It’s an absolutely beautiful day with spring around the corner; the sun is shining and the snow is starting to melt. Today is the perfect day to check out the Davis Drive Tract Trail, an off leash hiking trail in York Regional Forest. I find that I rarely sit down, I’m always doing something, and today is no exception.
Nala knows we are heading out on another adventure. With her tail wagging, she is anxiously awaiting to head out the door! We all jump in the car and we’re off!
This trail system is divided into two sections, a north and south tract, which is divided by train tracks. We decided to check out the south tract, and arrived at the McCowan Road parking lot. I look in the back seat to put my ice cleats on my winter boots and realize I left them at home in the front foyer… oh, this is going to be fun!
We decided to walk the 2.9 km perimeter trail first, heading north, hoping these trails would be less icy. This is an absolutely beautiful walk through the forest. It was still a bit icy and I really regretted forgetting my ice cleats at home, but making the most out of the day nonetheless. We ran into about 4 other groups of people along our way, which was less than I anticipated for a warm weekend.
I knew there was a train track through the middle of the park along the west side of this trail but I didn’t realize how close the trail was to the tracks. The fencing is also minimal along the trail during this stretch. Normally I am fairly relaxed with Nala as she has a great recall, but I was nervous as a train went while hiking through this section. I realized if she had seen a rabbit or squirrel, there really isn’t much of a barrier that would have stopped her from running out towards the train tracks. I made sure to kept her close to us and she had our full attention through this section.
There are a few spots where the trail leads to an open field. Nala loves to play catch with snowballs, jumping into the air to grab them.
On the south side of the loop, as you near the parking lot, there is a small lake that the trail loops around. With the warm weather and a dog that loves the water, I decided it would be safer to avoid this section. I didn’t want an incident of breaking through the ice!
Overall a fairly enjoyable day outside in the nice weather, except for sliding down the trail and almost landing on my backside numerous times. Although Nala didn’t seem to mind the icy trail conditions, her paws seem to grip the slippery ground quite well. I had planned on also hiking the north tract, but we decided to leave it for another day when I was better prepared for the conditions.
Check out the other York Region Off Leash Tract, the Bendor and Graves Tract.
