Fall Foliage Colors of Oakville 16 Mile Creek - Take the GO, Kayak, Drive, Walk, Cycle - But GO!

Update October 3, 2012: Just back from a drive through this area, then along the QEW to Niagara, and fall colors starting to get gorgeous. If the weather is clear for the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend, then the fall leaves should put on an even better show.

 Earlier in the week, on a drive north on Mississauga Road through Caledon towards Belfountain, the leaves were showing lots of gorgeous colors. As the land rises from Lake Ontario to the north, the leaves furthest north change colour earliest.

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Update September 20, 2011: Just back from this area and I noticed that the colors are starting to turn now -- a blush of orange, rust and yellows stipple the summertime green. Best guess is that full color within two weeks.

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I took these pictures -- and bear in mind I hold the copyright :-) --  of fall foliage colours in Oakville (Ontario, Canada) this afternoon, and will post them here as fast as I can for those of you heading out this weekend to take in the fall colors.

I'll post a googlemap at the bottom to show you my vantage point, as there is a place to park. You can also take the GO train to Oakville station and walk down the Speers Road hill to get closer to 16 Mile Creek and some gorgeous colors! Click on an image to enlarge, then click the Back button to return to this page.

Overpass Speers Road and Queen Mary Drive Oakville

Coming from the east on Speers (Oakville GO station south side), I turned right at Kerr Street at the lights at the top of the hill, and then right again at the first street (light) on Shepherd, which naturally curves into Queen Mary Drive. There is parking on the south side on the streets and wide sidewalks on the overpass.

16 MIle Creek Ablaze with Fall Colours

This picture shows the long shot view of the 16 Mile Creek Valley where Cross Street (exit Oakville Go Station north side) curves down the hill and ends at Speers. If you are walking from the GO station, cross Speers Road at the light and you'll find an opening in the fence to get an even closer view of the creek and valley.

16 Mile Creek Valley - Oakville Ontario

The above picture is in closer view. Such a pretty view, and the only way to get closer is to park on Queen Mary Drive, as I did, or park at the GO , or take the GO and walk down Speers Road.

Kayak 16 Mile Creek Oakville

Into this perfect scene came a kayaker! Such a warm and sunny, perfect day to show off the colors, reflected so beautifully in the creek!

Railway Overpass Cross Avenue and 16 Mile Creek

I love the drive down Cross Avenue from Trafalgar, as the road curves down the hill, and passes under the railway bridge. The old stone bridge supports are beautiful in themselves; the fall colors only add to the picture.

Close Up Fall Foliage Oakville Ontario

For the colors to really POP, they need sunshine, and today was a perfect day for this. I took these photos just after noon; the day before, I'd been driving this same road and noticed the wonderful colors, but had no time to look for a parking spot (there's no parking on Speers at Cross).

Red Maple Leaves - Fall Colors Canada

I had promised myself that if Saturday was sunny, I'd drive out from Port Credit and find my way onto that overpass on Speers. I suppose I could have parked at the Oakville GO, as there's not as much traffic on a weekend, or I could also park at the shopping mall at Speers and Kerr. There is three-hour parking on Queen Mary Drive, though, so any of those options would give you enough time to walk down Speers and get onto the trail close to the creek.

Fallen Fall Colors - Mississauga Ontario

Heading back to Mississauga, I stopped at Bradley Museum to see if any of the sugar maples had turned red yet. Being much closer to the lake (Ontario), they were mostly green. A few had turned, and fallen.

And as much as I love to look at fall colors, that's conversely as much as I like to rake fallen leaves!

If you have some time this weekend, or the early part of next week, try to make your way to this area of Oakville.  To best see the colors, you need to get to a higher point of land. I had thought of going out to Rattlesnake Point, but I don't recall that many trees, especially maples, in the valley below.

Here the googlemap of where I took these pictures. Scroll down to see Queen Mary Drive and Kerr Street to see how to drive to the overpass.

Related Streetsville Mississauga Fall Colours
and Port Credit Fall foliage.


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