Ontarians are encouraged to get out in nature and explore more of what the province has to offer with Take a Hike Day on Aug. 9.
The new Ontario Parks event will see its Discovery staff offer insights and intel with hikes at more than 75 parks in the province.
“Many of them will be guided hikes with our Discovery staff,” said Jessica Stillman, Discovery Program project co-ordinator for Ontario Parks.
“Other parks will be offering what we call our Discovery Hike exploration station, which is a discovery table that is a drop-in program where visitors can come, stop by and pick up some tips and tools to learn how to explore and hike trails on their own and at their own pace. And then some parks will also have self-guided activities along trails, like story walks.”
Because provincial parks are spread throughout Ontario, there is a wide range in what you can discover, with each park offering something unique. Stillman is particularly excited about the 10 a.m. hike on Cedar Trail at Pinery Provincial Park near Grand Bend with a theme of “Pinery’s Past.”
“Pinery has a really interesting history because of the changes that are just going on on the beach and through both natural and human-caused changes,” she said.
“Another park, Rondeau Provincial Park, that’s actually going to be doing a hike all about the Carolinian forest, which is really unique.”
For Take a Hike Day, Stillman says the provincial park in the Chatham area will have two of its Discovery staff host a guided hike along Tulip Tree trail to see “the habitats that make up a Carolinian forest and the iconic species that live there” and to ask any questions as you go.
Some parks will be hosting nighttime events, allowing the public the chance to learn about noctural animals active in the parks. Whether a guided or self-guided hike, Stillman says the Discovery staff will share their knowledge to give Ontarians “a really neat opportunity to see and experience something you may not know was in the park you’ve been visiting.”
There are entrance fees to the parks themselves but there is no additional cost to take part in a hike, Stillman says.
“If you have an annual pass or any other type of season pass or you’ve purchased your day permit or you’re camping in a park already and these programs are free to participate, then there’s no additional costs.”
And if Wednesday doesn’t work, Stillman encourages people to take a look at the Ontario Parks event page.
“We offer programming from the right when the sun comes up until it gets really dark at night. And even just looking through the week at other parks, you’ll see lots of other great guided hikes going on and other different types of programs.”
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