rwin

I think I'd rather have my ear pierced than my head.

Oink

The main difference between England and Canada if you want a ramble in the countryside is that in Canada you will mostly likely be eaten by a bear.

Lord Vader

Most likely yes, getting worse too. In 2008 over 400,000 deaths by bear.

BradleyBunch

Thanks again for all the replies

Just to clarify, I'm trying to learn about the differences in access to the countryside between Canada and the UK, rather than comparing the countryside itself.

e.g. in the UK we have free access to miles and miles of footpaths and bridleways through both private and public land within easy reach of most places, if not on your doorstep.

Another poster (on MBTTUK) has suggested that in Canada you have to travel to , and pay to enter, a park for similar access to the Canadian countryside.

Thanks to all the replies here I've learned that there are huge areas of Crown Land in BC, Alberta and the maritimes. Can anyone shed any light on the set-up in Ontario?

Cheers!

NS.Zoe

We have lots of trails around here, I wouldnt compare the Canadian countryside to the USA or Britain, it's no fair competition, we have access to 3 different coats within 30 mins drive and no one owns the beach, walking trails aplenty, we do have national parks too within a hour or so and in peak season you will be expected to pay but not in off season.

dbd33

Mostly private land with limited areas accessible to the public, specifically the Bruce Trail and local trails on old railroad beds. Plentiful provincial parks but the ones within half a day of Toronto tend to be crowded and getting a spot to camp is very competitive; too late now for the long weekends this year.

Algonquin is pretty wild and not far from the centres of population ("not far" in North American usage). My daughter camps in Algonquin a couple of times a month through the winter and reports never having seen anyone else. I walk the dog in parks or on the Bruce Trail most weekends and rarely see another person. I never pay to park.

No "right to roam" as in the UK. No large scale system of footpaths and bridleways. No great risk of getting caught sneaking into parks or across fields.

iaink

My comments were all with reference to Ontario!

Maybe it would help if you could narrow down what you want to do...


1 hr walk in the country

1 day walk in the country

A weekend camp out

2 months trecking in the the wilderness



a 1 hr walk in a country setting is no problem...worst case find a conservation area...usually free

A 1 day walk in the country like going to snowdonia or the yorkshire dales is trickier, some of the provincial parks like the Algonquin would be OK, but you would pay for parking. The lack of free right of way access to common ground (other than some crown property, which is not always obvious anyway) makes it harder to do entirely legally outside the parks system.

Many of the provincial parks are ideal for a weekend or weeks camping and access to a lake and trails etc...for a reasonable fee

If you head far enough into the unpoulated areas then you can get totally lost in the backcountry of canada.

Now, I live about 20 mins from a town of 45000 people, and if I want to go for a walk there are plenty of trails around here, both public and private. Many are more suited to ATVs and Snowmobiles though.

Bill_S

You seem obsessed with walks in the countryside

Ontario contains over 354,000 sq mi of land; that's nearly four times more than the entire UK. If you can't find a place to walk in Ontario, there's something wrong. Here's a link to Ontario conservation areas.

Be careful when reading posts in the Moving Back forum. Many people posting there are extremely unhappy and homesick, and thus have a tendency to exaggerate the differences between the UK and other countries.

fledermaus

[ True, but no more true than the exaggerated/upbeat posts on here placed by those who are evangelical about life in Canada.

iaink

I think its mostly those yet to spend significant time here who are the least balanced / most evangelical posters by nature...

Deva

This thread has encouraged me to join the forum after lurking for a couple of years.

A little background:
Canadian married to a Brit - grew up in Winnipeg
Lived in UK for 15 years - Mostly in Chester but also Sheffield and Manchester
Moved back in 2005 - First two years in Wolfville NS, last two in Ottawa

In the UK my wife and I would frequently head out for a short ramble or a longer hike. It was as simple as grabbing an OS map and picking a spot to start. Sometimes we would just drive down a country lane until we spotted a footpath.

In Canada I have found access to the countryside to be limited and my time spent hiking is significantly reduced. That’s not to say that there aren’t any foothpaths or the parks aren’t magnificent. It’s just not as easy. Larger geographic size does not automatically translate into more hiking opportunities. Drive the length of the Annapolis Valley on a country road and tell me how many foothpaths you see?

Sure, things would be better if I owned land or knew landowners but that would only provide me with hiking in a limited area and I think the OP is interested in what is readily available in a wider area to a town/city dweller.

Rete

I'm curious if you have been visiting in Ontario and have you been hiking for the day on your visit. Both in the US and in Canada, state/provincal and national/federal parks charge fees. The fees are used to maintain the area paths, rest areas, parking facilities. I know when I visited my Canadian husband in Ottawa and his family outside of Montreal and his niece in Gatineau, we always walked through the countryside on little worn dirt paths that were not parks. However if I were to want to go ice skating or sledding or skiing, I would use an established park for which I would definitely expect to pay a fee. Just my thoughts and experiences.

BradleyBunch

Absolutely spot on! In fact, why didn't I put it that way in the first place?

immichaelcaine

You have to be kidding? Don't look for the perfectly manicured and adulterated footpaths of blighty - you really won't find them in Canada. Why not drive 1 1/2 hours NE or NW of Toronto, Ottawa or Guelph and you will find some serious bush. I Personally have been lost in some deep bush for 2-3 terrifying days - the only company being 1/2 dozen bullet-riddled wolf carcasses. Canada doesn't take easily to European style landscape taming - unless its a forestry unit.

As a matter of fact, I have been into the heart of darkness . . . "the horror, the horror!"

dbd33

I'm here. Where's the serious bush?