Claireville Conservation Area is located on 1577 Queen Street E in Brampton, ON. The park protects a large portion of the West Humber River and a number of its tributaries. TRCA dubs this park its "urban oasis", yet it's more than that. It offers a summer camp, good views, and is a good picnic stop in the middle of the city. We visit this park every winter.
Claireville C.A. was created in 1957 after Hurricane Hazel had severely (negatively) altered water levels. To combat this, the TRCA built a dam and created the Claireville Reservoir, where Indian Line Campground is located.
Claireville is named after the reservoir. The reservoir is named after the neighbourhood. The neighbourhood was established in 1851 by Jean du Petit Pont de la Haye, who named it after his daughter, Claire.
Claireville offers:
- birding; including the rare bobolink
- geocache throughout the park
- trails are horseback accessible
- cycling allowed on all trails.
The trails at Claireville are:
Pine Forest (10-26) - 3.6km, moderate
A go-to trail at Claireville. Get to see cool riverbends, pine forests, as well as some landscape ups and downs.
West Humber Trail (1-46) - 5.2km, easy
Starting at Goreway Rd. (not on map) and going underneath Queen St. towards the 407. This trail is flat, straight, sunny, and offers decent views of the river.
Marsh Loop (16-34) - 3.1km, difficult
The prettiest trail at Claireville goes south to the West Humber River, although not before traversing pretty marshes, wetlands, tributaries, and places where river water pools up.
Main Road (25-40) - 2km, easy
This is a great way to access other trails, as well as the summer camp. Very flat, yet more shaded than the West Humber.
Gorewood Loop (42-45) - 2km, difficult
Not as difficult as the rating would suggest, this trail goes near the actual West Humber River, as opposed to tributaries.
Vista View (40-41) - 0.5km, easy
Not worth the hike. Climbs "Mount Malton" (not the actual name lol) to a half-decent view of the 407. Littered and sunny. Not approved.
Ranch Line (22-25) - 1.1km, easy
A flat trail that offers a different route than the West Humber Trail. This trail is alright, although not a must-do.
Meadow Loop (35-38, ends at 15) - 2.2km, moderate
An unpopular yet beautiful trail at Claireville is the Meadow Loop. Consider this as an alternate route back to the parking lot. It passes by large homes above a river bluff, before going down said bluff across a pretty stream and bridge.
Drive into the parking lot and enter the trail. See the map below and tips and advice for routes.
The best entrance is the Queen Street East entrance.
Note that the photos in this section are not explicitly from this park, they are good photos of species that live here.
Black capped chickadees
Bee nesting and hive structures
The endangered bobolink (I know this isn't a bobolink)
Warblers and other small birds
Go there in off season because there is very little people and it is very beautiful.
Look out for the rare bobolink bird.
Bring your camera.
Enter the Queen Street entrance - it's free and has the best trail access.
Look at the screenshot of the map below for the best route.
Use a trail that is not on the official map when going from the main road to the camp. It's on the map below. It's clearly maintained, and is accessed via a large tube, in the same style as the ones under a road to funnel a creek. It accesses the bridge easier.
Well, here's something new. Claireville offers a summer and winter camp at the building pictured right. Although I am a little short on details, the participants do fun activities in the park such as hikes, syrup collecting, studying animals, fires, etc. Next to the building is the West Humber River and the bridge pictured below. Another thing to see is a native style tent, with the title "Nanaboozhoo". Nanaboozhoo is a native Ojibwe spirit known for being a deceitful trickster. See below for the brochure.
Inside the Nanaboozhoo tent.
Best spot in Brampton. Although it's beautiful, it goes to show how boring Brampton is. It's nice, though - I would recommend a winter or spring hike. Great birding, too. A 6/10.
The so called "vista view".
Recommended route is in red. Don't have to conform to it, there are nice areas not featured on this route. This is just what I like.
These are the camp brochures.
