• Home
  • About Carol
  • About us

Luxury Travel Magazine

An unpretentious guide to luxury travel, culture and adventure

  • About Luxury travel
  • Destinations
  • Spas
    • The Spa and Spa Travel
    • Hot Springs Spas and Thermal Baths: Why You Should Visit One
    • Spa Towns in Europe – 8 Reasons You Should Visit
  • Popular Articles
    • Things to Do in Canada
    • Top European Destinations
    • Things to Do in the South of France
    • Travel and Art: Artistic Cities, Art Fairs and Painting Holidays
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
Luxury travel blog » Places » North America » Canada » Ontario » Hike the Bruce Trail: even if you can’t tell a deer from a log

Hike the Bruce Trail: even if you can’t tell a deer from a log

August 11, 2015 by Carol Perehudoff 24 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links.

My husband has a new fixation – hiking. (I blame Reese Witherspoon in the movie Wild, and Bill Bryson for writing A Walk in the Woods). Apparently we ( Mark and I, as far as I know, Reese and Bill aren’t coming) are going to hike the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, a pilgrimage route through Spain.

Of course I’m looking forward to it because of sangria and gazpacho. But first we need to work up to it, which is why we’re going to hike the Bruce Trail.

Hike the Bruce Trail, Dufferin High-Land Section, Ontario

The Bruce Trail

 

Correction: We’re going to hike a snack-size portion of the Bruce Trail. The Bruce Trail is 885 km long, so if you’re going to do that in one breath you may as well do the Camino de Santiago de Compostela (because of sangria and gazpacho).

About Ontario’s Bruce Trail

The Bruce Trail in Ontario, Canada, might not be a spiritual journey like the Camino in Spain, but if nature is your temple it’s a religious experience. Canada’s oldest and longest marked footpath, the Bruce Trail is the only trail IN THE ENTIRE WORLD that offers continuous public access to the Niagara Escarpment, a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve.

So if you’re sitting at home wishing you had continuous public access to the Niagara Escarpment, you should hike the Bruce Trail, which stretches up from Queenston in Niagara Falls to Tobermory on the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula.

Lookout point Niagara Escarpment, hiking the Bruce Trail near Mono

View from the Niagara Escarpment

Let the adventure begin

The day of our first hike on the Bruce Trail dawned sunny and clear, possibly too sunny and clear – and I was glad I’d requested a hike with shade. Fortunately, Mark had planned our route carefully, consulting the detailed Bruce Trail Reference Guide, which has all the maps of the trail in a little binder so that you can pull out the section you’re hiking and insert it into the (included) plastic slide to carry with you.

Market fresh produce Ontario, hike the Bruce Trail

Market stop!

The Bruce Trail as a day hike from Toronto

We set off after lunch and drove through Toronto toward Mono Cliffs Provincial Park, about an hour north. “Let’s stop at Starbucks,” I said, knowing it’s important to stay hydrated when hiking.

Armed with our hot drinks, we then headed up through the bucolic countryside of Ontario on County Road 18, passing a sign for a produce market. “Fresh peas!” I shouted. “Ontario peaches. Pull over!”

County Road 18 from Toronto, hike the Bruce Trail

The mitten cloud

 

“Slow down so I can take a picture!” I said later, as a cloud that looked like a mitten hovered over the road.

“I need to go to the bathroom,” I said, as we neared the town of Mono. Mark pulled into a Tim Hortons. “Do you want anything?” I asked.

“No,” Mark said, through gritted teeth.

Back in the car I was busy trying to navigate while shelling peas. “Oh, oh. I think we missed the turnoff to Side Road 15.” I looked at Mark guiltily. “But we can go in on Side Road 25 then south on Side Road 3 East. See? There’s a sign for the Bruce Trail.”

Bruce Trail has 400 km of side trails

Bruce Trail has 400 km of side trails

 

Hike the Bruce trail from Mono Cliffs Provincial Park

We pulled into Mono Cliffs Provincial Park Parking Lot at the crack of 4:45 p.m.. From here you can access the Carriage Side Trail, which leads to the Walter Tovell Side Trail, and the South Outlier Loop and the Spillway Trail, too, all of which feed into the Bruce Trail.

