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Island Lake trails closed to public

April 3, 2020   ·   0 Comments

By Brian Lockhart

Last weekend, there were still some activities you could enjoy among all the closures of leisure outlets around the country.

At Island Lake Conservation Area the trails were open for hiking, but Credit Valley Conservation has since cosed all its parks and trails.

Being outdoors and hiking the trails is good exercise, enjoyable, and doesn’t place you in close contact with others.  

While the Conservation Area has closed all buildings, including washrooms, to the public, the hiking trails were still open over the weekend.

Admission was payable at a drop box at the entrance to the park to avoid having gate staff handle money.

You could also pre-pay admission by visiting the Island Lake website and paying on-line. You can show your receipt to a gate attendant when you visit.

They have also cancelled all planned activities where people would congregate. 

That includes the annual Maple Syrup festival that was scheduled for the week of March break. 

Credit Valley Conservation has announced the same restrictions have been applied to all of its parks.

“CVC has made the difficult decision to start the process of closing our parks and trails to the public,” said Deborah Martin-Downs, chief administrative officer, in a statement. “ A full closure will be in place in the coming days. The closure will be for an indefinite period. We will reopen only when it is appropriate to do so. In response to COVID-19 we had already taken steps to protect the public and staff by closing all buildings within Credit Valley Conservation parks, including visitor centres, rental shops, and public washrooms. We had limited the public to only passive recreation use. We are aware of the decisions by other conservation authorities and support the need to act in the best interest of our communities, visitors, and staff.

The Barreiros family decided take advantage of the opportunity and go hiking at the park on Sunday, March 22, after being in isolation all week during March break. 

“We’ve been here before and it was a beautiful walk,” said Natasha Barreiros. “This time we’ve come to a different part of the park. This is our second time here. We like hiking and it’s a nice day. It’s not a playground and you can’t go to the local playground now. At the park the equipment hasn’t been cleaned. We have only one school age child so he’s been at home.”

Ms. Barreiros said staying home has been a challenge however her and husband Paulo have been busy keeping their three children occupied.

“We’ve been doing virtual field trips, we’ve done yoga, arts and crafts, and walking the neighbourhood,” Ms. Barreiros explained. 

The Conservation had a fair number of visitors over the weekend with activities limited to taking advantage of the trails and enjoying the scenery. 

You can stay on top of park news by visiting the website at www.cvcf.ca.

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