Monday, October 26, 2009

Culham Trail Fall Colours Credit River Mississauaga Ontario Canada - Great Drive, Great Walk, Cyclepath

The Fall Colours along Mississauga Road from Port Credit to Streetville are close to peak colour today, with leaves shades of gold, red, orange almost fully covering the trees. The change is more complete in the Streetsville area. Here are a few pictures I took this afternoon along the Culham Trail as it passes near Eglinton Avenue.


Highway 403 Mississauga Road Overpass
On my drive up Mississauga Road from Port Credit, I pulled onto the shoulder of the Hwy 403 overpass to take this picture of the changing leaves in the Credit River Valley. The Culham Trail (walking, cycling) runs along the river from Dundas to the Brampton border (map at bottom).


Hewitt Meadows Park Mississauga Ontario
As Mississauga Road approaches Eglinton Av, stay in the right hand lane, and turn east onto the bridge. If you are coming south down Mississauga Road, turn left at the Eglinton lights and get into the right hand lane as soon as possible. As you cross the Eglinton Avenue bridge over the Credit River, keep to the right hand lane, and be prepared to turn right at the first street, which is signed Hewitt Lane.

Hewitt Lane into Hewitt Meadows Park at Eglinton Avenue
 Hewitt Lane is dirt, fairly rough and narrow, so go slowly or drive a big truck. There is a small parking lot at the bottom of the lane, which ends at the Credit River. 

 
 Culham Trail Sign - Credit River at Eglinton
The trail is marked with signs near the parking lot, and is easy to follow. Under the Eglinton Avenue bridge, which is directly overhead at the parking lot, there is another footpath that leads up the hill on the northeast side of the bridge. I did climb the hill here, and crossed Eglinton to get back to Hewlett Lane.


Culham Trail Along Credit River
Before walking down Hewlett Lane, I walked to the middle of the Eglinton Av bridge to take this photo of the south Credit River Valley. As you can see, power lines mar the view. The lane in the picture is the Culham Trail.


Credit River South of Eglinton Bridge
From the parking lot, another footpath leads due west to the banks of the Credit River. This year, perhaps due to the lateness in the season, there were no salmon in the river.


Credit River  Fall Colours
The rough path (not the Culham Trail; that's paved and to the east of here) runs along the water line, and following rains, can be quite slippery.


Oak Trees Mississauga Fall Colours
On the top of the Eglinton bridge embankment, there is a line of young oak trees, seen here with fall colours of yellow. I wish I'd had more time to walk the trail, but these pictures, and the short walk I did have were an impromptu stop on my way to the bank.


Port Credit River At Memorial Park Mississauga
As I drove back down Mississauga Road to Port Credit, I took a detour on Queen Street to park along the Credit River across from Memorial Park.

Yesterday, I posted some pictures of fall colours on Lakeshore Road just west of here.
See also Streetsville Ontario page for more pics.

Do try to take a drive or bike along Mississauga Road while the weather is cooperating! The drive is perfectly lovely, the speed limit 50 kph, and the colours are gorgeous! There are  few places to pull over, and virtually no places to park. You might try pulling into a side street and walking back to take a picture. But most of all, just enjoy this beautiful show! The leaves will be gone before we know it.

Googlemap Mississauga Road. Zoom out to see route.


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