Beaver
Valley Lowlands
Rising up from springs and creeks in the Feversham
area, the Beaver River meanders 40 kilometres to Georgian Bay. It
also meets up with the Boyne River just west of Eugenia. For much
of its course, the Beaver runs through a heavily wooded swamp dominated
by silver maple, black ash and trembling aspen. Ostrich ferns line
the banks, and wildlife is abundant. Wood ducks, hooded mergansers,
green herons, great horned owls and snapping turtles are regularly
seen on the Beaver. The river is a popular canoe and kayak route,
especially in spring, when it attracts whitewater enthusiasts. Anglers
also come for the river's brown and rainbow trout.
The Petun Indians gave the Beaver River its name.
One historian even speculated that the use of the Beaver as Canada's
national emblem originated with the Petun from Grey County. On their
fur trading missions, they carried shields decorated with a beaver
ensign.
The Beaver is a good example of a misfit river - one
that is too small to have created such a large valley. Hundreds
of thousands of years ago, before the glaciers advanced over southern
Ontario, the sprawling valley carried a much larger river. It eroded
down through the soft limestone bedrock, creating one of the Escarpment's
largest valleys. Then the glaciers smoothed and widened the valley
to more than ten kilometres across in places.
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Craigleith
Provincial Park
Fossil lovers will want to visit Craigleith
Provincial Park to view the 445-million-year-old fossil trilobites
along the shore of Nottawasaga Bay. The flat shales of the Lindsay
Formation exposed along the shoreline are full of these ancient
arthropods that inhabited the sea floor during the Paleozoic Era.
Craigleith Provincial Park is also close to the site of Ontario's
only shale oil works.
In 1859, Collingwood entrepreneur William Pollard
built a distillation plant at Craigleith to extract oil from the
areas bituminous shales. It was a cumbersome process, and his plant
operated for only four years. A provincial plaque at Craigleith
Provincial Park now marks the site of Pollard's enterprise.
Craigleith Provincial Park is located in Collingwood,
Ontario. For more information, call 705-445-4467or visit the Ontario
Parks Website.
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Epping
Lookout
Epping Lookout is located on the western side of the
Beaver Valley. This 5-hectare roadside picnic area, owned by the
Grey Sauble Conservation Authority, gives Beaver Valley explorers
a place to stop for a spectacular view. To the north, the broad
plain of the Beaver Valley widens until it reaches Nottawasaga Bay.
To the south, the valley narrows and eventually disappears. A historical
plaque at Epping Lookout tells the story of American conservationist
John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club, who lived and worked in the
Meaford area during the 1860s.
To get to Epping Lookout, go south on County Road
7 from Meaford for 15.2 km.
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Old Baldy
Conservation Area
Old Baldy, on the eastern rim of the Beaver Valley
near Kimberley, is an arch-shaped dome of Amabel dolostone -- the
hard rock that caps much of the Niagara Escarpment in Grey County.
This sheer cliff is one of the most dramatic relief features in
Ontario, and one of the most significant natural and scenic areas
on the Escarpment.
Old Baldy illustrates the erosional processes that
formed the Niagara Escarpment in the past, and continue to sculpt
it today. Large blocks of rock have separated from the main cliff.
In fact, Old Baldy itself is gradually separating from the main
Escarpment.
Along the cliff edge at Old Baldy, hikers pass through
a forest dominated by eastern white cedar and mountain maple. The
forest floor supports a sparse understory of common polypody, marginal
shield fern and bulblet fern.
Just back from the cliff-edge, a deciduous forest of sugar maple
with white ash, beech and basswood predominates, with ferns, wild
ginger and wild leek beneath. Nineteen species of ferns have been
recorded at Old Baldy.
Old Baldy provides a panoramic view of the Beaver
Valley and the Talisman and Beaver Valley ski clubs. It is a magnificent
hike in the fall. Rock climbing is another popular activity at this
site. Climbers must obtain a permit from the Grey Sauble Conservation
Authority.
To get to Old Baldy, take the steep gravel road up
the valley immediately north of the village of Kimberley off County
Road 13.
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Upper
Beaver Valley (formerly Hoggs Falls)
At the extreme southern end of the Beaver Valley,
near where the Boyne River joins the Beaver, is lovely little-known
Hoggs Falls. The drive to the seven metre high falls is one of the
most beautiful in the area. The valley is at its narrowest at this
point. Its steep banks rise up sharply, leaving just enough room
for the road and the Boyne River which flows along beside it. Hoggs
Falls are named for William Hogg, a son of the illustrious Hogg
family of York, for whom Toronto's Hoggs Hollow was named. William
Hogg settled in Eugenia in the 1870s.
To get to Upper Beaver Valley, take County Road 4
east from the main intersection in Flesherton. After a few kilometres,
take the first township road to the left (north).
Take the next right onto the Beaver Valley Road and
watch for the yellow metal gate on the left, a few hundred metres
along this road. Park on the road and walk past the gate a short
distance to the falls.
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Eugenia
Falls Conservation Area
At Eugenia Falls, the Beaver River plunges 30 metres
(98.4 ft) over the Escarpment into a narrow, tree-lined gorge. The
Grey Sauble Conservation Authority has placed some interpretive
signs along a low stone wall that lines the edge of the gorge.