Hike the Bruce Trail in a storm

Oh, oh

 

The calm before the storm

“Look.” Mark pointed upward. The cloud that had looked like a glove had now ballooned into a roiling grey mass of enormous proportions. Lined with pale pink, it slashed downwards through the sky.

“Yikes,” I said.

Tentatively we stepped out of the car. Raindrops splattered down. A sheet of lightning flashed across the sky. We got back in the car. The rain started pounding down. Then hail started bouncing off the hood like a barrage of frozen white peas. I peered out at the other cars in the lot, now just dim blurs in a charcoal-toned haze.

“Oh, just imagine the people out there on the trail,” I said, thinking it was a good thing we’d been so late or we would have been hiking in hail.

Luminous forest, hike the Bruce Trail

Are we ever going to get in here?

Hiking the Bruce Trail – also known as sitting in the car thinking about hiking

With nothing else to do we sat in the car munching on peaches and fresh peas. And we might have made out just a little, but we are married after all, and there’s not much else to do in a storm. Finally, the sky lightened up. A few very soaked and shivering people staggered off the trail and into their cars.

“Okay, let’s hike!” I said, ready to begin a new life of adventure and heartiness.

Hike the Bruce Trail Mono Provincial Park, tree down

Tree down!

 

The hike on the Bruce Trail begins – and I mean it this time

Choosing carefully from the three pairs of sandals I’d brought, none of which remotely resembled hiking boots, I picked the sturdiest-looking pair, then saw a sign about ticks and Lyme disease and how you should have your pants tucked into your shoes. I looked down at my exposed toes and cropped pants.

“Can I borrow your socks?” I asked Mark, putting them on under my sandals, thinking that I was now rocking the Japanese sandals-with-socks fashion look extremely well.

Then I soon forgot about fashion as I got caught up in the joy of tramping through the woods. The weather was perfect, with that weird quiet stillness when a storm has just passed – and could imminently start again.

Hike the Bruce Trail from Mono Provincial Park north of Toronto

Ah, just breathe

The fresh air of nature

“Breathe that air,” Mark said, as we passed a field of grasses and wildflowers.

I took a deep breath and coughed, thinking I should probably stop spritzing myself with toxic DEET every time a winged insect flew by.

The trail twisted and turned. We moved though misty forests of luminescent green leaves, along small meadows and patches of woody ferns. It was all so pine-y and gorgeous I didn’t even mind the uphill bits.

Hike the Bruce Trail, Ontario, after the rain

Obstacle course

Roadblock

I hesitated at a puddle that flooded the path, a veil of waterlogged branches draped over it. Crouching, I skirted the side of the trail, lifted up a leafy branch to move it out of the way only to have it pin me to the spot as I was trying to lift the next branch.

“I’m stuck!” I hollered, as if it were Mark’s fault, which of course it was. After he had extricated me, and I shook the excess water off his my sock, we moved on.

McCarston's Lake, Hike the Bruce Trail

McCarston’s Lake

McCarston’s Lake

We climbed a set of steps, paused at a panoramic lookout then stopped to admire McCarston’s Lake, formed by a glacier some 11,000 years ago.

“Let’s take the long way back around the lake,” I said, full of enthusiasm for the glories of hiking the magnificent Bruce Trail.

“I’m tired,” I whined, 45 minutes later. “Shouldn’t we be back by now?”

Wildlife on the Bruce Trail, Ontario, a deer.

Twig?

Wildlife on the Bruce Trail

“Shh,” Mark said. “Is that a deer?”

“Maybe.” I squinted into the distance. “But it looks more like a log and a leaf.”

Then the log galloped away, followed by another log, so I suppose it was a deer after all, and it’s amazing how when you see wild logs deer when you are hiking, it’s so much more poignant and man-meets-primal-nature than if you are passing one in a car. (They also look larger and possibly more vicious – no offence, Bambi.)

WanderingCarol travel blog on the Bruce Trail

Fake glamour shot!

 

Triumph on the Bruce Trail

Two and a half hours later we arrived back at the Mono Cliffs Parking Lot. “We did it!” I said, raising my fist in the air.

A young couple approached us. “How far to the cliffs?” the woman asked.

“It’s 8:30. It’s going to be dark soon,” Mark said, “It’s too late to go hiking.”

“We got lost driving,” the woman told us, sounding very much like me. “We ended up at the educational centre.”

