On a recent weekend, we found ourselves in the midst of a rare warm and sunny day (for this fall anyway!) and decided to head into Westdale to grab a coffee and take the dog for a spin around the neighbourhood.
We, admittedly, aren’t too familiar with the ins and outs of Westdale, apart from King Street West, and vaguely remembered there being some parkland in behind the houses, so we headed due north with our coffees in hand and the puppy in tow.
A block or two up from the coffee shop, we came upon a large field to the right, and a park straight ahead. Then a trail marker caught our eyes.
It was the Royal Botanical Gardens’ “Ravine Road Trail”.
In spite of all of my Hamilton travels, explorations and research, I have to admit I didn’t really know the extent of the RBG's series of trails.
Of course, we had to check it out. So, in we went.
All of a sudden, we were out of Hamilton, and in the middle of a beautiful, forested trail. The leaves were changing colour, people were walking dogs, it was quiet and peaceful and it smelled like fall. It was perfect.
As previously mentioned, we checked out the Rail Trail over the summer, and while we enjoyed it, the RBG trails were beyond our expectations. Where the Rail Trail (at least the part we were in) was largely open to the elements (on that particular day, the sun beating down on us), the trail behind Westdale is shaded, leafy, and in some parts, it seems you can walk for miles without running into a single soul.
The best part is, this trail network is huge – so huge, in fact, that we didn’t know how long it would take us to get back to our starting point if we continued on the trail. (With a young dog, this is a serious consideration. We didn’t want to have to carry her back!) It’s a real pity we didn’t have a map with us, because we ended up turning around just to be safe. Who knows what we missed out on further down the trail!
Needless to say, there is a lot more exploring for us to do here in future.
I love when you’re expecting a certain thing and what you end up getting exceeds all expectations. That was this trail for us. It was so far beyond what we were hoping to find that afternoon, and the dog adored it. It made our Saturday.
Friday, October 28, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
Doggies in The Hammer
I’ll admit, the pace of our “Hamilton exploration” has slowed recently, and no, its not because we’ve seen it all or that we've powered through our 'must-see' list already.
We’ve got a new family member of the four-legged variety, who is keeping us close to home and exploring the four corners of the backyard and every leaf and stick in the neighbourhood.
As a result, my newest obsession is finding out how “dog friendly” Hamilton is - looking for places around the city that we’ll be able to take our pup when she gets older - to run, exercise, socialize with other dogs and have fun.
There are the obvious places we can go in the car – pet stores, the cottage, etc. But as residents of an urban neighbourhood, what we are really looking for is walkability when it comes to activities – namely, dog parks and nice walks around our immediate area.
I read this article on OpenFile Hamilton (a site that I write for quite often), which reported on a new dog park in the North end of the city, but raised the issue of the lack of dog parks in general, in Hamilton's core.
According to the city, these are our options. While one isn’t too far from where we live, I was initially surprised that a city as large as Hamilton doesn’t have more dog parks and off-leash areas available.
It seems as though the subject of dog parks comes up often in the city, with new ones seemingly springing up every once in awhile. Of course, I’d like to see more (in various corners of the city – because, like her parents, my dog likes to explore new places from time to time!)
I know from my days in Toronto that this can be a long and arduous process in some neighbourhoods (just finding the space can be difficult). Anyway, in the meantime, we’ll soon be taking her to each one, so she (and her human parents) can acquaint ourselves with the canine side of Hamilton.
If you know of any other great dog friendly spots in the city, please share!
We’ve got a new family member of the four-legged variety, who is keeping us close to home and exploring the four corners of the backyard and every leaf and stick in the neighbourhood.
As a result, my newest obsession is finding out how “dog friendly” Hamilton is - looking for places around the city that we’ll be able to take our pup when she gets older - to run, exercise, socialize with other dogs and have fun.
There are the obvious places we can go in the car – pet stores, the cottage, etc. But as residents of an urban neighbourhood, what we are really looking for is walkability when it comes to activities – namely, dog parks and nice walks around our immediate area.
I read this article on OpenFile Hamilton (a site that I write for quite often), which reported on a new dog park in the North end of the city, but raised the issue of the lack of dog parks in general, in Hamilton's core.
According to the city, these are our options. While one isn’t too far from where we live, I was initially surprised that a city as large as Hamilton doesn’t have more dog parks and off-leash areas available.
It seems as though the subject of dog parks comes up often in the city, with new ones seemingly springing up every once in awhile. Of course, I’d like to see more (in various corners of the city – because, like her parents, my dog likes to explore new places from time to time!)
I know from my days in Toronto that this can be a long and arduous process in some neighbourhoods (just finding the space can be difficult). Anyway, in the meantime, we’ll soon be taking her to each one, so she (and her human parents) can acquaint ourselves with the canine side of Hamilton.
If you know of any other great dog friendly spots in the city, please share!
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