Bruce Trail: Map 6 - Stoney Creek
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First Section
After a long wait for spring to arrive, on the long weekend to celebrate Victoria Day, it finally seemed to come—and it did so with force. On Monday, May 18, under a cloudless blue sky and with an initial temperature close to 18°C, Carlos, Malaika, and I set out to walk the first section of Map 6.
It took us about three and a half hours to go from Felker’s
Falls Park in Hamilton (marked as 23.2 on the Bruce Trail map[1])
to the intersection with the extension of Jones Road in Stoney Creek (marked as
point 14.0 on the same map). According to these two references, the distance
between those points is 9.2 km, which matches the reading on the GPS odometer I
carried with me, but not the projected route measured in Google Earth and
adapted to Google Maps, which I list in the table below.
During the hike, the temperature rose significantly, putting
Malaika’s endurance to the test. Once we reached the car, the temperature read
33°C.
The trail runs parallel to the railway line, mostly under
the shade of trees, which helped mitigate the heat. We crossed several creeks
that allowed Malaika to stay hydrated at regular intervals. It’s an easy walk
with moderate elevation changes and few difficulties. As we approached Jones
Road, we encountered some muddy sections.
A special note from this trekking was the sighting of three snakes from the same family (Eastern Ribbon Snake – Thamnophis sauritus).
On the Bruce Trail’s 5‑point rating scale, I would give 4
points (better) to this section.
Fact Sheet:
|
Map 6 – 1st
section: |
Monday, May 18th,
2026 |
|
Starting point: |
42 Ackland Street (23.2) |
|
Ending point: |
Jones Road (14.0) |
|
Distance covered: |
GPS odometer: 9.68 km Google Earth: 12.2 km Google Maps: 11.8 km |
|
Speed / Breaks:
|
Average speed: 3.5 kph Moving time: 2h 44 min Rest time: 48 min |
On Friday, June 26th, I took the day off, and Federica,
Malika, and I went to complete the section we were missing from Map 6. It was a
sunny, crisp morning—around 22°C—ideal for hiking, except for the unpleasant
surprise of running into a bloodthirsty plague. On a day when we were the only
two people crossing that section of the Trail, to make matters worse, we
weren't prepared to face it.
I was completely eaten alive by mosquitoes. I had never
experienced such fury on the Bruce Trail before. My only similar experience in
Canada was at Lake Superior, hiking a trail at the peak of the plague. Just for
the record, it rained quite a bit during the two days prior to Friday the 26th,
which might explain this abnormal spike (in my experience) in the mosquito
population.
This section of the trail runs entirely through the forest.
We encountered some pretty wet stretches with mud and a few slippery slopes of
moderate difficulty. The train tracks aren't visible, but you can hear the
trains passing by quite close.
We didn't spot any snakes, viewpoints, or waterfalls. Malika
found a Wood Frog along the way and, to my surprise, decided to ignore it. The
two photos I took of it turned out pretty bad. Mosquitoes have a way of ruining
my mood and my enjoyment of the hike, and given that state of mind, I give this
section of the Bruce Trail a rating of 2 out of 5 (there are better ones).
|
Map 6 – 2nd
section: |
Friday, June 26th,
2026 |
|
Starting point: |
Jones Road (14.0) |
|
Ending point: |
Fifty Road (9.2) |
|
Distance covered: |
GPS odometer: 4.58 km Google Earth: 5.29 km Google Maps: 5.2 km |
|
Speed / Breaks: |
Average speed: 3.3 kph Moving time: 1h 22 min Rest time: 11:40 min |
|
Difficulty: |
Medium. |
|
Parking: |
At the end of Jones Road |
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