With fall just around the corner, it’s a great time to get outdoors and enjoy the rest of summer. Guelph is surrounded by many beautiful parks that are part of the Grand River Parks and Conservation Areas. These trails offer some of the best bicycling and hiking opportunities in the area. Before you plan your visit, make sure you check the current park status. 

Here are some of our favourite parks to visit.

Guelph Lake

At Guelph Lake, you can enjoy camping, paddling, hiking, cycling, and swimming. About ten kilometres of hiking trails take you through various wooded areas, and cycling is allowed on the park roads. Guelph Lake has two large, sandy swimming beaches: the Main Beach and the Island Beach. It is one of the larger parks (1,600 hectares) and is open until mid-October.

Belwood Lake

Although Belwood Lake is open year-round, summer is a popular place to visit this park thanks to the hiking trails and water areas perfect for swimming, sailing, canoeing and fishing. There are 3.3 kilometres of trails within the park. The 42-kilometre Elora-Cataract Trailway runs through the park along the top of Shand Dam. The reservoir is suitable for canoeing and kayaking, with easy access to the water, but at this time, there are no canoe or kayak rentals.

Rockwood

Towering limestone cliffs, caves and glacial potholes, including one of the world's largest, are a few of the natural wonders at Rockwood. You can view them from hiking trails on both sides of the Eramosa River if you canoe through the park. Two trails take you around the reservoir, along the tops of cliffs, across boardwalks through wetlands and beside big glacial potholes. Rockwood Conservation is open daily from 7am to 9pm in the summer.

Shades Mills

Shade's Mills is a day-use park offering a great place to enjoy nature just a few minutes away from the city. Favourite activities include swimming, sport fishing and canoeing. Hikers and cyclists can enjoy 12 kilometres of trails through a mature hardwood forest along Mill Creek. There's a long sandy beach on the reservoir that is perfect for hot summer days.