Summer had started and I was planned and ready for a summer full of adventure! I had gotten a great idea around Fathers day. I thought why not take my Dad out on one of my Ontario Adventures. When I was a child I loved to fish I even entered a fishing derby at my local conservation area. I have memories of fishing with my father. I will say they never ended with us having a great fish feast as nothing normally was caught but I do have fond memories of the time spent trying. I wanted my Son to share in these memories.
I heard great things about the Rockwood Conservation area https://www.grandriver.ca/en/outdoor-recreation/Rockwood.aspx from a great trail, a nice beach, and a good selection of fish. Looking at the site, we could meet and enjoy a couple of hours. Coming from Kitchener it's a 45-minute drive. My Dad was coming from the Richmond Hill area and said it was an easy hour's drive.
We first started with the trail to the old Mill Ruins. The trail is an easy wide trail that has a lot of tree cover. It was a very hot day but walking on the trail you wouldn't have known that. There were some uneven spots but overall an easy trail that took less than 30 minutes to get to Harris Woolen Mill Ruins and back to the start. While we were on the trail we scouted out a good fishing spot for later!
The Ruins are from a fabric mill that was created in 1867. It was much larger than I would have thought for the area from that time period. There was a great information board about the Harris family and how the town of Rockwood was first formed.
Looks like they are trying to do a restoration to the mill to keep the ruins up, at this point you can not go into the mill area. It's great to show a child something that is so old and show them how time can ruin powerful structures.
As we were walking back to the trail I noticed everyone in this area was launching Kayaks, paddleboards, and canoes. This area seems like a great spot for small boats to enjoy the Eramosa River. The river is very calm and was very full the day we were there.
We had seen an area to fish and grabbed our gear. I'm not really a fish eater so this would have been a catch and release kind of day. My favorite part of fishing is casting, really I could sit for hours and just cast and reel in! Which is basically how this day went. I saw several big splashes in the water but never anything near our hook! It was still a great afternoon spent enjoying the water and the conversation!
After a bit of fishing, we went back to the parking lot to get the picnic I had brought for us to enjoy. The area has a lot of open areas for large family gatherings and plenty of picnic tables under shade to sit back and relax.
Even though we hadn't planned on beach time the day we were there I wanted to check out the area for a possibility of another day. The beach was very full and families looked like they were planning to stay for the duration of the day with shelters and beach tents erected. The water looked shallow for small children and clear to see the bottom. I've been to a couple of GRCA properties and I would say this is the best beach I have seen of them.
I really enjoyed the couple of hours we spent at the Conservation area. It seemed like a popular camping area as all sites looked full. By lunchtime, they had closed the entrance and weren't letting in any more day use. Something we didn't get to do while there was a mini-golf site. It looked in good shape not sure if you would need to bring your own putters or not.
I would highly recommend this area as a nice day out for all ages! There is also a great restaurant in Rockwood that was recommended but wasn't open the day we were there https://www.chompinatthebit.ca in case you don't want to bring a picnic.
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