Biking the Vicki Barron Trail

We had plans to do some overnight bike trips this summer, but with the rise of the delta variant, we postponed. However, since Pier and I are now fully vaccinated, we can finally visit my (also vaccinated) parents. They live in a small town a three hour drive from downtown Toronto. We usually make a pit stop in the city of Orangeville at the Tim Hortons right off Highway 10. Pier had noticed that there is a lake and trails on the other side of the highway and suggested we check it out. After all, since we cycle to pick up the rental car, we always have the Bromptons in the trunk! 

So we pulled into Tim Horton’s, fuelled up on a breakfast sandwich and muffins, then unfolded our bikes and headed to the Vicki Barron Lakeside Trail!

Access to the Trail

The Tim Horton’s is on 5^th Avenue, and the trail entrance is across from 4^th Avenue. There is actually a multi-use path running alongside Highway 10, so we took that down to 4^th Avenue. This trail entrance is for pedestrians only; in other words, there’s no parking lot. The Credit Valley Conservation website warns people not to park in the Home Hardware lot across the road or you’ll be towed. It then goes on to list the parking lots that are available. We left our car in the Tim Horton’s lot, which is probably not advisable. However, since it was a weekday (not a busy trail day), we ate lunch there (spent money) and we were only going to be gone an hour tops, we figured it was okay. 

In the photo above, you can see where we entered the trail at the pedestrian access point, as well as the parking lots in conservation area, the town of Mono and the north portion of Hurontario Street.

Biking around Island Lake

This is a leisurely trail, not a racing trail. Most of it is fine gravel or wooden boardwalks. Our average speed was a dawdling 10km/hr (our normal sightseeing speed is 20km/hr) and it still took us less than an hour to bike the entire thing. Overall, the Vicki Barron Trail is a short. picturesque ride, as you can see in the photos (and YouTube video) below…

Coming up…

This year my mom bought a folding bike! So of course we had to take it out for a ride during our visit. Coming soon, a little video comparing my mom’s Zizzo and our Bromptons.