It’s my favourite time of the year. To me the weather is perfect, the air is fresh, the bugs are gone… put that with the Vikings on TV and the Leaf’s Stanley Cup drive starting – it’s like a little piece of heaven….
Thunder Bay has such great colour this time of year, and there are so many spots to check out. Go for a drive with the family or friends, grab a coffee, turn up The Bay and enjoy the scenery. Here’s a quick list of a few spots that are my favourites for colour viewing this time of year and a little map for you too!
- Cascades Conservation Area
- Take a walk on one of the many trails up to the river. The canopy of colours is fantastic with a lot of great views
- Sleeping Giant Provincial Park
- The park has countless locations to see fall colours. You’ll probably get treated to some wildlife sightings at the same time. My favourite is the highway drive over the causeway beside Lake Marie Louise. From there a great view of the Sleeping Giant BACKWARDS! (because you’re now behind him) and a perfect view of the lake and its colour
- My favourite walk this time of the year is the Joe Creek Nature trail. Located just past the park border – its a beautiful walk along the shore of Joe Creek thats filled with waterfalls and great colour canopies too.
- Boundary Drive
- Driving south has so many great views. The norwesters fill up nicely and at the same time the back roads off of Boundary drive give you great “big sky” views over the farm lands with views of red maples and hardwood in all directions.
- Candy Mountain Road
- Another great hidden gem is the drive down Candy Mountain Road – head south towards the mountain to see some great landscapes and views of sugar maples on the side of the mountain, and while you’re in the area – stop in and see our friends at Gammondale Farms on McCluskey Drive. The drive there is great, and when leaving, turn left on McCluskey and take the trip up the side of the mountain for an incredible panoramic view of the city, Mount McKay and the norwesters.
You can get the fall colour updates from Ontario Parks here, just zoom in to our region.
There are a lot of spots south of us too – especially into Minnesota….listen in to the morning show this week for those secret spots! In the meantime, leave your favourite spots in the comments or on our facebook page!
~John
