Two Creeks Conservation Area, Wheatley ON

I was away this past weekend for a ‘girl’s day’ of wine tasting at some beautiful wineries along Lake Erie to celebrate a friend's upcoming wedding. While I was in this area it reminded me of how beautiful this part of Chatham-Kent really is. Monday was a long weekend for us so we decided to celebrate it by doing something big. After getting our hot water tank that busted and leaked replaced we then decided to go for a hike.

  

As with the main criteria of picking any hiking trail we had to plan around nap time. A long drive was required for this scheduled nap, so a good visit to the southern part of the municipality to the town of Wheatley seemed like a fantastic idea (and it was!). In the quest to try something new we did not go to Wheatley Provincial Park but a place called “Two Creeks Conservation Area”. According to their website at www.twocreeks.ca  there is 9.5 km for biking and 10km for hiking.

This place has a lot of parking and a big pavilion with picnic tables and other seating. It said  it could fit up to 200 people. There was also other little stages it seemed which would make this place a pretty cool place to watch a local band or other entertainment.  We loaded the boys in the wagon with their Timbits and we were on our way. As a side note Timbits and trails seem to go hand in hand. I don’t know if it is because they are a treat and we love to treat the boys time to time or that it allows them more sitting time in the wagon. Either way we all love to nibble on them while we hike, it has become a bit of a tradition. The part where we come back to the car to get the wipes for our sugar

encrusted and covered in powder children is also part of this tradition now.

At the start of the trail we crossed over a little bridge which there seemed to be quite a few of, which was rather adorable (if trails can be adorable?) It led us into the Memorial Groves and Peace Garden that looks like a serene place to go. We walked though and went on the actual part of the trail. This trail is wide but wild. It is not one that is covered with pebbles or anything it is just beaten down grass or dirt from being walked on. I would not recommend a stroller or anything but our wagon of Timbits and kids handled it like a pro. The only thing that didn’t get handled like a pro was the mosquito situation. Due to rain this summer the mosquitoes have been crazy this year and it has yet to dawn on us to get bug spray. We were swarmed by them. There was a few times I glanced at my boys and they had 4 of them on their Timbit covered faces at the same time.

The trail is full of so many different types of trees and it just a beautiful place to hike. The fact that there were different heights of the trails gave us a neat perspective. These trails even included some apple trees which is something I haven’t seen in a ‘wild’ place of growth. There was another part where we walked in to a completely different type of forest that seemed so mystical and also housed a tiny frog that the boys thought was cool. The only downside is while there were sign posts to help you follow directions the signs themselves didn't actually say anything? Now in the Conservation Area's defence we did not read the bit map beforehand so maybe it explained what the red arrows meant, but it was confusing to us. But being adventurers that we are we weren't very worried at all. 

 

Sadly we had to cut our trip short due to the mosquito attacks. We were all bummed as we could hear water rushing somewhere that we wanted to check out, as well as there is apparently a historic train bridge that we realllly wanted to see.  When we got back up to the pavilion near our car the mosquitoes weren’t as bad so we did find time for running around and just playing with the kids. It was definitely the highlight. 

 All of us really enjoyed this trail and the hubby and I are making sure we come back in the fall and/or the winter. This is definitely a place worth checking out – just bring your bug repellent (and maybe some Timbits). 

P.S. I would just like to add a quick thank you to all of you that read this. I am sure you have noticed my inability to write nearly as much as I would like, but at the end of June we found out a very close family will not be with us much longer. So trying to get as much visits as possible as well as working and being the mom of 2 amazing busy boys I have not been able to keep up and find time. I am still definitely checking out trails and I don't plan on leaving this blog anytime soon. I just hope that you stick with me even if there are times of no activity. I appreciate all of you readers so much.