Credit Valley, Mississauga: Culham trail incl. Riverwood (16 km) (8/10/2013)

As part of this hike, we'll explore the Credit River area in Mississauga. We'll cover the following areas:

Erindale Park
This 222-acre park is the largest park in the city of Mississauga and features parking space for 400 vehicles. Once a dam-flooded area, then a sanitary landfill, it is now a popular picnic spot. But we are not here for a picnic. We'll start at the jungle located on its peripheries.

Riverwood
Riverwood is a 150 acre conservation area, where trees as old as 350 years exist. A former private estate, it features on the Canadian Register of Historic Places. It is home to more than 475 species of animals & plants, which makes it the most ecologically diverse community in the Credit Valley watershed. It includes both manually landscaped and naturally vegetated grounds: we'll be traversing the latter part.

Hewick Meadows
Notwithstanding the occasional severed head discovery, this is a very safe (and beautiful) greenbelt. On the way, we'll also come across the city's favourite mountain bike skills park, which is named after a 13-year old boy.

Back along the Culham trail
I'd have loved to cover the entire length of the Credit River in Mississauga: there is much to see, including the the historic village of Streetsville, the Meadowvale Conservation Area and the deer-inhabited meadows in between. Unfortunately, a few large private properties make these areas inaccessible without a few kms of street-walks. And the return journey would make the total hike well above 30km. So, after covering ~10 km, we'll cut our journey short around the mythical midgetville. We'll take a short snack break beside the Credit riverbank, and then walk back along the Culham trail, which runs parallel to the river. By this time in the journey, we would have already seen parts of it. We'll take short detours to cover the side trails between the Culham trail and the Credit river. The path is fairly flat for the most part, making the return trek just a little over 6 km.

Map of the journey

Why is this hike classified as D4?
Because…

1. The distance is 16 km
2. There are a number of not-so-gentle ascents and descents, some of which include fallen trees as obstacles. At points, you'll be walking in mud, tall grass and rocky dried-up stream bed.
3. The side trails are unmarked, and in at least one place, there is no trail (we'll be walking through the vegetation) — you'll need to maintain a pace of 4 km/hr to remain with the group. Although there is little chance of getting lost in Canada's sixth largest city, the giant hogweed and the wild parsnip make finding your way out of the jungle a little more difficult than you would imagine.
   

Mississauga meeting point (if you're a Mississauga resident who is coming directly to the Erindale Park)
Entrance to the Erindale Park at Dundas St
1695 Dundas St W, Mississauga, ON L5C 1E3
9:30 AM

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Toronto meeting point
Kipling Station Passenger Pick-up and Drop- off
(the circular structure outside the station)
8:45 AM (Departure at 9:00 AM)

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Driving directions

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• This hike will go on, rain or shine
• Drivers get priority on the waiting list. I'll increase the maximum group size if we've sufficient drivers.
• If there are not enough drivers, some of us might have to take Miway #1: that means 25 extra minutes of traveling.