Saturday June 28, 2014

It was another perfect summer Saturday.  The sun was shining and it was 22 degrees to start the hike.  We parked at the bottom of the hill in the lower parking lot beside Burnhamthorpe on the east side of the  Credit River.  This property was part of Riverwood which is described in detail in a separate post titled “Riverwood Estate”.  Riverwood Estate was split up and sold off in three parts.  When the Credit Valley Conservation Authority bought the separate properties in the 1990’s, the southern portion was owned by the Bird Family.  Riverwood is large enough that it would be too much for a single post.  For that reason I will break it into three posts starting with the Bird Property.

As you hike upstream along the east side of the Credit River you come across the ruins of an old building on the side of the ravine.  This building was a pickle factory in the mid 1800’s.  This suggests that the adjacent fields were likely being used for growing cucumbers.  Notice that the building in the picture below has a combination of stone from the river below and also some later concrete additions.

As you follow the trail along the crest of the hill you will come across this old wall that runs for a few yards under this hedge.  It ends as suddenly as it began without clues about its original intent.

At one point there is a side trail that leads away from the river and into an overgrown field. To the north, a straight line of pine trees in the distance marks the old Riverwood lane way.

As you enter the field above the river there is a large collection of early 20th century farm equipment.  The piece below, along with 3 others the same, were used to turn the hay over for drying before baling it.

This engine was part of the piece of equipment with the wooden barrel that is featured in the cover photo.

Several of the older pieces of farm equipment had wooden spokes on the wheels.

The Credit river is a great place to look for fossils.  The one below that looks like a sponge is a coral and the other rock has numerous fossil worms in it.

Use caution when hiking in this part of the park if you choose to leave the paved trails. There are at least three plants here that can cause great suffering.  Poison Ivy, Giant Hogweed and Wild Parsnip (the yellow plant below).  They can cause rashes, oozing sores and even blindness.

As you carry on along the trail you will come to a lane way that leads up the hill side and brings you to the Riverwood Estate.

Google Maps Link: Riverwood

Like us at http://www.facebook.com/hikingthegta

Follow us at http://www.hikingthegta.com