“Maybe you could go for a short while,” I said. “And just have a little walk in the woods.”

“Okay,” she said happily, looking very cute in her little flowered dress as she and her boyfriend traipsed into the forest.

Mist on the Bruce Trail, Ontario, Canada, Best hikes

First comes the mist, then the storm

A narrow escape

Soon after Mark and I drove out of the parking lot the rain came hurtling down. The hail was so forceful we had to pull over to the side of the road.

“We’re lucky we didn’t caught in this,” I said. At that point I didn’t know how lucky we were, that tornados had touched down in parts of Ontario, and that power was out all over the region.

I was just filled with contentment, that simple honest happiness that comes from feeling supremely superior. Not only had we hiked the Bruce Trail, or at least a portion of it, even though we’d started late, I’d had the wrong shoes and couldn’t tell a deer from a log, I now knew there were other hikers who started later, were more inappropriately dressed and more unprepared than I.

And I sincerely hope, and choose to believe, that they didn’t get caught in the storm.

 

Filed Under: Canada, Ontario, Soft adventure

About Carol Perehudoff

A former freelance travel columnist for the Toronto Star, Carol has won more than 20 writing and blogging awards and honours. A spa and luxury travel expert, she's written for top travel publications around the globe.

Comments

  1. Carol Perehudoff says

    August 31, 2015 at 10:35 am

    Okay Dawn, We will rent The Way for sure. We were just in BC and I wish I’d hiked more, but we were mainly cycling. PS: Did you know barefoot hiking is a thing? There’s actually a barefoot hiking trail in St. Moritz, Switzerland!

  2. Carol Perehudoff says

    August 31, 2015 at 10:33 am

    Oh, Lesley – you’re going to have a great time in the Azores. I’ve never been to Madeira, so you’ll have to fill us in on how it goes.

  3. Carol Perehudoff says

    August 31, 2015 at 10:32 am

    There’s a first time for everything, Restless Worker – it was my first try, too. Although I might have stumbled upon it up around Blue Mountain once.

  4. The.Restless.Worker says

    August 31, 2015 at 7:44 am

    I’ve lived in Toronto my whole life and believe it or not, I still haven’t hiked the Bruce trail! Thank you for sharing :)

  5. Catherine Fowler says

    August 20, 2015 at 10:33 pm

    Looks like a lovely place to hike. I’m jealous.

  6. Lesley Peterson (@culturetripper) says

    August 19, 2015 at 2:34 pm

    Inspiring post, Carol! I ‘signed up’ Pat and I for Madeira and the Azores later this year, both great walking destinations, and I’ve really got to get practicing before then LOL A day trip and couple of hours on the Bruce Trail sounds like a good start, especially if there is fresh produce along the way. Thanks for the tip re socks!

  7. dawnkealing says

    August 17, 2015 at 12:32 am

    Carol, if your husband gets more into hiking you both MUST come visit British Columbia. We have some truly amazing hikes, ranging from an hour to day hike; almost all guarantee amazing views! We went out for a 2km hike today, though it was straight uphill, absolutely breathtaking views though! :) (There was a lady doing the hike (climb) in bare feet because she was literally wearing the slipperiest looking flats I’ve ever seen.)

    PS, if your husband is obsessed with hiking the Camino de Santiago he must watch the movie, The Way! It’s a really great movie about the hike. :)

  8. Carol Perehudoff says

    August 16, 2015 at 11:53 pm

    Well, thank you, Bobbi – my job is done.

  9. deafinitelywanderlust says

    August 16, 2015 at 4:30 pm

    Glad that your husband found a new fixation and that you went for it!

    Scenic hiking trails are my favorite :) I went hiking in South Korea, and I see a looooot of Korean hikers. “One of the most popular hobbies here, hiking,” my South Korean friend said. I went hiking in Hong Kong last month called, Dragon Back’s trail and there’s a scenic view of the island and the ocean :)

  10. Carol Perehudoff says

    August 16, 2015 at 11:38 am

    Thank, Alice – it is a wonderful world. I’d love to hike in Asia.

  11. aliceteacake says

    August 16, 2015 at 3:25 am

    Welcome to the awesome world of hiking Carol! I’m glad you got out of that car :D I know nothing about the trails in Canada so thank you so much for introducing me to it. When you make it over to Asia, let me know, I have hiked tons of paths here!

