The Elusive Widdifield Forest Park

Widdifield Forest Park is a park that I have been curious about for many years. It is not that far away from home but information on it has been fleeting and difficult to find. The fact that so little is known about it makes it all that much more mysterious and that much more enticing. 

Before arriving I scoured the internet looking for both information and an entrance. All I could find out was that it was a Day Use park, there is no parking, and that someone had said in order to get onto the trail you had to go through someone's private property to get there. I didn't like the idea of going through someone else's property to get there but I figured I would still go check it out for myself and decide how to proceed once I got there. I searched the online maps and found a spot that was potentially the entrance, or at least an entrance closest to me. 

It was a spur of the moment decision to go on this day, so I left my departure until the late in the afternoon. That meant that I didn't have a whole lot of time until sundown. But since it was fall with not too many days left before the snow flies I knew it was now or wait until next year. So, I hopped in my car and I went. 

I drove down the back roads that turned from pavement into dirt roads. In some places the road was a little rough. When I was getting close to the park I passed by an area that had a bunch of red shirts and shoes hanging from the trees along side of the road. I thought it was a bit odd and I guessed that maybe some kids were playing around or perhaps someone was doing their laundry. Although why they wanted to hang their clothes out to dry so close to the road was a bit baffling to me. 

From what I had read, the entrance to the park is in the southern most tip of the park and part of Laughrin Road runs through the park. 

I passed a number of houses on private property until finally, sure enough, I found the first of the blue park boundary signs nailed to a tree to the right of a private property sign. 

I continued slowly down the road and spotted a couple more park boundary signs. But I never saw a sign that announced the name of the park anywhere. 

I drove down to what I would consider to be the end of the road. At this point the road seems to turn into 3 separate drive ways. I knew that on the other side of this private property somewhere was more park boundary according to the map. But I was not so sure that any of these roads would lead right up to it. 

​So, rather than upset any land owners I decided not to go past the mail box that was there. 

I got out of the car to look around and I could hear some people near by.  Sounded like they were sawing lumber with a chain saw. Probably getting their wood ready for winter for their wood stove. I took note of another Private Property sign. I am guessing that they probably have troubles with would-be hikers looking for a park entrance on their property on a fairly regular basis. 

I got back into my car and turned around to go back in the direction I had come. I was on the look out for both a place to park and a place that could be called an entrance to the park. I thought I had saw a good spot for both not too far back. 

Sure enough, I found a wider spot on the shoulder of the road beneath a tree that was in it's full, beautiful, orange, fall raiment.

Across the road and a little ways away, I had passed what looked to possibly be some sort of path leading into the woods. After parking and locking the car I walked up the road to see if I could find it. It wasn't the easiest to see. You had to look for it, but it was there. 

The trail head begins just to the right of one of the middle blue Park Boundary signs. You have to cross over the ditch and go up a wee bit of an incline to begin the hike. 

Seeing as it was fall, there was not much water in the ditch and there were no bugs. I was looking forward to a peaceful forest full of autumn coloured leaves. 

The trail was definitely not a well used one. It was a bit over grown in places. 

And yet, certain parts of it were wide open and easy to navigate. It is possible that this trail may have been an old lumber road at one point. 

I was looking up at the sky and the trees and just enjoying the  the peacefulness when all of a sudden that peace was shattered by the sounds of a gun shot. The people on the private property next door were doing some target practice. I realized that I hadn't given enough thought to the time of year and to the fact that is was nearing hunting season. Naturally there would be some target practice going on. If I had been thinking properly I would have dressed in a safer manner by wearing some orange or bright clothing.  I had not. 

I was only a little concerned about this though. I figured that as long as I stayed in the park and didn't wander onto the private property I would probably be fine. So, when the trail turned to the left and headed towards one of the private properties (but in the opposite direction of the gun shots), I was mindful of where I was and where I was heading. 

Since I had no map with me (because there really isn't a trail map for this park) and it was only a few hours until the sun would set, I made sure to always know which direction the road was in and to be aware of how low the sun was getting. I know from past experience that it gets darker faster in the woods than it does when you are in town.  

I came to a section of the trail that had thigh high plants that I am sure were much thicker in the summer time than they were now. Despite being over grown a bit here, I could still make out the trail. 

And it wasn't long before the trail became visible again. Although it did have some dead fall across it. 

Eventually I came to a little stream that was running beneath some rocks and boulders and leaves. I had seen some pictures online of people beside a waterfall in this park somewhere, but this was not that spot. (And I didn't get a chance to see enough of the park to ever find those waterfalls).   I wasn't sure if it was the stream that is shown in the map (which would have been on private property). I was hoping it was a different stream. (And I don't think it was the one on the map). The trail stayed to the right of the stream and eventually led away from it, heading towards the northern part of the park. 

