The winter in Canada lasts between 3 and 5 months, in general. In most of the country, the winter is marked by snow, ice, blizzards, and winds. Lots of winds. But when the sun shines, everybody is out. So we were these past amazing few weekends, as we’ve been so fortunate to have in February, in Southern Ontario.

The region of Halton is about 1 hours Northwest of Toronto and has a big variety of parks one can enjoy in the winter, not only in the summer, or other seasons. We I decided to go to Hilton Falls, as I am in love with frozen falls. I will let you decide if I am right or not.

Hilton Falls has 33.5 km of colour-coded trails consisting of some overlapping loops. The multi use trails are available also for cross-country skiing, and biking, as well as hiking.

 Hilton Falls Trail is the shortest trail of all (3 km) and can be combined with any other trail. We intersected with few bikers, and 2 girls passed by with their skis.

During the early settlement era in the 19^th century, many sawmills have been built on the creeks and rivers in Ontario. To cover the local needs for timber in Hilton Falls, three separate mills operated between 1835 and 1867 on Sixteen Mile Creek. Each mill was only in operation for a short period of time before being destroyed for some reason. This mill was the second one built at Hilton Falls in 1856.

Tip(s) of the day:

• I counted 19 cars at the entrance of the park when we were leaving, so be prepared for long lines when the weather is beautiful, at least;
• There is one vault toilet along this trail, but no garbage bins, be prepared to take the trash with you, if you have any;
• The trail starts with an uphill section; the rest of the trail is pretty much even;
• It took us 2 hours back and forth on this trail, with several breaks to take pictures, and to read all panels along the way, including the mill ruins and the falls.

~ visited in February 2020