Day Trip: Victoria Falls

Looking for a place to just have a picnic? Explore a little and enjoy some lovely scenery?  Not afraid of a bit of a long drive down a narrow road that isn't much more than a 4 wheeler trail?

Victoria Falls on the Black River might be a good outing.  Chris and I went on Sunday while the kids were still at my parents, and had a good time checking out the falls, and following the little trails.

To get there, you want to start out by finding your way to Sebright.  We got there by a rather round about way, heading to Norland, then taking 45 (Monck Rd) west to Sebright, then turning right onto 6 through Sadowa, then right onto Black River Road.  If you want to look it up on the map, these small towns are along the southern border of the Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park.  Victoria Falls is to the north west side of the park.

It's about 17km down Black River Road, and yeah, it's a single lane dirt road, but the river runs beside it for a good portion of the drive, so it's scenic.  At one point I saw a sign that said no camping, and since it was a brown and yellow sign like you see in Ontario Parks, I thought we had to turn off Black River Road to get to the falls, but you don't...just stay on the road until you get to a wooden bridge with rusty rails.  You can park just to the right before the bridge.

The Ganaraska trail into the Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands can be reached if you cross the bridge, go right down the little road, and watch for white flashings on the trees.  Remember this trail is considered extremely difficult, and should only be attempted by experienced hikers with good map and compass skills.

Also, this is the put in for the Black River Route in Kevin Callan's Cottage Country Canoe Routes.

Busy little spot!  Except it wasn't, not when we were there.  Maybe because its still black fly season? (There were no black flies that I noticed just a heck of a lot of mosquitoes in the shady areas.) Find a sunny flat rock, roll out a picnic blanket and enjoy the view.  We certainly would have, if we'd brought more for lunch than a few bottles of water and a bag of almond M&Ms.