Hamilton conservation areas being ‘loved to death’ as appetite for great outdoors soars

As many as 18 bald eagles called Cootes Paradise home when humans were under stay-at-home order early in the pandemic. A week after restrictions lifted, the population declined to seven.

Those eagles got basically scared off and had to go find another piece of territory," said Tys Theijsmeijer, head of natural areas for the Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG).

Use of RBG trails more than doubled in 2021 as Hamiltonians sought refuge from isolation and redefined the great outdoors" during the pandemic, causing in some cases irreparable damage to natural habitats.

Volunteers estimated about 450,000 people - an underestimate, Theijsmeijer says - walked the trails, about half of them on the popular Hendrie Valley Trails, wedged between Plains Road West and Highway 403, a sanctuary containing several ecologically significant floodplain wetlands.

This is up drastically from four years ago, when there were around 200,000 visitors annually, he said.

It was intense," he said.

Similarly, the number of Hamilton Conservation Authority (HCA) pass-holders nearly doubled in 2021, rising to 12,500 from 6,500 in 2019. Occupancy at camp grounds also increased by 45 per cent, he said.

Overall, more than 1.2 million people visited conservation area trails, waterfalls and campgrounds last year - a new record.

It's the result of people redefining the great outdoors" during the pandemic, said conservation area services manager Bruce Harschnitz.

That drove a lot of people to our conservation areas and then they discovered the benefit of what's local," he said.

Theijsmeijer said numbers have peaked and dipped in line with provincial restrictions. Now that bars and restaurants are open and, for the most part, without restriction, numbers are slowly dwindling, especially on weekdays.

In April, it started to return to a more, I would say, pre-COVID situation," he said.

Harschnitz isn't so sure. He said membership sales remain steady and occupancy rates for camping are still high, especially on weekends.

I don't think we'll see a return to 2019 levels simply because over the last two years people have discovered what's near and natural," he said.

Blessing for city dwellers, curse for nature

A blessing for people, a year with not much else to do was a curse for Hamilton-area nature.

None of those areas really were ever conceived of hosting that many people at the same time," Theijsmeijer said.

But they did during the pandemic, wreaking havoc on the flora and fauna. Vegetation was trampled, soil was compacted, trails were widened, trees died, wildlife was chased out, often onto roads.

In many cases, the bird community was pushed back further into smaller areas just because of the activity of people," he said.

Foot traffic in wooded areas in Westdale have driven out" the wood thrush, a small, reddish-brown bird with a spotted underside that typically nests in the leafy litter of the forest floor.

The birds, he said, will come back as long as there's space. But other species - the blueberry, for example, which requires slightly acidic, fluffy" soil - might not have the chance.

You just might not see them ever again along this path just because the ground has been fundamentally changed from all the trampling," he said.

Harschnitz said litter on trails has significantly increased," straining conservation authority's resources.

They walk in with a full cup of coffee ... but they can't seem to carry an empty cup of coffee the other way back to their car," he said.

Conservation authorities working to reinvent' natural areas to meet demand

Increased demand has forced conservation authorities to rethink the way areas are used.

Some areas have been loved to death, and they've forced us to think differently how we bring visitors in," HCA's Harschnitz said.

During the pandemic, the HCA - along with other Ontario conservation areas - introduced a reservation system for its busiest attractions, such as Spencer Gorge, which is home to Dundas Peak, Tew's Falls and Webster's Falls.

The high visitation rates demanded we change our operation, and that was to bring in the reservation system right. For the busy periods of the year," he said. It's not just a COVID thing now. Because people have discovered it, we're still seeing high visitation."

This year, reservations are required on weekends and holidays from the May 24 long weekend to mid-September and seven days a week during the colour season" in the fall.

Theijsmeijer said RBG staff are working to restore trails, including bringing in material to raise the trail and protect roots.

There's kilometres of paths out there to ... basically reinvent so they can withstand this much visitation," he said.

Editor's note: This story was updated June 13, 2022, to reflect that the HCA had 12,500 pass-holders in 2021, rather than visitors as originally reported. In fact, more than 1.2 million people visited conservation area trails, waterfalls and campgrounds last year.

Kate McCullough is an education reporter at The Spectator. kmccullough@thespec.com