A late autumn walk at Heber Down

When snow flurries started flying earlier this week, I gasped, “Not 
yet! I haven’t had enough fall colours!” As soon as the sun came out, I set out for a late autumn walk through Heber Down Conservation Area in Brooklin, thinking that this sheltered river valley might still have a few colourful vistas.
    While most of the leaves were already on the ground, the walk was still beautiful. I chose a short trail—barely 1 kilometre long—leading to a pond. It was just a small corner of the 284-hectare conservation area, but it was blissfully serene.

    On a sunny Wednesday afternoon the place was surprisingly quiet, 
especially considering it is near so many new subdivisions. In almost 
an hour I met only three other people – all of them walking dogs, as I was.  My elderly Pomeranian sniffed the cedar-scented air and listened to the sound of running water, as though he was taking in the last scents of  autumn. Tall green cedars lined the riverside path and enough red and yellow leaves still clung to the maples still to make a pretty autumnal scene.

    It doesn’t matter that my dog and I both have bad knees. The path is flat and partially paved so even strollers can manage. Bridges cross  over the streams that are part of the Lynde Creek  Watershed.

    I was intrigued with the sign pointing to the “Devil’s Den”. It’s a reference to 19th-century horse thieves who hid out in the area. Today the area may be remarkably quiet but nearly a century ago, the Canadian Northern Railway ran its new Toronto to Trenton passenger line through here. While any sign of the horse thieves vanished long ago, the concrete footings of the old railway bridge are still visible today. For a longer walk, the 5-kilometre Iroquois Shoreline trail skirts the Ice-Age edge of what today is Lake Ontario. You can print a trail map from the CLOCA web site above. Bring loonies and twonies for the parking machine.