Bruce Trail Conservancy celebrates a new hiking experience in Caledon East with the opening of Meltwater Moraine
DUNDAS, ON, May 5, 2025 /CNW/ - The Bruce Trail Conservancy (BTC) is thrilled to celebrate the creation of Meltwater Moraine, a newly protected natural area that preserves 137 acres in the Town of Caledon and secures 640 metres of the Bruce Trail Optimum Route. This new addition to the Bruce Trail conservation corridor protects sensitive escarpment habitats and unique geological features within the provincially significant Mono Mills-Caledon Meltwater Channels Area of Natural and Scientific Interest (ANSI).
Generously funded by BTC donors, the securement of Meltwater Moraine preserves the eastern boundary of the Paris Moraine, a rolling line of hills created at the leading edge of glacial ice as it pushed northwest out of the Lake Ontario Basin roughly 12,000 years ago. In addition to this special formation, Meltwater Moraine boasts four acres of forested land, three ponds, a small creek, and farmland which has been part of the community's agricultural heritage for over two centuries.
The new Bruce Trail reroute spans a total of 4 kilometres and removes 3.3 kilometres of the Main Trail from the high-traffic areas of Airport Road and Escarpment Side Road. In addition to blazing this new section of Main Trail, Trail Development and Maintenance volunteers from the Caledon Hills Bruce Trail Club have extended the Songbird Side Trail, which leads to the Songbird Nature Reserve, secured by the BTC in 2012.
"The creation of Meltwater Moraine is bringing the Bruce Trail off the road and into nature," said Michael McDonald, Chief Executive Officer of the Bruce Trail Conservancy. "With the Trail rerouted here, we are significantly improving the Bruce Trail experience in Caledon, making it safer and more connected to the unique geology, flora and fauna that motivate us to explore and protect these special places."
The opening of the Bruce Trail at Meltwater Moraine was celebrated on Sunday, May 4, 2025, with over 70 volunteers, donors, special guests, and members of the greater Caledon Hills community in attendance. BTC staff ecologists led guests on a 3km hike, sharing information about the landscape and species at risk found on the property, such as Butternut and Bobolink. The event concluded with thanks to the supporters and volunteers who helped bring this land into the BTC's ribbon of wilderness.
"The addition of Meltwater Moraine to our conservation corridor is a big win for nature, continuity of the Bruce Trail, and the growing community of Caledon," said Marsha Russell, Vice President of Fund Development. "This is just one more example of what is possible when we work together in service of the environment and the community."
For over 60 years the Bruce Trail Conservancy has been the only charitable organization working to preserve sensitive Escarpment lands, while making them accessible for the people of Ontario by way of the Bruce Trail. Currently, only 71.9% of the Bruce Trail is on permanently protected land. The BTC forecasts that it will take approximately $109 million to completely secure the Bruce Trail. As this important work continues, the BTC is incredibly grateful to the landowners in the Caledon area and across the Niagara Escarpment who graciously allow the Trail to cross their property. Without handshake agreements with generous landowners, the continuity of the Bruce Trail would be in jeopardy.
About the Bruce Trail Conservancy
The Bruce Trail Conservancy is one of Ontario's largest land trusts that secures, protects and restores the vulnerable habitat and biodiversity of the UNESCO Niagara Escarpment World Biosphere. For more than 60 years we have responsibly connected people to nature through the Bruce Trail. We are a member-driven, volunteer-based, charitable organization governed by a 19-member Board of Directors. Working with each of the nine Bruce Trail Clubs, we are committed to caring for the Bruce Trail and to preserving land along its route. The Bruce Trail Conservancy is a leading Canadian environmental charity and has been named one of the Top 100 Charities in Canada by Charity Intelligence.
Bruce Trail Conservancy staff members and ecologists are available for interviews upon request.
SOURCE Bruce Trail Conservancy
Media Contact: Ali Schofield, Manager of Communications, Bruce Trail Conservancy, [email protected] | 905.529.6821 ext. 252
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