Peel & North Halton

The Halton/Caledon Hills section of the Niagara Escarpment is rich in both history and biological diversity. Dominated by the Credit River and its tributaries, the Halton/Caledon Hills section is a landscape of deeply cut stream channels and moist woodlands. The Credit, surely one of Ontario's most beautiful rivers, rushes and babbles its way through the region, its cold clear waters attracting anglers who seek out its trout and salmon.

The glacial drift and moraines that bury the Escarpment to the north are still much in evidence in this section. The Orangeville Moraine, a large glacial landform that stretches from Horning's Mills to Orangeville and south to Erin, provides most of the raw materials for the numerous sand and gravel pits in this area. As the glaciers receded, the Violet Hill Meltwater Dishcharge washed and sorted the drift, producing some of the cleanest sand and gravel deposits anywhere!

This section of the Escarpment is at the junction of two of Ontario's major vegetation zones: the Carolinian and the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence. The more southerly properties, like Scotsdale Farm and Silver Creek Conservation Area, have a mix of species from both zones, making them very biologically diverse.

Yet the Halton/Caledon Hills section also borders on the urban sprawl of the Greater Toronto Area. With intensive development pressing in on all sides, it's good to know that the lands of the Niagara Escarpment are protected, and will continue to provide wildlife habitat, a corridor for wildlife movement, and a place for city-weary visitors to make contact with nature in this heavily populated part of the province.

A good way to access this section is through a growing network of trails being developed along abandoned rail lines. The Caledon Trailway, developed by the Town of Caledon, stretches 35 kilometres from Terra Cotta east to Palgrave. The Elora-Cataract Trail runs east from Cataract to the Grand River, with another 47 kilometres of trail. Both are part of the Trans-Canada Trail. Unlike the Bruce Trail, which is limited to hiking, the Trans-Canada Trail is developed for cycling, horseback riding and cross-country skiing as well.

For more information, please visit Parks in the Area or Headwaters Country Tourism Assocation.