Since the late 1970's the Caledon Hills club has dreamed of getting the Trail off road between Glen Haffy and the Hockley Valley. Only a true fanatic (or an end-to-ender) would hike the long and dusty 5 Side Road and 5 th Line. And it was not so long ago (about 10 years) that our main trail also followed the Mono/Adjala Townline from Hwy. 9 to the 5 Sideroad of Mono. That was about 10 km of continuous road walking broken only by a brief respite where the Trail went into and then back out of the Tai Chi centre.

Over the past 10 years, we have made considerable progress. The acquisition of an abandoned gravel pit property at Airport Road and the 7 th Line, combined with an unopened road allowance, made it possible to move about four km of trail off road. The acquisition of a key property on the south side of 5 Sideroad allowed us to put in the Harmony Side Trail on Optimum Route two years ago. Then last spring, with four new handshake agreements, the Harmony Side Trail was extended through to the 7 th Line and became Main Trail, eliminating another 1.5 km of road.

But one major block of land remained an obstacle – the 6 th Concession of Mono between Airport Road and the 5 th Line.

At one time we did walk on some of these properties, but the 1978 release of the Preliminary Plan for the Niagara Escarpment frightened off many landowners with its land-use planning controls. Repeatedly, club representatives have asked owners in this block for permission, and from some of them we got a “yes”. But we were never able to assemble enough properties in a continuous line to make the elusive reroute a reality. Now, after some thirty years, we are about to meet with success. We finally have seven landowners in a continuous strip along the Optimum Route, who have agreed to have the Trail on their land.

When I look at the maps, I realize how significant this is. From the 7 th Line (north of Mono Mills) to the 2nd Line ( Hockley Valley), the Trail will be completely off-road. That is a distance of approximately 14 km, a magnificent achievement in an area in such close proximity to major urban centres.

Credit must go primarily to two people. Carol Sheppard as the club's landowner relations director has such a pleasant demeanor. With dogged persistence she has contacted landowners and invited them to share the beauty of their land with us. Last year's two reroutes necessitated permission from seven landowners, and this year's required an additional five. At times she had to look at alternatives but finally she completed handshakes for the dreamt-of route. She has generated such interest that two of the landowners have offered to join the work parties and help us build the Trail!

Dave Moule and his wife Sally have been fervent supporters of the Trail for almost 25 years. Part of their Hockleycrest Farm has been donated to the Bruce Trail for a secured route. Their barn provides storage for club tools, and the Christmas tree sales from their property are a major annual fundraiser for the club. Dave has played a number of key volunteer roles with the BTC and today is the chair of the Land Securement Secretariat. It was he who identified and pushed the BTC to acquire the two properties mentioned above, which made possible our earlier reroutes.

Last spring, Carol Sheppard reported that she had obtained handshake agreements from six of the seven owners necessary to complete the link from Airport Road to the 5 th Line, but the last one remained unattainable. Fortuitously, an 85 acre property on the east side of the 5 th Line, near Hockley Road, came up for sale. This could provide the missing link! The BTC would like to buy part of it, but not the entire parcel which included a building site. Dave and Sally stepped in as “White Knights”, purchasing the property on the understanding that the Bruce Trail Conservancy would in turn buy a portion of it from them. That second land transaction has not yet been completed, but we have a handshake agreement from Dave and Sally to put the trail on the land now. We all owe them a deep debt of gratitude.

On a winter's weekend I went out with Dave to look at their newly acquired land. It is stunningly beautiful with high ridges and steep valleys, evidence of the glacial past that created the landforms. As well, Dave has designed a trail system that will include both main Trail and a series of side trails, creating a scenic loop to explore this gem..

This spring we shall require some major work parties to build these trails, and we shall need a large number of volunteers. Just to complete the main Trail reroute, there is about three km of brand new trail to build, and another km of side trail to be converted to main Trail. There will be about four km of blazes to remove from the abandoned roads; old signs to be taken down, and new ones to be put up. Please consider joining us for a day (or more). Get your name into the volunteer coordinator so that you can be contacted as soon as spring conditions allow us to get building.

Ross McLean