  12. Jenna says

    August 15, 2015 at 9:40 pm

    Lol! I always have a hard time telling trees apart from wildlife too! :) We love hiking and this sounds like a great trail! I’d never heard of the Bruce Trail, so thanks for sharing!

  13. Carol Perehudoff says

    August 15, 2015 at 8:18 pm

    Oh, Fundy is beautiful, Lesley. I was there about 3 years ago. I’m sure your flip flops were divine.

  14. lesleycarter says

    August 15, 2015 at 7:56 pm

    Very funny, especially the socks and sandals.

    We just did some hiking in Fundy National Park in New Brunswick and I rocked my flip flops the entire day ;)

  15. Carol Perehudoff says

    August 15, 2015 at 4:50 pm

    Too funny, Wendy. The next day I walked for an hour in the city and was exhausted. Go figure. Maybe the pollution.

  16. Carol Perehudoff says

    August 15, 2015 at 4:49 pm

    How do you keep a dog with your travelling schedule, Sherri? It’s all I can do to not kill my basil plant.

  17. Carol Perehudoff says

    August 15, 2015 at 4:48 pm

    I think I am hooked on hiking, Janice and George – not so much on the storms.

  18. Carol Perehudoff says

    August 15, 2015 at 4:47 pm

    Glad I’m not the only one, Fiona!

  19. Carol Perehudoff says

    August 15, 2015 at 4:47 pm

    Thanks, Carol – I guess I could walk a mile in your shoes. Or vice versa. Anything longer and we’ll discuss.

  20. carol colborn says

    August 15, 2015 at 4:16 pm

    I saw the deer, but it doesn’t mean I can go hiking. The longest I will do is a mile! Congrats to you both for dodging the storm and “completing” the trail!

  21. Fiona @ London-Unattached says

    August 15, 2015 at 1:49 pm

    Looks wonderful. I guess this is one of the places in Canada to be in Fall? And, yes, like others who have commented, I’d be the one thinking I was looking at a log…

  22. Janice & George (@SandInSuitcase) says

    August 14, 2015 at 1:45 pm

    You might find yourself hooked on hiking! We love hiking :-). Shorter, really scenic ones – not so much the huge long challenging uphill grinds…

  23. Sherri Telenko says

    August 11, 2015 at 6:17 pm

    If you’re going to do this a lot, you need a dog…

  24. Wendy Fedec says

    August 11, 2015 at 12:47 pm

    Haha! This sounds like me and Tom on a hike except I wouldn’t have even lasted 2 1/2 hours…good for you!

Talk to me! Leave a comment Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search

Subscribe and you won't miss an article!

About Wandering Carol

circle profileIn my 10+ years as a travel writer and columnist I've seen the best of what the world has to offer and written for some top publications around the globe - and now my goal is to bring this expertise to you. For more blah blah blah, visit my
About page.

Connect with me online

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Carol Perehudoff published in top media, logos for newspapers and magazines

Categories

How to use this adventure and luxury travel site

  • Click on the ‘DESTINATIONS TO TRAVEL TO’ tab on the menu bar to go to my destinations page.
  • The CATEGORIES drop down menu above will point you to locations and travel themes such as hotels, outdoor adventure and tours.
  • SUBSCRIBE to keep up with the latest articles and get tips to make your next journey inspiring.

Recent Posts

  • A (Lost) Love for Travel on Valentine’s Day
  • Best Beach Resorts in South Africa: Top 9 Luxury Stays for 2021
  • A Chocolate Christmas in Switzerland
  • Best Place to Live in South Africa | Cheapest, Safest and Best on Offer
  • Romantic Budapest

Recent Comments

  • Carol Perehudoff on A Tropical Island Cocktail Cure at Paradisus Palma Real
  • chrisrochfort on Who worked at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel?
  • brittshedhappens on My shamanic healing in the Amazon, Peru
  • Christa McKinney on A Tropical Island Cocktail Cure at Paradisus Palma Real
  • Ruth Reynolds on Bad Kreuznach – the German Spa Town You Probably Never Heard of

Terms of Use

Terms of Use

Copyright @2020 WanderingCarol.com Luxury Travel Blog