Pretty badlands in Caledon

The hills that were wild and free, then fenced and barred from visitation, now the exposed soil can be visited, if you have the money. Known as the Caledon or Cheltenham Badlands, the site is along Olde Base Line Road (1739) northwest of Toronto and the cost of entry is per car. A 90 minute visit during the week (dusk to dawn) is $10 while a weekend or holiday visit is $20 and reservations are required.

What makes the hill special is that livestock stripped the hills cover and left the dirt exposed. The dirt was then eroded by the rain and left a spiderweb of small gullies and rounded mounds, or hummocks, of reddish brown clay, streaked with grey shale - all of it is Queenston Shale.

It's beautiful on the Bruce Trail heading towards the badlands

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I bought a ticket for a weekday because weekends in Autumn are way too busy. And this was the first time I kept off the road (250m) and took the Bruce Trail route (320m) in through the forest and up to the viewing stand. The trail is a bit up and a bit down and in rain will become a little slippery, so be careful.

Cheltenham Badlands in a Covid-19 Spring

The rolling red hills and its section of Bruce Trail remain closed by Credit Valley Conservation due to Covid-19 precautions since mid-March 2020. Barriers have been put in place at the entrance to the lookout and at the nearby parking lot. The narrow road and no stopping signs make the badlands inaccessible to cars unless someone drops you off to explore the area by foot along the fenced off area.

In some areas you can take pictures over the fence

Access to the hills were closed for three years as the area was studied and finally reopened in September of 2018. The hills themselves have been restricted to visitors and you can only see them from the lookout platform built on top of the badlands, or view them from along the roadway through the fence that was placed to keep people out. Now extra barriers are in place and the lookout platform has been gated.

You can see the platform at the top left of the hills

I was fortunate to get dropped off to wander along the edge of the property and take a look at the amazing Cheltenham Badlands. Spring rains have turned the exposed Queenstone Shale a deep red with its surface crossed by narrow bands of a light grey colour. Trees are starting to bloom and there are white blossoms that line the edges of the hills.

Cheltenham Badlands in Fall

The red hills in Caledon have been partially freed, now they are allowed visitors at the edge, looking into the cage. Where once the people roamed freely over the rolling ridges, the authorities shut down nature and fenced in the badlands, too bad they said, must keep people away. The area is owned by the Ontario Heritage Foundation and controlled by the Bruce Trail Association.

To protect nature they paved over a big chunk of it and put in a new 33-spot parking lot, guarded by a gate and charging a flat rate of $10 parking, every day of the week, from 8am to 7pm. You can walk along the Olde Base Line Road sidewalk from the parking lot to the Cheltenham Badlands where you can find the boardwalk located at the top edge, looking down over the hills eroded by the elements. When the hills are wet the soils becomes darker. Also, no drones (without a permit) are allowed.

You can find the badlands on the south side of Old Base Line Road between McLaughlin Road and
Mississauga Road. The area, stripped of grass and soil now consist of the gullies and mounds, red from the iron oxide in the Queenston Shale and with bands of greenish, white bands of the iron oxide. In fall, with bright sun and clouds in the sky, the hills and surrounding forest are spectacularly beautiful.

In winter the hills are closed from the end of October to May, for now they are open seven days a week. During weekends, especially with Fall colours, they recommend that you use the shuttle service which runs from 9am to 4:30pm, every 20-30 minutes from the Terra Cotta Conservation area. Cost for the shuttle is based on entrance to Terra Cotta, which is currently at $6 per adult and $8.99 during CVC Fall Fest, so after your shuttle you can take in the park.

See more of the badlands after the jump.

Cheltenham Badlands have been tamed

In May 2015 access to the Badlands on Olde Baseline Road was halted, fences erected and no trespassing signs installed. The site made famous by erosion was deemed too important for people and the undulating, iron-rich shale exposed through agricultural and livestock uses in the early 1900s.

