The Foley Mountain Conservation Area- A 5 km Hike (That Could be Longer!)

This hike is part of the Adventure Report Ottawa Hiking Challenge! If you hike this trail, you’re officially working on the Views Edition!

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Adventure Report Ottawa Hiking Challenge Route Specification: Hike any combination of trails that are at least 5 Km. long!

Recently, we visited Foley Mountain Conservation Area. I was blown away by how beautiful it was! With 10 kilometres of hiking trails, camping, and stunning views over the water, it’s definitely worth the trip from Ottawa!

We went on a Friday in late August, and had the place mostly to ourselves. We had the baby with us so we weren’t feeling up to hiking the whole 10 kilometres. Instead, we planned on hiking the White Pine Trail, the Blue Circle Trail, and the Red Oak Trail (green, blue, and red on the map). That would have had us hiking for just under 6 kilometres. Ultimately, we hiked about 5 kilometres, because we missed the offshoot for the White Pine Trail. Oops!

Maybe it was for the best though, because we had extra time to spend at the lookout, which was stunning!

Getting There

Foley Mountain Conservation Area is a bit of a road trip from Ottawa, but it’s one that takes you through Perth and past beautiful open fields and forest, so it’s actually a really great drive. You can use these coordinates to get there: 44.686669, -76.397985.

There was a sign at the entrance to the conservation area, so it was really easy to find. We drove in, and almost immediately came upon a ticket machine where we could pay for our parking. It took coins, as well as credit cards, so we fumbled about with our cards for a bit. They also had the option to use the “pay by phone” app, but our reception wasn’t great so we didn’t feel like trying to download the app. It cost us $7 for the day- a bargain!

The Foley Mountain Conservation Area is quite big, so we found ourselves driving for a bit. We drove past a few little fields with picnic tables, then stopped at the first parking lot we saw, off to our right. Here, there was a big map posted. It helped us figure out that we actually wanted to go further into the conservation area (because we wanted to start the trail near the interpretive centre).

The best lookouts in the area are both very close to this parking lot, so if you were looking for a shorter walk, this is definitely the place to start!

The Trailhead

Continuing on, the road basically ended at the (huge) parking lot for the interpretive centre, making it very easy to find. There was another big map posted there, as well as paper maps. We grabbed one to take with us, which I highly recommend! There are so many trails in the area that it’s a good idea, to make sure you don’t get lost.

We stopped for a quick bathroom break at the interpretive centre. The bathrooms were super clean, universally accessible, and one even had a baby changing station! I had already changed her in the car, but it was still nice to see.

It took us a minute to orient ourselves, but while we faced the water and looked at the map, we realized that the trail we were going to follow started right behind the interpretive centre. There was a big rock with a Rideau Trail plaque on it, marking where the trail entered the woods. There was also a sign that said “Wildflower Trail” on it, despite there being absolutely no mention of a Wildflower Trail on the map.

Heading Out

The trail that we set out on was actually the last leg of the Orange Maple Trail. We followed it west, passing a sign for a “meditation point” on our left. The trail to meditation point wound through the forest, ending at a lovely little bench right by the water.

Very quickly, the trail became super rocky and headed uphill. It was clear from how the rocks lay that this section of trail got washed out in the spring, and would probably be very wet and a little gross to hike at that time.

Huffing and puffing along, even though we had only hiked about 100 metres, we noticed that the maple markers had turned to little green tree markers. We stayed straight, thinking that the split for the White Pine Trail was still ahead of us.

The Red Oak Trail

So we were quite surprised when we came to the split for the Red Oak Trail instead. To reach this point, we had hiked only 400 metres. There was a map posted there, confirming that we had somehow missed the offshoot to take the long way around on the White Pine Trail. Dang.

Still wanting to get as much hiking in as possible (but not backtrack), we headed to our right at this split. The trail markers had changed again, and were now adorable little oak leaves.

The trail changed at this point. Before, it had been rocky where it wasn’t strictly a dirt path. Now, it widened a bit, making it easy to walk side by side. It was still rocky in places, but it was also grass covered where before there had been nothing.

The trail was really well marked as we traveled along. That was a good thing, because there were a few offshoots along the way that could have been confusing. After hiking .8 kilometres, the forest seemed to continue to open up in front of us, and we kept on hiking straight. Very soon though, we realized we hadn’t seen a trail marker in a while. We had to retrace our steps to get back on the trail.

Despite the hilliness of the first part of the trail, things had leveled out, and we were finding ourselves on a pretty easy walk through the woods at this point.

The Blue Circle Trail

We had hiked about one kilometre when we spotted a boardwalk on the trail. There was a map posted in front of the boardwalk, because we had reached the split for the Blue Circle Trail. There were three paths that we could have chosen here. Behind us, off to our left, was the south leg of the Blue Circle Trail. In front of us, across the boardwalk, was the northern side of the Blue Circle Trail. Then, to our right, the White Pine Trail (the one we accidentally skipped) joined us.

