On Mondays and Thursdays from
September to June we offer 5 regular drop-in hikes on trails such as, the Bruce Trail,
Conservation areas, Town and lake front trails. We meet at the locations, at (or before) the
times listed below and car pool to the trail head 15 minutes later.
The hikes vary in length,
duration and difficulty, but there is one to suit everyone from beginners
through to experienced hikers* each
week. A monthly schedule is distributed
in a newsletter from September to June and on a tab of this site. Each hike is rated as to length and
physical effort/technical difficulty (see chart below) The fees are for car pooling and other items. A detailed financial report is issued each year.
Monday Hikes - 8:15a.m. & 8:45a.m
Both
hikes are on the Bruce
Trail or Conservation
lands. The current fee for these hikes
is $4. They start from the Sir John Colborne Centre. There are minor differences between the two
hikes.
8:15a.m These hikes can be up to 11km in length,
sometimes have a longer drive, may be more strenuous and at a slightly faster pace.
8:45a.m. These hikes can be up to 8.5km in length and are more often in the Moderate/Normal range.
Thursday Hikes - 7:45a.m., 8:45a.m. & 8:45a.m. Turtles
7:45a.m. These hikes are between 10-18km and often on
the Bruce Trail. They start from either
the Sir John Colborne Centre or the Iroquois Ridge Community Centre, depending
on the nearest location for driving. The
fee for these hikes is $5-$7, depending on the distance of the drive.
8:45a.m. These hikes are between 6-8km and are either
on the Town of Oakville trails or the Waterfront
trails in Burlington or Mississauga.
The fee is $4 as of March 1 2019.
8:45a.m The Turtles walks are for those who prefer
short distances &/or slower speeds. The
location is decided at registration according to the participants on the day. The base fee is $1.
Other Hikes & Activities
In
addition to the above there are often hikes (including Bruce Trail End to End
hikes etc), on other days some months of the year and these are announced in
the monthly newsletter. There are also
several social activities throughout the year..
Note: Hikers should be properly equipped (especially footwear) for the hike they are doing. A leader can refuse to take you if they think you are inadequately prepared.
Definitions of ratings: Physical Effort/Technical Difficulty
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Physical Effort:
E= Easy - level terrain.
M= Moderate-mostly level, some short/gentle
rises of insignificant length.
S= Strenuous-one or more steep and/or long
rises causing significantly elevated breathing and heart rate in an average
hiker
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Technical
Difficulty:
E= Easy - groomed path such as town trail, street or road.
N= Normal-mostly
unobstructed, but with some roots/rocks in the path.
D= Difficult-significant stretches of loose
rock/rocky outcrops with some steep slopes and/or other difficult footing
conditions.
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Note: these ratings assume ideal
conditions. Please take this into
consideration when making your decision to hike.
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*If you're unsure of where your hiking experience/ability
fits in, we do recommend that you start with the Thursday, 8:45 regular drop-in hikes. The rationale being, that it is better to
find that something is easy rather than it being more of a challenge than
expected on your first hike.
If you have any
questions about anything on this page, please email: oakvillepathfinders@gmail.com