Bruce Trail: Map 2 - St. Catharines

Stretch 1

On Saturday, October 28th, we started the first part of the Bruce Trail’s Map 2. We walked from Firemen’s Park to the Wooden Conservation Area, a distance that Google Maps estimated at 8 kilometers.

It is a pleasant route, mostly flat, that passes through forests, vineyards, the train track, and a couple of avenues. We found that part of the path, from the pedestrian bridge that crosses the QEW highway to Firemen's Park, does not correspond to what is indicated on the edition 30th of the map I had with me. This detail has little importance given how well-marked the trail is.

We completed this stretch in just over two hours. We were the same 3 plus the dog as in map 1 and proceeded in a similar way: I left Eduardo and Federica at one end (the Wooden Conservation Area) and went with Malaika to park the car at Firemen’s Park. They walked along the Bruce Trail towards the car, Malaika and I, in the opposite direction, from the car towards the point where we had left them. Approximately halfway along the route, right at one end of the Screaming Tunnel, we met, I gave them the car keys, we had a snack, and then we split again, each group walking to their destination.

Datasheet:

Map: 2 – 1st stretch

Date: Saturday, October 28th, 2023

Starting point:

Wooden Conservation Area / St. Catherine 11:20 am

Firemen's Park / Queenston Hill. 11:42 am

Ending point:

Firemen's Park / Queenston Hill. 2:10 p.m.

Wooden Area Conservation / St. Catherine 2:04 pm

Distance:

GPS odometer: 7.32 km

Distance measured on Google Maps: 8 Km

Speed / Breaks:

• Average speed: 4.3 kph

• Time moving: 1:41:53

• Time resting: 36:03

Difficulty:

Low (easy)

Parking:

Firemen’s Park, lower parking lot

 





Stretch 2

We walked the second part of Map 2 on Sunday, November 5th, 2023. Carmen Teresa and Rodrigo joined us on this section of the walk. The logistics were a bit different this time; we went in two cars and separated from the beginning. Carmen Teresa, Federica, and Eduardo went to Brock University in St. Catharines to begin the journey from that point; Rodrigo, Malaika, and I went to Taylor Road, to the parking lot of the Wooden Conservation Area to start at that end in the opposite direction. Halfway through the route, we should have crossed paths to exchange car keys and, after continuing and ending the route, each group would return in the other's group vehicle.

Things didn't go exactly as planned, and the meeting didn't happen at the halfway point, or even close to it. The team that headed to park at Brock University, let's call them Team B (for “Brock,” and not anything else), had initial difficulties finding the parking lot, and once there, they faced some challenges finding the trail. The university parking lots are gigantic and there are several, however, the trail is only one, it is narrow and generally it is camouflaged in the bushes. There are no illuminated signs announcing “Here is the Bruce Trail, if you want to meet your relatives follow that direction...” So, the first time you arrive at one of these places, it is normal to take some minutes to find the entrance.

After finding the entrance, walkers need to decide which direction to follow. If you leave this choice to chance, you have a 50% probability of walking in the wrong direction. It took Team B about 15 minutes to realize that they were walking towards Tobermory, instead of walking to the meeting point. Later, after correcting its course, enthralled by the urban landscape of the city of Thorold, Team B decided to explore the surrounding avenues, avoiding the entrance to the 'trail' on at least two occasions. I am going to make a pause here to mention that this stretch of the trail has been so far the section of the Bruce Trail with the longest portion of urban walking (even before considering the additional meters Team B decided to add by themselves). Trying to guess their trajectory, I suspect they missed the Bruce Trail detour sign at the interception of Glendale Av. and Mountain Road, continued on Glendale, then turned right onto Merritt Street, and walked to St. David without finding the other trail entrance. From there, they started their comeback to Glendale and Mountain Road through Burleigh Hill Drive where we finally met them to exchange the car keys.

With all, it took us 3 hours and 50 minutes to complete this section. My GPS marked 50 minutes of waiting or resting. Coincidentally, both groups waited for ships crossing the canal. Team B traveled about 17 kilometers, 4 more than my GPS odometer measured. It was again an easy walk.

Datasheet:

Map: 2 – 2nd Stretch

Date: Sunday, November 5, 2023

 

Starting point:

Wooden Conservation Area / St. Catharines 12:18 p.m.

Brock University/St. Catharines 12:30 p.m.

Ending point:

Brock University / St. Catharines. 4:09 p.m.

Wooden Area Conservation / St. Catharines 4:45 p.m.

Distance:

GPS odometer: 13.3 km

Distance measured on Google Maps: 14.21 Km.

Speed / Breaks:

·                Average speed: 4.5 kph

·                Time moving: 2:59:29

·                Time resting: 51:24

Difficulty:

Low (Easy)

Parking:

Taylor Road & Wooden Conservation Area

Brock University Parking lot zona 2






Map:


Video: 

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