Bronte Creek
Special: Bronte Creek is a Great little hike at the base of Hw 25. In the fall, keep an eye out for the Salmon run!
On a sunny Sunday afternoon, we decided that the best possible way to squash the weekend-is-almost-over blues was to take a hike. We chose Bronte Creek Conservation Area and rolled into the just about vacant parking lot around 6 p.m. With the administration desk closed and no one around, we paid the friendly machine a few dollars to ensure the safety of our car and then began to scan the area for a trail head. Though we didn't see a trail head per se, we did notice a family exiting the forest and decided to walk in their direction. As it turns out, we chose the longest of the 6 available hiking trails through Bronte Creek. Our trail took us along the edge of the steep ravine that overlooks the Credit River and an array of trees. As we walked along the path, we noticed many water run-off points, slanting directly towards the river below, a few so wide they could be mistaken for mini trails. Rob, always the brave one, decided to shuffle down one of these "trails" in search of a photo opportunity but decided to turn around soon enough since the path was far too steep for human use.
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Looking down a steep incline (Bronte Creek below) |
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Great Views from the top ! |
Since we chose such an unlikely time for a hike, we had the trail, the sights and the fresh aroma of the forest all to ourselves. At one point the trail curved around with the river and opened up into one of the most beautiful ravine views we've seen. We plan to make a return visit once the leaves have changed into their Fall colors. Knowing that we didn't have much time to go until the sun was going to take our light away, we opted to snake back through the campsite area. Some sites seem very private and others are right out from the brush and are on open field. At this point in the year (not to mention being a work night too), we didn't see a single camper. It was like a ghost-camp but being enveloped by the sight and smell of the flowers all around us was enough company for us! The wildflowers in Bronte are incredibly vibrant yellows, purples, pinks and whites and make for a very pretty picture indeed. Once out onto the main road back to the entrance to the park, we were passed by a Parks employee who gave us a warm smile as we made our way back to the parking lot.
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Cutting it kinda close! You can get the best pictures at sunrise, or sunset, but don't hike TOO late. You get great pictures, but might get stuck. (ALTHOUGH... as a bonus, you might get GREAT pictures the next morning ;)
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| Why not try Geocaching NEAR Bronte Creek? (It's not actually in the park, but close) |