Kitchener Loop Walk 03

~ 7.0 km in Laurentian Hills area
hiker

We lived in this area of Kitchener for almost 50 years and had walked many of the community trails. We joined another hike leader who took us on the same trails but a different combination with about 12 other hikers. A great walk. It was a Thursday in late January of 2022, cold and sunny, with a snow packed trail. Most folks wore some form of "icers". The sequence was more or less as follows: Laurentian Plaza (parking) > Laurentian Park (behind or west of Laurentian Public School) & Borden Greenway toward Ottawa and Westmount Rd traffic light > under the Conestga Parkway (on sidewalk) & then right > Concordia Park > Lakeside Park > Meinzinger Park > Concordia Park x2 > Laurentian Plaza. The walk tends to follow creeks along trails but there are portions along sidewalks. These natural drainage areas have been divided into storm water management areas by city officials (see part of a generalized map below).  NOTE: In various areas of Waterloo Region you will see green signs on major roads that name the creeks. These signs appear on the shoulder of the road a few metres from where the creek passes under the road. In this case the first creek sign appears along Westmount Road before passing under the Conestoga Parkway bridge (Google Street View of sign). This walk was in the Borden Creek and Shoemaker Creek areas - see map below.

Storm Water Areas

Storm Water Area Map

 

Safety Note

In the Google Map below, follow the path shown by a red line. On the return portion of the loop our group was walking on a very cold, sunny January day. That allowed us to walk across the creek (see blue line) because it was frozen - see the uppermost waypoint (click the waypoint for message). Under most conditions stay on the red path and you will come to a footbridge that takes you over the creek (see second waypoint and click it for message).

GPS Track of Walk in Google Maps

 

GPS Tracks for Download

HELP: If clicking on the links does not provide a download option, try RIGHT clicking the link (especially the .gpx file) and then choose "Save Links As" (or equivalent) from the drop-down menu. Pick a download location (e.g. desktop) for the file.

KitchenerLoop03.gpx (Laurentian Hills area) <> KitchenerLoop03.kml (Laurentian Hills area)