Part 2 – Mountainview Conservation Area to Keddy Access Trail – 117.9/890km

Part 2 was a weekend hike.

Saturday, July 22, 2023 – 73.5km Niagara section – 11.9km Iroquoia section

We left Toronto at 6am and arrived at our starting location around 7:15am. Again my partner very kindly drove us out. We started hiking where we had left off last time at Mountainview Conservation Area around 7:20am. It was a bright, sunny day, hot and a bit humid but the majority of today’s hike was through wooded areas so it wasn’t too bad.

After walking through Mountainview Conservation Area, you pop out onto a road. Walking past vineyards and farms, you’ll turn right onto Thirty Road and then head back into the woods near Thirty Mike Creek Falls. There was actually flowing water in these falls, not a lot but it was an actual waterfall!

Continuing along the little path through the forest, you’ll eventually pop out at another road briefly before heading back into the trees. You’ll cross a few streams, all were dry when we crossed them, but the berries were out and there were a whole bunch of mushrooms everywhere. We saw deer tracks at one point but didn’t actually see any.

You’ll cross another road and then make a steep descent down the ridge to a residential area, which is in Grimsby. If you want to stop and get some food or find washrooms, this is the best spot as the downtown is just a couple of streets over from the trail at this point. If not, you’ll follow a dead end road that leads to a bridge over Forty Mile Creek. This is the boundary between the Niagara Club section and the Iroquoia Club! Our first club section completed! The Niagara club is about 83km. This means we can also order our Niagara Club End to End badges now. 😆

You’ll cross the bridge and find a lovely red stone house, the trail goes to the left of this house and into the wood behind the barn. There’s a sign welcoming you to the Iroquoia Club section. Now that you’ve climbed down the ridge you have to climb back up. At the top of the steep climb is the Beamer Memorial Conservation Area. There are a couple benches(!) here as well as a few great lookout spots. It’s amazing looking back along the Escarpment and seeing how far you’ve walked! There is an outhouse by the parking lot but I don’t think it’s ever been cleaned, it was one of the grossest things I’ve ever seen, you’d be better off going in the bush.

Exiting the conservation area, you’ll walk along Ridge Road West past fields and houses. The shoulders are narrow so make sure to walk facing oncoming traffic. After a couple kilometres, you’ll turn right onto Woolverton Road and then pop back into the trees at Woolverton Conservation Area. There are a couple great views of Grimsby along this section as well but by this time my planter fasciitis was really hurting, I was tired and the mosquitos were relentless no matter how much bug spray we kept putting on.

You’ll cross Fifty Road after a few kilometres and go back into the woods. There was a little wooden platform over a dried up stream at the entrance. I had to rest here a bit for my foot. The last 3km of our day’s hike was awful as I was in so much pain and so tired, but we finally made it to our stopping point at 11.9km (Iroquois Club – the km starts at 0 again at each club’s section) at McNeilly Road near Vinemount around 3:10pm.

I had noticed that quite close to where we ended for the day was a restaurant I had heard was good and had been wanting to try. So we walked another 1km to Memphis Fire Barbeque and had some pulled pork and brisket for dinner. Their mac n’ cheese was so creamy and good and I absolutely love me some corn bread!

After dinner we got an Uber to our hotel, a Quality Inn located in the new development of Grimsby-on-the-Lake. There’s a nice trail along the waterfront with a little beach where people were swimming and SUP’ing. The hotel was good, it even had a pool which I hadn’t realized otherwise I would have brought a swimsuit.

Sunday, July 23, 2023 – 11.9km-34.6km Iroquoia section

The hotel had a complimentary breakfast which opened at 7am, so we had that. It was alright, eggs did not taste real, I’m not sure what they actually were. I tried to get an Uber to take us back to our starting point for the day, which was almost unsuccessful as it was 7:30am on a Sunday in Grimsby, but we managed to get one.

We started hiking at 7:40am and immediately could feel the humidity, it was disgusting. Also the mosquitos were relentless, despite constantly spraying ourselves with bug spray. To be honest, this day was the most difficult hike of my life. My planter fasciitis, now on both feet, started hurting pretty soon into the hike and was excruciating, that in itself was bad enough but the humidity, the mosquitos and not being as well rested as I should have been all combined to make today really, really tough for me. I was definitely questioning life choices on today’s hike.

