Here’s your weekly outdoor inspiration to get outside!

EVENTS

Snowshoeing at Kelso – hours have been extended on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights to 7pm
Kelso has launched a new experience! Snowshoeing! You can rent them onsite with a reservation or bring your own, they’ve got campfires going and you get a complimentary hot drink

Winterlit- An illuminated walk in the woods
Mountsberg has illuminated 2 of their trails and you can can check it out daily from 5:30 to 10pm daily until February 15. Reservations required

Bronte Creek Adventure Lab
Have you tried the Adventure Lab geocaching app at Bronte Creek yet? The Adventure Lab app guides players through the process of finding clues, solving puzzles, and completing Adventures, one location at a time. Click on the link for all the info

Lakeside Festival of Lights, Spencer Smith Park
This has been extended until the end of January, so you still have time to check it out. Walk the Burlington waterfront to see over 60 festive light installations.

HIKING

Devil’s Punchbowl Conservation Area, Ridge Rd, Stoney Creek
This is a great little hike to do if you need something to draw you in (like you’re with non hikers or have kids that won’t last long), there are two separate waterfalls to check out and the hike itself is pretty short! You can make the hike longer if you want to as it connects to both the Bruce Trail and the Dofasco 2000 Trail

River and Ruin Side Trail, Bruce Trail, Britannia Rd and Blind Line
This is one of my favourite hikes in this area because I love checking out old ruins, plus part of it runs along Bronte Creek. The ruins is an old stone home and is the former Cleaver home, they owned a mill in Lowville. Two things to take note of before you do this hike though, first, there are only 4-5 street parking spots along Britannia Rd (at Blind Line) and you will get ticketed for parking anywhere else, second, make sure to check conditions before you send your kids down this trail, it’s quite steep as you descend down to the creek, which is fine in any other season, but when I was there at the beginning of the week it was very icy. If it’s icy I would not attempt this without crampons.

Scenic Drive and Radial Rail Trail, Hamilton
This is a 4km easy loop trail with two waterfalls (Westcliff and Cliffview Falls). Parking Lot at Upper Paradise and Scenic Dr.

If you’re looking to stay in town, in Halton you can find trails at Westbrook Park (Mississauga St, Oakville), Sherwood Forest (Fairview St, Burlington), Mill Pond (Margaret St, Milton). In Hamilton some options are the McMaster Forest Trail (Lions Club Rd), Trenholmes Park (Milkyway Dr), Valley Park (Paramount Dr).