Here the trail became more uneven and looked more like a trail and less like an old logging road. 

Orange mushrooms were growing amongst the old leaves with small chunks out of them where chipmunks had made a meal out of them. 

I had been walking for a good 20 minutes or so and the trail was still going strong. I wondered what it would be like here in the summer time. How bad would the mosquitoes be? How much underbrush would there be? How easy or difficult would it be to see where you are when the trees were thick with green leaves? What sorts of birds and animals would you see? Right now there really wasn't much in the way of wild life around me. 

I could see up ahead of me that the trail was about to open up into a wide area. 

And it was at this point that the trail went cold. I looked around and around to see where the trail may have picked up again but I just couldn't find it. It was just one big wide open area. I mean, there were trees in the area, but no discernable path.

But I wasn't ready to go back yet. I still wanted to explore a bit more. But if I went off the path there was a risk that I could get lost. I decided to take the risk (which I figured was a small risk since there were neighbours on either side and the road behind me. I chose a large rock to use as a landmark to help me if I needed to find something familiar to find my way back. Then I headed north to see what else I could find. 

There were no flowers left at this time of year and, surprisingly, not many birds either. So I looked for beauty in other types of plants that were still around in the fall. I saw some Fan Clubmoss peeking out from between the fallen leaves.

The trees rose high all around me with their golden leaves.

Even the ferns were changing colours.  I used 2 patches of ferns as landmarks to help guide me back as well. 

These ferns were shedding their bright green cloaks for muted peach and white coloured ones. I thought they looked almost frosty looking and I found them to be beautiful. 

I spent some time at the bases of various trees just looking up. 

Some of the trees had fungi growing on the bark. 

It came in different shapes and colours. This one I thought looked like a lady's skirt

After awhile I noticed that the sun was starting to sink below the tree line. 

It was starting to get darker and the leaves in the trees were losing their brightness. Time to head back. 

 I started to locate my makeshift landmarks in order to find my way back to the main trail. I found the ferns and then I found the big rock and made it back to the wide open area. This is where I thought the rest of the hike should go easy because all I had to do was follow the trail back now. Not so. 

Where I should have been able to easily find the trail I found that it wasn't as easy to see coming from the opposite direction after all. I knew I had to go east and then south to get to the road. I figured if I just headed  east or even south east then I would eventually find the trail again. So I headed off to the east and kept the direction of the road to my right. Without a proper trail in front of me I ended up going through a section where the trees were much thicker and I had to climb over fallen logs and kind of trail blaze my way through. 

As I was walking along I could hear the rustling of leaves behind me. A little chipmunk was following me and darting under trees and piles of leaves in an effort not to be seen. 

He was doing pretty good at camouflaging himself, but I could still see his little eyes peeking out at me. 

There is actually an old apple tree in the area so I am sure the little guy was getting plenty to eat. 

I am not sure how this apple tree got here. Was it someone's old lunch that got thrwn to the side of the trail many years ago? Or was this once the side of a farm or someone's house? Who knows what the history of this place is. Could be interesting to try to find out. 

It wasn't long before I could see the road from the trail. 

As I headed out of the woods I noticed an old red ribbon tied to a pine tree. Perhaps this is an old trail marker that has long since been forgotten. 

As I stepped out into the open and onto the road, a man on an ATV drove by and waved at me. 

I waved back and watched as he drove off down the road. 

I walked back to my car and enjoyed the scenery as the sun shone some of it's last rays of the day through the trees. I was hoping for some sort of coloured sky sunset, but instead the sun slipped quietly down without any fanfare. 

As I drove back home I noticed the red shirts in the trees again. This time I realized that it wasn't one or two shirts, it was a whole bunch of them. And shoes too. 

This time I slowed right down to try to figure out what was going on here. And then I started to notice that there were more than just clothes. There were signs too. 

One sign was written on a shirt and it said "215 The Tip Of The Iceberg" . And that was when it dawned on me what these red shirts were all about.  This was a public statement. A symbol and a memorial to all the children who lost their lives in the residential schools in Canada.   

My heart was touched. I thought this was a powerful and moving tribute to all those lost children. It may not have been a tribute that was seen by a whole lot of people, but for the few of us who got to see it, the tribute and the message was moving and thought provoking... exactly as it was intended to be. 

I silently reflected on the lives of those children and on how the lives of their families were shattered as I drove home.  

“There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children... Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear.”  — Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa