The new parking lot and boardwalk offering views of the red clay hills of the Badlands in west Caledon will be opening to the public on Sept. 22.

Kelly Johnston of Ontario Heritage Trust says the reopened site will feature new trails and a new boardwalk to allow for viewing of the unique and scenic Badlands terrain.

“Access to the property has been enhanced and made safer with a series of new features and operational procedures, including paid parking and staff during peak visitation,” she says.

The Ontario Heritage Trust, which owns the property, is working in partnership with Credit Valley Conservation to provide daily operational oversight to the property.

The unique landscape was first formed at the base of an ancient sea over 400 million years ago and exposed in the early 1900s. It’s a provincially significant area of natural and scientific interest. The exposed red shale is also one of the most recognizable and visited natural heritage landmarks in southern Ontario.

The site has been closed to the public for over three years to protect it from degradation.

Ontario Heritage Trust owns the site. The strategic direction for the property — including the master plan currently nearing completion — was developed in partnership with Credit Valley Conservation, the Bruce Trail Conservancy, the Region of Peel, the Town of Caledon, the Caledon Hills Bruce Trail Club, the Caledon Countryside Alliance, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, the Niagara Escarpment Commission and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.

This plan included the construction of a boardwalk and a 1,600 sq.-ft., 33-space parking lot.

Residents from the area were angry at plans to build the parking lot, claiming it wouldn’t properly address the damage crowds were doing to the landscape.

There was a lengthy appeal process, which put the plans on hold for more than a year, but the appeal was eventually dismissed.

Construction of the parking lot and new boardwalk are now complete.