Thoughts on Hiking Ontario's Bruce Trail

Bruce Trail Thoughts and Reflections

With this entry, our blog and this account of our time on the Bruce Trail comes to an end.  We have shared our amazing 885 km adventure from Queenston Heights to Tobermory, as well as our time before hand on the Niagara Parkway, or Fort to Fort Trail.  

Since we first set our feet on the Bruce Trail almost 10 years have passed.  In that time, largely because of the influence of our experiences on the BTC, we have gone on pilgrimage 9 times in Europe, trekking some 5,000 km across France, Spain, and Portugal.  We have also become two of the few people to have undertaken the 14,000 km walk along the Trans Canada Trail from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans.  All of these accomplishments are a far cry from a duo who once fretted over making it from Owen Sound to Tobermory on foot. 

In reflecting on the Bruce Trail, we wanted to highlight what feel are some of its strengths and challenges, based on our experience in hiking its full length.

Strengths of the Bruce Trail

(1) Bruce Trail sets a high standard.  First and foremost, if we have come to know one thing after all of these years, the Bruce Trail sets a standard that is extraordinarily hard to match when one is either looking for or trekking on a long distance trail. When hiking the Bruce Trail it is easy to take for granted having a clear pathway, regular trail markers, and both accurate and informative signage.  These however are far from the norms for many trails throughout Canada and around the world.  These seemingly “little details” are the difference between a hard slog and an enjoyable trek.  While there are sections of the Trans Canada Trail that are terrific, and a number of wonderful pathways across the nation such as the East Coast Trail, the Confederation Trail, the Sentier des Cap, Casque Isles, Whiteshell trails , and Kettle Valley Rail Trail, none have the shear polish of the Bruce Trail. 

(2) Comprehensive and Terrific Guidebook.  While one might think that the information and precision of the Bruce Trail guidebook is merely common place, or to be expected, the fact is that its detail, clear maps, and information is superb.  A guidebook is an easy thing to nitpick at after a hard day on the trail, but the BTC makes criticism of their seminal text challenging.  Even its design is ingenious, a ring binder with removable pages that lets you take only the map or information you need.  The guide comes with a plastic sheet to protect it in your pack or during bad weather.  The maps themselves are kept up to date online, where little squares with the most recent reroutes are available to be printed off an incorporated into your book.  One might not appreciate these details much, but we have all too commonly hiked trails that have confusing instructions, outdated maps, and whose guidebooks actually switch distance markers midway down the path itself.  Once again, what the Bruce Trail does, it does very well, and much of that begins with the superb guidebook they produce. 

(3) Bruce Trail is Comprehensively Blazed.  As already noted, the Bruce Trail is wonderfully blazed from end to end!  While one might expect that trails – whether local, provincial, or national – are consistently signed or way marked, they often are not.  What the Bruce Trail makes look easy, and provides as a basic feature, is in fact rare to find on many pathways.   The fact that in forested sections the next blaze on the BTC is never out of sight, that the trail markings don’t just tell you where the path is, but also what direction to take, and that in locations where the route forks or navigates around a corner you are given great indicators, are just a few of the amazing ways that the Bruce Trail helps its hikers!

(4) Informative Signage. Another feature of the Bruce Trail that is easy to take for granted is its signage.  The BTC has gone out of its way to research about local history, regional ecology, and the unique features along the trail.  While much of this information is included in the guidebook, a great deal of it has also been put on signs installed along the route.   Making this type of information available to trail users expands the experience and invariably answers questions that you have along the path.

(5) The Bruce Trail has Terrific Trail Design.  While it is always easy to nitpick and complain about the route, or sections with endless ups and downs, the fact is that the BTC has done a terrific job of designing their pathways.  Taken from end to end, the Bruce Trail provides a physical challenge without being geared towards adrenalin junkies and it is created along a route that is varied from section to section.  Though the BTC includes a number of stretches that follow along roadways and forestry tracts, even these have been thought-out and placed along quiet and safe back roads.  Once again, all of this might sound like it should be a given for a long distance trail – but none of it is – and instead reveals the depth of thought and design that has gone into the ever evolving Bruce Trail. 