The view along Olde Baseline Road

The view from above, the Badlands are larger than the edge along the road. It has an L shape

Heritage Trust Ontario, owners of the propterty say "The striking landscape of the Cheltenham Badlands is one of Ontario’s geological treasures and is one of the best examples of Badland topography in the province. Over the years, its distinctive landscape has been attracting increasing numbers of visitors, resulting in accelerated erosion of the sensitive red shale surface and permanently changing its unique appearance."

After consultation with the they have built a viewing platform at the top of the hill, looking down over part of the eroded site. Parking for the area has been moved from along the road to a new, gated parking lot immediately to the east of the Badlands. That's right, they paved over paradise to put in a parking lot! Opening of the site is supposed to be in the summer of 2018 - reports say in August, to be operated by Credit Valley Conservation.

Badlands in jail

Missing are the gateposts and the armed security, but the Cheltenham Badlands have been locked up, fenced in and posted against trespass. The Badlands are bad to the bone and have been put away for the duration.

The closure is described as temporary while a Master Plan is being prepared for the Caledon area geographic tourist destination. There are a couple of tiny locations along the fence where you can see part of the eroded landscape. Just remember, there really is no legal place to park in the area with the new no stopping restrictions in place.

I hope that they continue to allow viewing of the Badlands - they can add platforms along the side and at the top to control access to the site. Or they can go full protection, either cover over the erosion with new dirt or enclose the site so that water and wind will no longer erode the Queenston Shale deposits. Then they should proceed to cover over the trees in fall so wind can no longer force the autumn leaves to the ground.

Because we couldn't get in from the ground we decided to take a flight from the Brampton Flight Centre and check it out from the air.

Light Painting in the Badlands

Fresh Joe wanted to make some art in the Cheltenham Badlands so we prepared our light brushes and with the help of Annie May we moved through the barren hills in the dark of night. The results were pretty cool.

See more light paintings and the Badlands before the light faded away into darkness after the jump.

Looking for dinosaurs in the Badlands

Warm winter weather has melted away the cloaking layer of snow at the impressive Cheltenham Badlands so it remains a primo destination within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Saturday was windy and raining so Joe's drone was grounded, but on Sunday the rain was done and the unmanned aerial vehicle lifted high into air. We couldn't get shots though, that will have to wait for next time.

Fall Fairs and the Colour of Fall in the Toronto Area

Well I turned my back for one minute and summer is gone and now in its place we have Autumn. As the #Toronto CNE and the Cronut Burger fade into memories it is time for the small town fairs to set up shop. First the RVs and trailers come in with some of the bigger rides and then slowly the fairground starts to take shape. Tents with row upon row of stuffed animals wait to draw visitors into their seductive trap, while food so shockingly bad for you is served to the willing after waiting in long lineups.

Before you know it the bright colourful lights get turned on, the rides get checked out and on opening night calls for games of chance with blaring music and loud sirens fill the cold night air. The Acton Agricultural Society Fall Fair is this weekend - September 13-15, 2013, and it is the 100th year of the fair. You can find fairs in the Greater Toronto Area on the OntarioFairs web site.

Along with fair season comes the ever popular search for brilliant fall foliage colours. Central Ontario has a reported 10% change in colours while southern Ontario still has no significant changes - you can see just a small smackle of colour here and there driving around Toronto. The end of September and into early October is usually the peak colour change.

Blue Mountain Resort 

You can drive north early in the season up through Orangeville (the Badlands) and into the Collingwood area for some great vistas. Blue Mountain Resort in Collingwood provides a great lookout from the Niagara Escarpment to view the waters of Georgian Bay. You can also take a hike on trails and take the ski/bike lift down to the resort area and enjoy some fine shopping and dining before the ski hills go white with winter snow.

Fall in the Badlands

Later the Toronto area will show their colours - check out the Scarborough Bluffs, High Park and the Don Valley.

One of the best ways to enjoy fall is to get hiking through river valleys until you come across a waterfall. Framed in bright reds, yellows and orange and with green leaves remaining to provide the contrast you can get some beautiful pictures of the water falling onto broken rocks before gliding down small streams.

Ontario - Yours to Discover, has recommendations for drives throughout the province into areas like the Hills of the Headwaters, the Grey-Bruce Escarpment and the Wine Route in Niagara. You can find them here.