Hiking & trails
Hiking in Clearview: valley, bluff and brow -- the escarpment at three efforts
Clearview's hiking is escarpment hiking: a river valley below the brow, caves in the bluff face, and a lookout on top. Three walks carry the township, plus one gentle loop for the days between.
Three scales of walking
The escarpment is the township's wild half. Devil's Glen Provincial Park, on County Road 124 near Glen Huron, drops the Bruce Trail through the Mad River valley under the escarpment brow -- Ontario Parks ground, day-use hiking country, printed here as a park, never as a township facility, on ontarioparks.ca. West of it, the Nottawasaga Bluffs Conservation Area, at 8861 Sideroad 15/16 near Singhampton, holds about 400 acres of fissured limestone, crevice caves, hardwood forest and the Keyhole side trail under the NVCA -- the township's most dramatic walk, with homestead ruins and an old lime kiln on the way. The Nottawasaga Lookout and Noisy River provincial nature reserves complete the brow: lookout platforms, plaques and long views over the valley.
Effort honesty matters on this ground: the Bluffs' crevice country and the Glen's valley slopes are rugged, uneven walking -- the operators' trail notes govern, and this guide sends every reader to them. The reward matches the effort: this is the most dramatic inland hiking in Simcoe County.
The walks, carded
The valley
The provincial park on County Road 124: Bruce Trail and side trails through the Mad River valley under the brow -- forest, river and escarpment wall in one walk, on Ontario Parks' terms.
The bluff
About 400 acres near Singhampton: main trails to the lookout points, the Keyhole side trail through the crevice caves, homestead ruins and the old kiln. The township's signature hike.
The gentle one
Pond, paths and picnic ground in the seat -- the flat, short, any-shoes walk, and the recovery day between escarpment efforts.
The lookout walk
The Nottawasaga Lookout reserve is the brow's own walk: platform views, plaques and the valley spread below, on provincial ground west of Duntroon. Paired with the Bluffs it makes the full escarpment day -- caves in the morning, horizon after lunch.
Season notes
Spring brings the Mad River high and the trails muddy on the low ground; fall is the escarpment's glory and its busiest trail season; winter turns both parks into snowshoe country on their operators' terms. Hunting-season and closure notices live with Ontario Parks and the NVCA -- read before the drive, every time.
The long version
Through both parks runs the Bruce Trail -- the escarpment's long footpath -- with side trails stitching the Glen, the Bluffs and the Lookout into one continuous walking system. Through-hikers cross this township on the trail; day walkers take the same tread in slices. Conditions, closures and trail etiquette live with the Bruce Trail Conservancy and the landowners -- read them before the long day.
Common questions
What is the best hike in Clearview?
The Nottawasaga Bluffs for drama -- crevice caves, the Keyhole Trail and lookout views in one NVCA property. Devil's Glen for the valley-and-river version. The Lookout for the view with the least effort.
Are the Bluffs' caves safe?
The Keyhole Trail threads real crevice terrain: uneven, narrow, slippery when wet. It is a hike, not a stroll -- footwear and the NVCA's trail notes govern, and children are kept close. This guide prints the caution because the place deserves it.
Is there an easy walk in Clearview?
Yes: the Clearview EcoPark in Stayner -- flat pond-side paths and picnic ground, minutes from Main Street.
More to explore in Clearview
The header images on this page are illustrations drawn for Dayfari, not photographs. No verified photograph of the Clearview places named here (licence and subject checked) could be attested for this version, so those places are illustrated or described in text only, rather than borrowed from another town.
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