Hiking.
The Caledon Hills section of the Bruce Trail ends at its northern terminus in Mono Centre after running 71 kilometres up the Niagara Escarpment from the Cheltenham Badlands. Mono Cliffs Provincial Park picks up the corridor immediately above Mono Centre with three Bruce Trail side trails — the Cliff Top Trail past 30-metre dolomite cliffs, the South Outlier Trail across the detached escarpment outlier, and the McCarston's Lake Trail around a kettle lake.
The brief.
Mono Cliffs is day-use only and open year-round; a valid Ontario Parks day-use permit (parking fee per vehicle) is required at the gate. Bicycles, equestrians, and hikers share marked multi-use trails; rock climbing, caving, snowmobiling, motorized vehicles, and camping are prohibited inside the park (the only authorized overnight is the Bruce Trail rest area).
Hockley Valley Provincial Nature Reserve, five kilometres south, is a non-operating park with no facilities and no washrooms — access is from Dunby Road, 3rd Line EHS, or Hockley Road. The Spillway Trail walks a canyon between two cliff faces and is the most photographed feature in the park.
May through October is the easiest hiking window; the trails stay open through winter.
4. places.
- 01
Mono Cliffs Provincial Park
732-hectare Niagara Escarpment park 15 kilometres northeast of Orangeville, immediately north of Mono Centre; carries roughly 5 kilometres of the Bruce Trail with the Cliff Top, South Outlier, and McCarston's Lake side trails plus the Spillway Trail through a canyon.
- 02
Bruce Trail — Caledon Hills Section (Map 19, Mono Cliffs)
71 km section of the Bruce Trail running from the Cheltenham Badlands north to its terminus at Mono Centre, threading Hockley Valley on the way through.
- 03
Hockley Valley Provincial Nature Reserve
378-hectare non-operating park within the Town of Mono; the Bruce Trail passes through with four side trails forming connected loops; access from Dunby Road, 3rd Line EHS, and Hockley Road.
- 04
Monora Park
40-acre Town of Mono municipal park with 18 km of walking trails off Highway 10/24.
Today's read.
Cold but firm — winter-ready conditions · light winds · clean air.
By the book.
- 01Mono Cliffs Provincial Park is day-use only; valid day-use permit (parking fee per vehicle) required.Source ↗
- 02Dogs must be kept on a 2-metre leash at all times; no leash-free areas.Source ↗
- 03Rock climbing, caving, snowmobiling, motorized vehicles, and camping (except the Bruce Trail rest area) are prohibited within Mono Cliffs Provincial Park.Source ↗
- 04Hockley Valley Provincial Nature Reserve is a non-operating park with no facilities or washrooms; access via Dunby Road, 3rd Line EHS, and Hockley Road.Source ↗