Downhill skiing in Owen Sound? Pallisades Hike #17

Everyone wants a piece of the treasure hunt action, so the whole family and Riley are excited to head out on the trails today. (that's the way I'm going to remember it, just go with it)

Owen Sound is certainly lucky to be situated right on the escarpment. In the escarpment really, it towers over both sides of Owen Sound with the Sydenham River flowing through the middle of the action. Makes for some great hiking right in the city!

To get to the Pallisades Nature Reserve you park at the south end of 7th Ave E where it meets 1st St. E. There is a bit of a dead end there and you can park on the side of the road.

The trail will be marked on the east side of the road and you start off huffing and heading up a slope straight away. That's the Harrison Park Side Trail and very shortly it will meet the Pallisades Side Trail where we headed off to the right. (our trusty guide book recommended that we do this loop clockwise, that would have been a better idea! but no one fully read the chapter before launching ourselves at the trail. Let's not make this a habit guys!)

We followed the blue blazes through the shady mixed forest suddenly coming to the canyon with 20 meter walls. Spectacular! And cool. It was 30 degrees out but it felt at least 10 degrees cooler in the canyon.

We didn't see anyone at all out on this trail on a Sunday morning. It really felt like we were deep in the woods.

This side trail ends, and meets up with the white blazes again and our feet swing to the left. The Raven's Nest Side Trail appears and takes you up a short slope for a peak through the trees over to the other side of the valley that holds Owen Sound.

It was just a peek, the opening through the trees wasn't as expansive as some spots on the escarpment, but was still worth it!

This side trail was a little dose of reality too because we could see cars piled up at the back of an auto business on hwy 6&10. A reminder of where we really were in these wild woods. It's linear, so turn around and head back to the main trail.

Following north back on the main trail we looked up to see what appeared to be a tire rim in a tree. But no! This is a pulley for a tow rope ski lift!

Looking down from here we could see an old rusty frame and some thick cable. Imagine having downhill ski slopes right in Owen Sound today! Or even snow tubing! Back in the 50's a couple of savvy entrepreneurs started, but sadly never developed it further.

While that would be great fun, it sure would have changed the course of the Bruce Trail and all the neighborhoods around the Pallisades Nature Reserve.

If you like mossy rocks, a varied trail, a trip up and down the talus slope, and about one hour of hiking....get your boots on the trail in Pallisades Nature Reserve!

We hiked for a little over an hour and covered 2.5km. We conquered this trail on August 23, 2020.

This is my first time introducing my Goat scale of difficulty! This trail had a steep slope from where we parked the truck and while it didn't have loose rocks, it did have uneven footing and places where the step up or down was deeper than comfortable. For the record, I don't expect to see many 5 goat trails in Grey Bruce!

---