Heart Lake Conservation Area is located at 10818 Heart Lake Rd, in Brampton, ON. The park is located on this big, snapping turtle infested heart-shaped lake, and has numerous activities and trails surrounding it. The main attractions are the splash pad and the Treetop Trekking experience on the south side. We visited in February 2025.
The physical lake was formed during the Ice Age as a direct result of melting glaciers, and this was approximately 10,000 years ago. After archaeological studying, scientists found that the land was used upto 7,000 years before Christ, possibly as a water source and stopover site. By the time modern land ownership came around, there were two main land owners; these two being Charles Dyer (owning the northside) and John Snell (owning the southside). This is where Heart Lake's first two names came from, Dyer Lake or Snell's Lake. In 1913, the lake was noted by many for its pristine water quality, until the 1920s when a duck, plant, and feces infestation took place. The final owner before TRCA was Colonel AE Taylor, who spread the theory that the lake was occupied by a Loch-Ness Monster type serpent who could spit water fifteen feet high. To protect from any further damage to the physical lake and it's reputation, the TRCA took control of the land in 1956, making the land a conservation area for anyone to enjoy. Please look at this article for more.
Heart Lake is heart shaped. Although it was formerly named after its landowner, John Snell (Snell's Lake).
Heart Lake offers:
- paddling, with rentals available
- a splash pad and pool
- a Treetop Trekking course, complete with a zipline
- geocacheing held yearly
- large picnic area suitable for the masses
- lots of room and species for birding
- biking, including a designated mountain bike trail
- a large medicine wheel garden, if that's what you're into
- fishing for bass and sunfish, and a trout restock program
These are Heart Lake's trails.
Lake Trail - 3.7km, moderate
Easily the best trail at Heart Lake is the one with the most variety. This one starts near a little valley, encircling it, and entering the main section. It then passes by the boathouse, the stairs, the medicine wheel garden, and then a series of hills. It does of all this before climbing down to a lookout dock and then back up to Conservation Drive. Gotta pick one trail? Pick this one.
Esker Trail - 3.1km, moderate
The second best trail at Heart Lake is coincedentally the second longest, and it's the Esker Trail. This trail actually goes through a large portion of west Brampton, but is certainly nicest in this park's boundary. This trail is great for biking, and is a good way back if you go up the Wetland or Lake Trail. This trail is also notable for being very flat, because it is mostly pavement.
Wetland Trail - 2.5km, moderate
Running parallel to the Esker Trail is the Wetland Trail. This trail follows multiple little ponds and streams, offering a good birdwatching experience. I would probably recommend a route of going up the Esker Trail, and down this one.
Rayner Trail - 0.6km, easy
This little trail encircles a little pond, and is a nice diversion from the Wetland Trail. A quick detour at most.
Terry Fox Trail - 1km, moderate
This trail runs parallel to a string of homes, making an easy access to and from residential areas.
The image right is courtesy of the Neighbourhood Guide.
Drive in the Heart Lake Road entrance. You'll pass the gatehouse and office before a fork. Left leads towards the splash pad, Treetop Trekking entrance, and the Lake Trail. Right takes you to the Rayner Trail, and a parking lot to access it.
As you will read in Tips and Advice, I prefer parking in Robert H. Lagerquist Secondary School and hiking up the little dotted white trail (above) via Richvale Park. Do this in the wintertime, as fees are required in the summer. (and if you try in the summer, I didn't tell you this)
Note that the photos in this section are not explicitly from this park, they are good photos of species that live here.
Beavers
Large deciduous forests
Numerous fishes
Enter via Richvale Park.
Do the Lake Trail first.
Heart Lake is home to its very own treetop obstacle and traversing course. This experience was installed in 2013, and has since become a crowd favourite. There are many platforms to traverse amongst the treetops. It is most notable for the Blue Heron Zipline traversing across the lake, where onlookers gaze at the riders rethinking their life choices while dangling 50ft above a polluted, infested lake and worrying about the structural integrity as well as the always unlikely but never impossible possibility of a sabotage (which it's Brampton, so look out). I'm just kidding of course, the Treetop Trekking is fun and is the only place to do it in the GTA (until going to Stouffville, which is pretty far out there).
Come here for the day, preferably a winter or fall hike, as it is BUSY AS HELL in the summer.
