Kids and creeks go together like peanut butter and jam. When my children were younger, we often satisfied our “creek fix” at Heber Down Conservation Area in Whitby.

Kids and creeks go together like peanut butter and jam. When my children were younger, we often satisfied our “creek fix” at Heber Down Conservation Area in Whitby. Lynde Creek meanders all the way through, showing up first right beside the parking lot and popping up all the way along the Devil’s Den and Springbanks Trails.
We used to have endless fun, catching minnows and crayfish, dipping hot toes in cool water, crossing stepping stone bridges without getting (very) wet. My youngest is now ten but the attraction hasn’t paled. On last week’s hike, we still climbed down to the water’s edge at every break in the woods.
The Devil’s Den Trail is a favourite for young water-lovers. The stroller-friendly one-kilometre trail starts in the parking lot among sunny picnic areas and leads to a wooden bridge that crosses the creek. The trail leads young adventurers through shady woodland, tracing the creek’s twists and turns. A second bridge brings the big pond in Devil’s Den into view.
The pond is just small enough for little legs to run around and just large enough to make that an adventure. It’s also a quiet spot for trout fishing, with fishing platforms dotted around its perimeter.
Once you’ve circled the pond and paddled in the creek, you can double back to return to the parking lot. The more adventurous, however, might enjoy a longer ramble along the shorelines of the former Lake Iroquois, the immense body of water that was Lake Ontario’s great-granddaddy 12,500 years ago when the glaciers were receding.
You can pick up the five-kilometre Iroquois Shoreline Trail where it heads uphill from the north-east end of the pond. Looking for a longer jaunt, it was the route my daughter and I chose to follow last week.
Keep your eyes open for sand and gravel as you climb the hill. As the trees open out on the right, it’s easy to imagine away the grassy slopes and see instead the former shoreline once lapped by Lake Iroquois.
After that short, steep climb, you’ll face three choices. The road straight ahead leads to a country lane and cornfields. Heading towards the meadow and conical hill on your left sends you to the Whitby Aero Modelers airfield. If you hear the loud drone of motors, look skyward for the brightly coloured planes flying loop the loops and barrel rolls.
To follow the Iroquois Shoreline Trail, you’ll choose the ‘road less travelled’, the sharp right that leads gently across the Lake Iroquois lakebed. It’s a pleasant, reasonably flat hike through quiet forests and meadows.
When you reach the hydro corridor, you’ll have a choice of right or left. Pick left: it leads to a lookout platform at the end of a trail that curls off the main trail to your left. A steep set of stairs ascends to the platform, giving a great view south. Retrace your path and follow the hydro corridor all the way out of the park to the front gate entrance you drove in when you arrived.
And if you’re hot and sweaty, dip your toes in the creek. We won’t tell.
To get to Heber Down Conservation Area, take Country Lane Road north of Taunton Road. Pay and display parking is $1.00 per hour with a $4 maximum.
Try This
Cooperative storytelling Devil’s Den was once a hideout for horse thieves in the 1800s and 1900s. Locals heard the strange sounds made by the thieves and their stolen livestock echoing through the deserted gully. A legend began to grow that the Devil himself lived deep in the forested valley.
Ask your children to help you create a story about how Devil’s Den might have gotten its name. Start the story and pause at an important part. Let the next person pick up the tale.
Paw prints Soft mud at the edge of the creek or pond often captures the paw prints of wild animals. Look closely and you might see the tracks of raccoons, ducks and geese, or even a deer! If you come prepared, you can make casts of some of the paw prints. Go for a hike while they set.
Animal Casts (makes two or more casts)
1 cup Plaster of Paris in a disposable jar with a tight fitting lid
2 to 3 molds — large plastic yogurt or sour cream containers with the bottom cut out.
1. Centre the mold over the paw print. Push the mold slightly into the mud.
2. Add 1/2 cup creek water to the jar. Shake well. It should have the consistency of thick cream. Be careful that no plaster gets into the creek or pond.
3. Immediately pour plaster into molds. (It sets quickly!) Allow to harden for half an hour, then remove cast.
4. When dry, brush off the dirt to see a perfect impression.

Add to: del.icio.us | Digg