You start off going through the woods for about 7km, crossing Dewitt Road about halfway through. The trail wasn’t too bad, not too rocky and pretty level. You’ll then pop out at a train track, which I believe is live so take care when crossing. New Mountain Road runs under the tracks. You’ll then pop back into the trees on the other side of the tracks and again continue through the woods.

You’ll come to some very steep stairs leading down to a creek. This is the bottom of the Devil’s Punchbowl. the trail skirts the stream and starts climbing up the other side. If you’ve never seen the Devil’s Punchbowl Falls before, I’d recommend a detour following the stream. You’ll reach the Lower Falls and if you continue the Upper Falls, the much more impressive of the two.

We’d seen the falls before so just continued along the trail, which winds through more forest before going under Centennial Parkway beside the train tracks again. You turn back into the woods and have a few steep climbs to take you into Felker’s Falls Conservation Area. The path becomes much wider and smoother here. There was actually water flowing in Felker’s Falls, the second waterfall of our journey that wasn’t dry! You’ll see patches of dirt near the edge showing where people have stood to get a better view of the falls, however the trees and roots holding the ground together are jutting precariously out over the edge. Again remember the cliffs are very soft limestone so take care when trying to get a good view.

You pass over Felker’s Creek and come to the parking lot. There’s a playground with benches and picnic tables here, which we used to have our lunch around 11am. My foot was in desperate need of a rest as well so really happy to see benches! This area is right next to a subdivision and if you walk about a kilometre down Paramount Drive you’ll find Heritage Hill Shopping Centre with some restaurants if you’d like a food stop or bathroom break. I didn’t want to add 2km to our hike as at this point (only halfway through our hike for the day) I was pretty much already done.

Starting again around 11:30am, we passed over to the other side of the falls. No great views here due to the foliage, but it might be better in the winter when the leaves are gone. The trail through this conservation area is really nice – level, smooth and wide. You’ll then come out onto a paved bike path before heading back into the woods.

You’ll come to what I’m assuming is a no-longer used section of Mt Albion Road as there were no cars, but lots of bikes as it’s a steep descent and I’m sure really fun on a bike. This road runs parallel to Red Hill Valley Parkway and will lead you under the highway and into King’s Forest.

Following the path through the woods, you’ll have the option to follow a side trail to Albion Falls and Buttermilk Falls. Again, if you’ve never seen them, I’d recommend taking the side trail, however we’d been before so just followed the main trail to Red Hill Creek. Crossing over the creek you’ll start climbing up the other side and continue along through the woods for awhile.

You’re now on Hamilton Mountain and there are several paths leading into the surrounding suburbs or stairs leading up to Mountain Brow Blvd. This part was the worst for me, I was in so much pain, overheated from the humidity, absolutely done with the mosquitos and very, very cranky. There’s luckily a bench at Uli’s Stairs where I rested my foot.

After a bit more walking through the forest, you’ll come to the Kenilworth Stairs. No climbing, you just walk over them to the other side and into the trees again. This next section was the worst part of the trail for me so far. The trail is very narrow, almost disappearing in places and goes through overgrown plants, lots of mosquitos and there’s a bunch of unstable rocks on the path. I was already tired, in pain and cranky and this awful trail only made it worse. You come up to the Escarpment Rail Trail twice, the first time you just cross it to the other side and back along the awful path. The second time is a real treat as you actually get to walk along this paved, wide and level path for 2.5km!

You then reach the Wentworth Stairs, much climbing required. Lots of Hamiltonians use these stairs in their exercise routines. When we got there, one guy was running up and down the steps blaring the theme song from Rocky😂. It helped inspire me to push on to the finish.

You’ll cross Sherman Access road and continue into the trees again. Not as bad as the forest right before it, you’ll soon pop out at Jolley Cut and cross the Arkledun Avenue bridge where you’ll get a fantastic view of downtown Hamilton, the lake and the Burlington bridge in the distance. We stopped our hike at the turn off to the Keddy Access Trail at 34.6km around 3:30pm. While waiting to get picked up by my partner I continued down the street to St. Joseph’s Park, site of the now demolished Arkledun Mansion. Until our next hike!