We headed over the boardwalk to head counter clockwise on the Blue Circle Trail. A hundred metres down the trail, we crossed over the road. We re-entered the forest on the other side of the road. There was a blue trail marker a few feet away, although it was a bit hidden by some shrubs, so we had to look for it to make sure we were still on the right track.

More Splits in the Trail

We passed by some rope strung through the trees on our left hand side. There was a building that we could see through the trees a bit, so this may have been the perimeter of a private property. Then, after hiking 2.3 kilometres we crossed over another little boardwalk. We came across yet another split in the trail, where the Blue Circle Trail joined the Beaver Trail for a short time. We headed to our right, and for just a little bit followed both blue and purple markers on the trees. At the 2.5 kilometre mark, the trails split away from one another, with the purple trail heading off to our left and the blue trail ahead of us.

We cross back over the road, noticing that we were right by the entrance to the conservation area. Across the road, a little boardwalk brought us back into the forest. At this point we were back on the Rideau Trail, so we could have gone to our right on the Rideau Trail, but stuck to the left to stay on the Blue Circle Trail and get to the lookout.

Lunch and Lookouts

We passed by the picnic spots we had seen on the way in, and near the 2.8 kilometre mark, we noticed an open rock face with a little bench off to our right. We headed in that direction, and caught some cool views through the trees. So, we figured this was the lookout and settled in to eat lunch. It was a nice little spot to rest because it had the bench and was nice and shady.

We snapped a few selfies, then packed up and got back on the trail, expecting to see nothing between there and our return to the parking lot.

The trail was nice and flat as we walked along, passing over open rock face in spots. After traveling 3.7 kilometres, we came across what was very clearly the real lookout. We were surprised to see it, and headed down a wide wooden ramp to get a better look. The ramp brought us out to a big open rock face, overlooking the town of Westport. There were signs posted about being careful in the area because the cliff’s edge drops away fairly abruptly. I didn’t get too close but it looked like a long fall.

This lookout came as a surprise to us, so we were doubly blown away by how gorgeous the view was. More picture taking ensued, this time in the hot sun.

Heading Back

Just beyond the lookout, we approached the first parking lot we had passed driving in. We veered right, away from it. After hiking 3.8 kilometres we came across a little open field with some picnic tables. There was a trail split here, with the Blue Circle Trail looping back on our left. In order to return from where we had started, we stayed to our right to get back on the Red Oak Trail. We were able to spot the water through the trees on our right hand side as we walked along. After hiking just under 5 kilometres, we arrived back at the original split for the Red Oak Trail.

Knowing that we had missed the split for the White Pine Trail on the way in, we kept an eye out on the way back. Turns out, that split was just 100 metres east of the Red Oak Trail. There were marked on a tree right at the split, but we had missed them because we had our heads down on the way in, making sure we didn’t trip over any rocks.

Trail Thoughts

After a quick detour to the Meditation Point, we arrived back at the interpretive centre. We had hiked just under 5.3 kilometres, and were able to cover that distance in about two hours. But, we had taken a long break for lunch, and at the lookout, so this trail could be hiked much more quickly. If you wanted to.

The Foley Mountain Conservation Area was even more beautiful than we thought it would be. Along the trail, the terrain was really varied, so it kept things interesting. Despite there being some uphill sections, overall the trail wasn’t too challenging.

With so many different routes that could be put together, and trail splits in the area, it’s a really good idea to have a sense of the route you want to hike before you head out. And you should definitely grab a map before going! I always download a map on my phone as well, because there are no guarantees that there will be one available at the trailhead.

Our trip to Foley Mountain was perfect, and we’ll definitely be back. I also want to find out more about the group camping there!

I hope this trip report has enough info to get you there too. Let me know in the comments, or share and tag a friend to start planning your next adventure!

Map and Elevation Gain

Whenever I’m hiking somewhere new, I tend to wonder about who was on, and who took care of that land before me. I’ve enjoyed using this website as a place to start learning more about the indigenous people whose land I’m on: Native-land.ca.

Gear We Brought

• Hiking Boots
• Wool Socks
• Shorts
• Workout Tops
• Cell Phones
• Sunglasses
• Baby Sun Hat
• NUBY Bug Net
• MEC Shuttlecraft Kid Carrier
• Infantino Up Close Newborn Carrier (as a back-up carrier if she wanted to change positions)
• Spare Polyester Onesie
• Pacifier (and back-up pacifiers)
• Mountain Warehouse Day Pack
• Nalgene 32 Ounce Bottle
• Coghlan’s Bear Bell
• Snacks
• GERBER First Essentials Bottle+ Formula
• Munchkin Formula Dispenser
• Diapers
• Wipes
• Coppertone Waterbabies Stick Sunscreen
• First Aid Kit with Tick Removal Tool
• Tylenol (for baby)
• Benadryl (for baby)
• SOL 2-Person Emergency Bivvy
• Whistle
• Compass
• Map
• Headlamps
• Bug Lotion
• Toilet Paper