Trails

Enjoy your visit, and please consider supporting our trails and their upkeep through a donation to the ELEEC.

Our Trails

When the Elbow Lake property was acquired from its previous owner, we inherited a variety of recreational amenities, including several kilometres of walking trails. Because the mandate of the ELEEC is education, and the surrounding lands are now a nature reserve, only those trails providing interpretive value and showcasing habitat biodiversity were kept for the current trail system.

When you are visiting the ELEEC, please respect that you are on property being managed for conservation purposes. There is no fee to access the public trails at the Elbow Lake nature reserve. Please park at the outer gate and walk in. No motorized vehicles are permitted. While outside visitors are most welcome to explore the trails, we ask that you stay on the marked trails and caution that you do so at your own risk; staff is not responsible for your safety while on the trails as a self-use guest. Please do not remove or damage and plants or landscape, or harass animals. Please also be courteous to others who are also out to enjoy nature. A reminder that pets must be leashed while on trails at all times, and ownders are responsible for clean-up after them. While we do endeavour to keep trails clear of debris we cannot guaranteee that newly fallen trees will not block your way.

Interested in bringing a group on the trails for an interpretive hike or snowshoe? Click the link below for information on staff-led programming.

Rules

Regardless of whether you are exploring on your own or participating in one of our programs, we ask that you follow some basic rules:

Do not bring vehicles onto the property unless authorized to do so. Please park at the main gate. – Hewlett-Packard Lane is a private road, and this is clearly indicated on the main gate.
Pets must be leashed while on trails, and owners are responsible for clean-up after them. Pets are not permitted on the beach.
Absolutely no entry in any buildings. Self-use visitors must provide their own potable water, First Aid supplies, and are directed to the privy along the Red Trail (trail #1) for washroom needs.
Pack-in / pack-out all garbage and other wastes.
The Elbow Lake property is a nature reserve – no plant or living creature is to be intentionally disturbed or removed from the property.

Black-Legged Tick Alert!

The biodiversity of the Elbow Lake property includes the black-legged tick. These tiny arthropods – related to spiders and mites – can carry Lyme disease. Follow precautions recommended by our local health unit[PDF] and check yourself thoroughly or ticks after visiting our trails.