(6) Superb Trail Maintenance.  Building a trail is one thing, maintaining it at a high level is an entirely different undertaking.  When one considers the sheer logistics of standardizing and maintaining a pathway that is more than 900 kilometers in length (main trail and side trails) it does not take long to realize that it requires an army to keep it running smoothly day after day, month after month, and year after year.  To keep access to properties, to keep the entire network largely unobstructed, and to maintain the blazes end to end takes dedication and volunteers that are seemingly tireless.  In our experience of walking across Canada, the Bruce Trail is rarely matched for its incredible level of trail maintenance – perhaps the only equivalents are PEI’s Confederation Trail, Quebec’s Route Verte and the stunning Casque Isles Trail in Northern Ontario.  

(7) Strong and Inclusive Trail Community.  While the Bruce Trail shines, it does so largely because of the amazing and inclusive trail community which has developed around the pathway and organization since its inception. The dedication of Land Stewards, the army of volunteers, the organization of regular sectional End-to-End events, the level of land owner co-operation, the online presence of each club, and the amazing Trail Angels along the entire route – these are just a few of the most evident and amazing participants in the Bruce Trail community.  In hiking along the Bruce Trail, it does not take long to realize that it is not just a pathway, but it is also an incredible organization that works to make the route better and more inclusive every day. 

While some of these strengths may seem self evident or repetitive, they nonetheless bear saying.  Having now hiked across a number of countries and on hundreds of trails, the fact is that the Bruce Trail’s strengths show through more and more.   The fact is that what the Bruce Trail does well, it does so seamlessly that most users likely take it for granted.  This is a fact that hides just how much hard work, dedication, and volunteer hours have and continue to go into it.   Thank you so much!

Challenges of the Bruce Trail 

With all of that said, the Bruce Trail is not all sunshine and roses.  It does also present a number of challenges, especially if one wants to write about it and share it.

(1) Logistics of Trekking the entire Trail.   A singular critique of the Bruce Trail, that it is a logistical nightmare, likely comes as no surprise to anyone who has trekked it or thought of exploring it end to end.  The organizational rule that people are not to camp along the path makes it almost impossible to legally thru-hike the Bruce Trail. While there are historical and private property realities behind this rule, the fact nonetheless remains that the route makes it hard to find nearby accommodations, it offers very few possibilities to legally camp even close to the trail, and finding supplies nearby is also often extremely impractical without help. 

(2) Hard, in some stretches, to hike and remember the trail (at least for us). While not a critique of the BTC in itself, the fact remains that the terrain of the Bruce Trail is such that you often have to watch your feet while hiking.  As a result, you often don’t have the opportunity to trek and look around as you walk. Frequently, looking around requires stopping – and even then you often find that you are in a corridor of trees.  While there certainly are variations in the trail from Queenston to Tobermory, the specific details in between these points often blur together.  Even when we had completed the Bruce Trail and began transforming our hiking journals into blogs, we had a feeling that the details and sense of places that we sought to highlight in our online entries were lacking ....which flows into the next point.

(3) Hard to Write.  Because the Bruce Trail is often hard to hike, look at, and remember, it is also subsequently hard to write or blog about. In releasing our blogs, we have been repeatedly emailed that our entries lack details and specifics.  However, we have found it a real challenge to capture the sense of each area, and explain what it is like to hike almost 900 kilometers along the length of the Bruce Trail, because we spent much of it watching our footing.  While the blog might seem to vary between discussing the topography and history of the regions we passed through, and give few direct accounts of the trail, the fact is that it seemed to be hard to write about. Indeed, most of our journal entries and our memories consist of corridors of trees, rocky outcroppings, birds along the route, and terrific views off the escarpment.  Don’t be mistaken however, the Bruce Trail is actually so much more than a walk in the woods, or even a stroll along the Niagara Escarpment.   It’s just hard to write about it. 

With all of this said, it is often easier to critique than to praise.  Thankfully, the Bruce Trail makes any adventure along it a joy to undertake and easy to praise.  So much so, that our final comment about it is: Do yourself a favour and take a hike on the Bruce Trail!