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I stumbled across the Baxter Conservation Area while I was leafing through my Back Road Map Book. Which I do a lot… I couldn’t believe I didn’t know this little pocket of green space existed, especially because it’s so close to home for me!

On a Friday off recently I hopped in the car to check out some of the trails. The Baxter Conservation Area has just over 5 kilometres of trails that are open and dog friendly year round. They even provide free dog bags at the trailhead! The route that I put together was only 3.6 kilometres, but there were definitely options to make it a little longer too.

In the summer, there’s a beach area with outhouses, change rooms, picnic tables, and BBQs. Dogs are not allowed on the beach, but they’re allowed to go swimming BESIDE the beach, so that’s pretty cool.

Getting There

The Baxter Conservation Area is south of the city. I just plugged the name of the area into my Google maps to get there, but the address is 7498 Carter Road, Kars, ON.

The Conservation Area was impossible to miss because there was a big sign on the road where I first had to turn to get there, and then the road essentially ended at Baxter Conservation Area.

I passed through an open gate (the area is open from “dawn until dusk,” as per their website), and paused soon after to pay for parking. Parking is $6.00 per car per day, although annual passes are also available for $45.00 per year. They had a typical cash/credit machine available, but they also have it arranged so that you can use the “Pay by Phone” app. I dropped some coins into the machine, got my ticket, and carried on down the road to the interpretive centre where the trails start.

In the summer, I might have turned left right after the parking ticket machine, because that’s where the beach is.

The Interpretive Centre

There was parking available right next to the interpretive centre, which was super easy to find. I’m not sure exactly how much parking would be available in the summer, but when I went it seemed like there was parking for about 15-20 cars.

There was an outhouse right beside the parking lot (signed as being wheelchair accessible). Washrooms can be found inside the interpretive centre, but it wasn’t open when I went (even though the hours on the door said Monday-Friday). There was also a sign that said sometimes the centre is rented and if that’s the case the washrooms are not available to the public.

There were picnic tables and recycling units in this area, and a lot of chipmunks too! I suspect these little guys are used to sneaking leftover snacks because I saw quite a few and they didn’t seem to be too afraid of me.

There are quite a few trail options starting at the interpretive centre. Out of the three trailheads (River Cabin, Fiddlehead, and Grouse), I checked out two different routes.

The Grouse and Fiddlehead Trails

The Fiddlehead Trail follows the Mobility Trail at its start, so I opted to use the Grouse Trail to begin my route, and “save” The beginning of the Fiddlehead Trail for a second route.

First things first, I had to find the trailhead for the Grouse Trail. It’s behind the interpretive centre, but the way the building is laid out, I found it easier to get behind it from the parking lot side.

The trailhead itself was super easy to find, because it was well signed.

I started off down the trail following a set of boot prints (the snow wasn’t deep enough for me to call these post holes), through fluffy snow. It was obvious that this trail hadn’t gotten a lot of traffic so far this winter.

The Grouse Trail is wide enough that if I had been with someone, we could have walked side by side. I followed the trail through the forest for about half a kilometre before coming to a rest spot. There were picnic tables there, and a structure that could be climbed to get a great, unobstructed view of the wetland bordering the forest. I took off my snowshoes and climbed the stairs to take in the view for a bit before carrying on.

It’s worth noting that there are no trail markers along any of the trails in the Baxter Conservation Area. But, the trails are wide enough and the forest just dense enough that I was never unsure of whether or not I was on the Grouse or Fiddlehead trails.

About 100 metres past the lookout, I joined the Fiddlehead Trail. At this point, I went straight, although I could have chosen to turn to my right to cross over the wetland and hike into the Nut Grove.

I walked alongside a cove in the river for another half kilometre before reaching a platform that provided a nice lookout spot over the Rideau River.

Along the way I had passed some of the different trails that cut through the forest (the Woodpecker, Hare, and Maple trails), but I wanted to walk all of Fiddlehead.

The trail followed the river for another half kilometre, and then turned back in the direction of the interpretive centre. The trail headed back in that direction right behind someone’s house (jealous), so when you see the house you know you’re almost back.

After hiking for 2 kilometres, there was a split in the trail where I turned right to walk the final 100 metres back to the interpretive centre.

It only took me 45 minutes to hike this route, and I was really taking my time. So, I decided to check out the Mobility Trail too.

The Mobility Trail to the Nut Grove

The beginning of the Mobility Trail is impossible to miss. Essentially, the Mobility Trail is the first section of the Fiddlehead trail, which (I think) is made up entirely of a boardwalk that runs through the forest, which could allow for greater accessibility, or strollers. I’ll have to confirm this in the spring, unless someone else can confirm for me!

Because of the shared trailhead, I started off beside a sign announcing that this was the Fiddlehead Trail.

It was a nice walk through the forest, and I only traveled about 400 metres before reaching the split in the trail where the Grouse Trail joined the Fiddlehead Trail. Now, heading straight at this point took me onto a bridge built over the wetlands (before, leaving the Grouse Trail I could have turned right to do the same).

There were two platforms built onto the bridge to allow for some neat views of the wetlands. I stayed on the bridge because the snow had blown off the whole structure, and I was too lazy to take off my snowshoes.

After tiptoeing across the bridge, I re-entered the forest on the other side, and after walking for about 300 metres found myself in the Nut grove.

This space was kind of cool; it was pretty wide open with big trees dotted throughout. A great spot to cruise around in some untouched powder!

So here’s where the lack of trail markers got a little tricky… The trail map put out by the Baxter Conservation Area shows the Nut Grove Trail with a loop at it’s end. Looking back, I think they just meant that there was space to cruise around in the Grove.

At the time, I was looking for the trail to continue, and wound up heading to my right. I snowshoed past the fence in the field, and noticed a track going back into the woods near the end of the field. It seemed to me at the time that this seemed like a natural spot for the trail to loop, and so I followed it.

But, I ended up behind the Rideau Valley’s Conservation Authority’s workshop. I knew which direction I would need to head in to loop back to the Nut Grove, but heading in that direction seemed like it might have me hopping a fence and walking through someone’s backyard. Clearly, not the loop in the trail that I was looking for.

I walked back the way I came, just to be on the safe side.

I restarted my GPS tracker at the sign in the Nut Grove, just to have a cleaner map for you guys.

Walking back to the interpretive centre, I took the exact same route I had taken in. From the Nut Grove back to the interpretive centre was only .75 kilometres, and I walked it in just over 10 minutes.

This trail would be a really good, short option for those with little ones.

I hope this trip report has enough info to get you there too. Let me know in the comments, or share and tag a friend to start planning your next adventure!

Maps and Elevation Gain

Gear I Brought