Eugenia Falls is an interesting place to reflect upon
human folly and greed. The site has witnessed two grand but unsuccessful
money-making schemes over the years.
Shortly after it was discovered in 1852, Eugenia Falls
was the site of an ill-fated gold rush. The settler who first came
upon the falls noticed the glint of gold in the rocks underwater.
A mining boom ensued, which at its peak, saw 200 men staking claims
and extracting rock. They even cut steps down the east side of the
falls to ease the task of carrying bags of rock up to the top. The
gold turned out to be iron pyrite (fools gold) and the men returned
to their farms, their dreams of fabulous wealth shattered.
Early in the 20th century, Eugenia Falls witnessed
its second failed enterprise. In 1905, the newly formed Georgian
Bay Power Company built a massive tunnel across the river upstream
from the falls to house turbines. The outrageous scheme drove the
company into bankruptcy and the project was abandoned before the
turbines were installed. Later, parts of the tunnel were blown up
as a safety measure. All that remains today is the arch at the eastern
end of the tunnel.
In 1913, the Hydro Electric Power Commission of Ontario
acquired the property and built a power plant. They also purchased
1900 acres of surrounding land and flooded it, creating Eugenia
Lake. The reservoir assured that their plant could produce power
year-round. Today, Ontario Hydro's penstocks can be seen descending
the Escarpment just south of the Beaver Valley Ski Club. At the
base of the escarpment is the Eugenia Generating Station, which
generates six megawatts of power.
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Duncan
Escarpment Provincial Nature Reserve
The Duncan Loop of the Bruce Trail takes hikers into
a series of crevice caves, formed through the process of mass wasting
at the brow of the Niagara Escarpment.
Mass wasting is a geological term for the downslope
movement of soil and rock material under the influence of gravity.
The Escarpment has several crevice cave systems, but
those at Duncan are particularly well developed. The crevices are
up to 30 metres deep and five metres wide. In some cases, huge blocks
of dolostone have fallen away from the Escarpment and landed in
such a way that they cap the crevice, thus forming caves. The walls
and floors of the caves and crevices are lined with many species
of ferns.
To get to Duncan Escarpment Provincial Nature Reserve,
take the 9-10 sideroad west from County Road 2 about 1.5 kilometres
north of Kolapore, and follow it for roughly 1.5 kilometres.
For more information, visit the Ontario
Parks website.
Kolapore Uplands
The Kolapore Uplands is a 12,000 hectare resource
management area between Thornbury and Feversham on the eastern edge
of the Beaver Valley. The property, owned by the Ministry of Natural
Resources, the Grey Sauble Conservation Authority and Grey County,
includes mature deciduous forest, swamp, pine plantations and abandoned
farm fields reverting to forest. The Bruce Trail runs along the
edge of the Kolapore Uplands and nearby Kolapore swamp.
Kolapore is well known for its challenging cross-country
skiing. Sixty kilometres of marked (but not groomed) ski trails
were developed here in 1973 by the Outing Club of the University
of Toronto. Excellent trail maps are sold at the general store in
Ravenna.
The topography of this semi-wilderness area is complex.
Mount Dhaulagiri and Red Death Hill are Escarpment outliers (outcrops
of rock separated from the main escarpment through erosion).
Kolapore's trails are also good for hiking, and this
large, intact natural area has a great deal to offer hikers and
naturalists. Kolapore has one of the highest levels of biodiversity
anywhere along the Escarpment. There are more than 500 species of
vascular plants, some of them typical of more northerly habitats.
Unusual or rare species include Hart's-tongue fern, American ginseng,
drooping sedge, northern starwort, divaricate rock cress and striped
maple. There are more than ten species of orchids. A census of breeding
birds identified 98 species. Kolapore is particularly rich in warblers,
especially in the lowland areas and along the talus slopes. The
inventory also identified nineteen mammal species and twelve reptile
and amphibian species.
To get to Kolapore, take County Road 2 from Hwy 26
to the hamlet of Kolapore and watch for the parking lot on the east
side of the road. The head of the ski trails, across the road from
the parking lot, is marked by a large wooden sign.
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Loree
The Bruce Trail Conservancy opened a 4.4 km loop at
the Loree in 1991. The walk, passing open fields and winding through
mature maple woods, provides dramatic views over both Nottawasaga
Bay and the Beaver Valley. In winter the Loree loop is used by cross-country
skiers and snowshoers.
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Petun
Conservation Area
The Petun Conservation Area is located on Osler Bluff,
not far from the highest point on the Bruce Trail. It is named for
the Petun people who once lived along the slopes of the Niagara
Escarpment from Creemore to Craigleith. Black Ash Creek arises from
springs on the conservation area, and the Georgian Triangle Anglers
Association maintains a fish hatchery here.
Petun Conservation area encloses a very scenic
section of the Bruce Trail, with views out to the white sands of
Wasaga Beach, the grain elevators at Collingwood, and Christian,
Hope and Beckwith Islands in the distance. This conservation area
has been overused, leading to erosion and deterioration of habitat.
If you visit, please keep to the Bruce Trail.
For more information, visit the Nottawasaga
Conservation Authority.
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