersection.
So finally being able to catch up with the Dominion Trail, we followed the road towards the falls. This part of the trial is very undulating with frequent up slopes and down slopes. The whole path was through a forest with frequent sights of gangs of squirrels fighting and some enormous mushrooms growing up from tree trunks.
Finally at the end of the Dominion trial we got a sight of the waterfall. It wasn’t a big or exceptional looking fall, but we were chasing this one for so long that it felt good even with the thinnest sight of it we could get through the summer foliage.
While coming back from the falls, we took a different section of the Dominion trail that passes right along the Credit river. This section is truly beautiful with the fast moving river cutting across lush greens with its relaxing rippling and bubbling sound. We spotted people were doing fly fishing too, something we kept a mental note about for our next visit.
After that, the journey back was pretty much similar. We caught up with the Trans Canada trail which took us back to the parking lot.
It was a beautiful experience indeed. Maybe we covered only around 10 kilometres in around 3 hours, but we were stopping a lot to absorb and click the pretty scenery around us. We believe it is possible to cover all the trails within 4 hours if one can walk fast without stopping. But we left something for next time.
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