I am always in search of waterfalls and the Forks of the Credit waterfall was on my list of places to visit. Located in Caledon, this park is a short drive from the greater Toronto area. Please note it also requires a reservation from the Parks Ontario web site (click here to reserve). We visited on a warm and sunny April afternoon, perfect timing to check out some of the forest spring wildflowers.
Although this park does not offer any off leash trails or dog play areas, the park is dog welcoming. In addition, it has well marked trails of various terrain, scenic views of the Niagara Escarpment and of course, the Cataract Falls.
From the main parking lot off McLaren Road, we found the trail head sign near the washroom. We headed South West on the Meadow trail (blue on the map), an easy open trail of small rolling hills.
We continued South West onto the Bruce Trail (black dots on map) towards the Dominion Trail (orange on map). The trail becomes quite steep down through the forest, but it has wooden planks across to help guide you down. In the spring, wildflowers fill the forest floor and the trilliums were just starting to bud.
There are washrooms located at the bottom of the hill. We could hear the river and continued to follow a narrow path to the Credit River. A great place to stop for a snack or picnic in the warm sunny weather.
We then back-tracked towards the washrooms and then headed North West along the Dominion Trail towards the Cataract Falls. There were well marked signs to the falls, and the trails were all very easy to follow on the map. The Dominion Trail is mostly an uphill section that weaves through shady forest. It is absolutely beautiful in the spring with wildflowers along the edge of the trail. This is a dead end trail now, and no longer connects to the Viewpoint / Meadow Trail as illustrated on the park map. The trail concludes at a plaque with a few of Forks of the Credit waterfall.
While we were here, we also hiked the North West part of the Meadow Trail where it joins up with the Bruce Trail. This easy and open trail runs through some lightly forested area and gentle hills, a great trail for beginner hikers.
We backtracked on the Meadow trail towards the parking lot, stopping to check out Kettle Lake for a snack break. Nala absolutely loves swimming and was more than happy to get wet before we got back in the car.
Forks of the Credit is a day use only park, and does get quite busy in the peak months. I found even visiting in April, there were several people that we passed along the way on the trails. Overall, a beautiful day with a wide range of hiking trails for all abilities, including kid and dog friendly hiking options. Unfortunately, the park has no pet exercise areas nor any leash free trails, but still worth the visit.
If you are looking for some additional nearby hikes at a Provincial Park, check out our Mono Cliffs hike!
