TRAIL WALK, ANYONE?

by Danielle French South Pond Home www.southpondfarms.ca @southpondome

Anyone who follows me on social media knows I have two Aussie Shepherds, Ozzie and Harriet who came to town with us when we sold the farm in Pontypool last year. Now I am an avid walker because those two dogs need a lot of exercise! People often ask me how the puppers have adjusted to living in town. I can happily report that Ozzie and Harriet have adjusted quite well - most days. In fairness, it is up and down. A squirrel sighting is locked into their memories like money in a bank vault. They never forget it - even if it is miles away or was months ago. If we pass by car or on foot, they bark with a craze that sounds like I’ve separated them forever.

Peterborough County Trails - One of the wonder ful things about the move into town is the abun dance of trails there are. Peterborough is the gate way to a web of trails both north to the Kawartha Lakes and south and east to Northumberland and the Ottawa region. There are trails for walk ing, biking, snowmobiling, cross country skiing that link parks and communities to each other. I am originally from Vermont and often travel home to visit my parents and while Vermont is certainly beautiful and full of hiking opportunities, the well groomed trails here begin at virtually everyone’s doorstep.

Rail LInes - Rail connections were constructed in the mid 1880’s when in 1849 the Province of Can ada passed the Railway Guarantee Act offering funds to build rail lines to smaller communities to allow for better transportation of goods and peo ple. While Cobourg was the main hub in our re gion along the waterfront from Toronto, Kingston, Montreal and cities in the US soon, secondary rail lines reached north to Peterborough and to Lindsay and smaller communities.

100 years later, the northern rail lines were no lon ger in use and in the 1980’s the Kawartha Rail Trails Organization proposed turning the now aban doned rail line from Peterborough/Lindsay into a trail system, connecting these communities and promoting recreation and tourism in the region.

Over the years, local philanthropists have worked with the towns and municipalities to encourage trail expansion not only of the former rail lines but trails in and along the Oak Ridges Moraine, The Kawartha Land Trust, Ganaraska and many pro

vincial and county parks; segments of this larger trail system being completed every year.

At my door - When I first arrived here in town, I stepped out my front door to explore the trail around Little Lake, then discovered the Peterbor ough locks and walked both along the Otonabee River and along the canal. It reminded me a lit tle of Europe - seeing the boats pass along and the wide walking areas alongside. In the winter, the trails are just as busy in this spot with skat ers on the canal and snowshoers further north.

I then discovered the Lang Hastings Trail which wanders through forests and fields stretching along the TransCanada Trail from Peterborough to Hastings. The dogs love finding wildlife, more squirrels and chipmunks to bark at.

After the Covid Pandemic, access to outdoors, provincial and municipal parks (often connected to one another by trail systems) became a criti cal part of all daily life and well being. We may not notice how having these areas for recreation affect our lives in a positive way until we live in a community that doesn’t have them or our access to the outdoors is taken from us by climate con ditions or political changes. The puppers and I have happily exchanged the 100 acres to the na ture we have at our doorstep, while it isn’t quite the same it leads to adventure every day.

Danielle French is the founder of South Pond Farms. She hosted the tv series Taste of the Country on Netflix. She has a new adventure called Design your Escape offering help for those starting event based business.