The Mill Pond Conservation Area- A 5 km Hike Near Portland, ON

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We love checking out Conservation areas, especially in the winter because they’re reliably open year round! I personally don’t think these special places receive enough hype! Not only are they open for hiking in the summer and snowshoeing in the winter, but dogs are often allow. Sometimes, there’s even paddling! Not to mention, you know, the conservation efforts.

The Mill Pond Conservation area was one that we had shied away from for a long time. Looking at the map, it seemed like a lot of the hike would be on an access road, and that wasn’t super appealing. But when the first snow fell in Ottawa, we decided to head out and check it out anyways.

And we were pleasantly surprised!

The Conservation area was lovely, and the access road didn’t feel like a road so much as it felt like a really wide trail. There were a few great sections of trail that got us close to Mill Pond itself, and gazing out over the water at the beginning of winter always feels really peaceful to me.

There are about 6 Km. of trails at the Mill Pond Conservation Area, and dogs are allowed on all of them (as long as they’re on leash). There’s also a neat lime kiln that you can check out, and a sugar shack with a covered picnic area nearby. I’m going to have to figure out if they make maple syrup there in the spring!

The access road allows you to drive right to Mill Pond close to the beginning of the trail. During warmer months, this would make it really easy to go kayaking or canoeing. Or fishing, which is catch and release in this area.

Hiking at Mill Pond Conservation Area.

Getting There

The Mill Pond Conservation Area is a little over an hour from Ottawa. There are so many small towns on the way that you could stop and explore, that it makes for a great day trip! Depending on which route you take, you’ll end up going through Carleton Place and Perth, or Smiths Falls.

You can use these coordinates to get there: 44.770752, -76.179343.

The parking lot for the conservation area was right beside the road, and there was a huge sign announcing that we had arrived. It would have been very hard to miss!

The parking lot was pretty big, with space for at least twenty cars.

Near the back of the parking lot were outhouses. There was a bulletin board posted with a map and information about the area. To the right of this bulletin board there was a big gate, and behind it, up the hill, we could see the sugar shack.

Hard to miss this sign!

The Trail

We decided to hike the trail clockwise, and so instead of heading towards the gate, we began to walk down the access road at the very back of the parking lot (near the outhouses). At the beginning of the trail, it was very much a road, because you can drive your car down to Mill Pond to put in kayaks and canoes. We soon saw the put in to our left. After going to check out the view, we carried on along the access road, which immediately thinned out.

After walking only 300 metres, we came across a gate that would prevent any further vehicle traffic. We were able to walk through the gate, and once again, the trail thinned out afterwards. There was an orange trail marker in the shape of a circle on the gate. These trail markers would guide us along the trail for the next little while.

At the .65 Km. mark the trail split. There was a map posted here, and red trail markers guided us to our left. Here, we were leaving the access road and hopping onto the biggest foot trail loop in the area.

This was the map we used to plan our hike before coming. Paper copies were available at the trailhead, and the same map was posted along the trail!

Despite this being a foot trail, it was still fairly wide and easy for us to walk side by side in spots.

After hiking only .8 Km., we spotted Mill Pond on our left hand side. The view definitely wouldn’t be as open during the summer when the trees were still holding their leaves. 100 metres later, we found ourselves closer to the shoreline and the view opened up considerably.

Looking out over Mill Pond.

Easy Hiking

So far, the trail had been quite flat and easy to navigate. We often find ourselves on rocky trails, but this one was grassy, making it really easy to hike along without thinking about where to put our feet. In the summer, grass can mean ticks, so it might be worth wearing longer pants when you visit.

After hiking 1.1 Km., we crossed a small boardwalk and soon after found ourselves walking through a lovely hemlock stand. Up until now, the forest had been more mixed, and barer because the trees had lost all of their leaves. So this section had a really beautiful, wintery feel to it.

Just about anywhere the trail wasn’t super easy to traverse, there was a bridge to help!

We found ourselves high on a ridge with the pond down on our left hand side. At the 1.6 Km. mark there was a great little lookout with water on all sides. There was a nice log bench there, so it would have made the perfect spot to stop for lunch. But the baby had fallen asleep in her carrier, and once she falls asleep, I don’t stop moving. On we went!

We headed uphill, and began to feel ourselves moving away from the pond and back towards the access road. Here was a short section before we reached the road that was a bit rockier, but still very easy to hike along.

There was only a tiny bit of uphill on this trail!

The Lime Kiln

After hiking 2.5 Km., we arrived back at the access road. Here, we could go either left or right. Going right would have brought us back in the direction we had come from originally, and we wanted to keep hiking, so we headed to our left.

The trail markers changed from red to orange, to indicate that we were back on the access road. If we had any doubt, the widening of the trail also reminded us.

Somehow, we missed the offshoot for another lookout over the pond.

At the 3 Km. mark, we saw a big sign that indicated the lime kiln was to our left. A few short steps into the forest and we were basically on top of the kiln, as the remains were built into the ground.

We continued to catch glimpses of the pond through the trees as we hiked along. Honestly at this point in the hike the baby had been sleeping on me in an awkward position for so long that I felt like my arm was going to fall off. But I’m going to remain impartial for the rest of this trail report, I promise!

Not pictured: An almost one-year-old who’s fallen asleep in an impossible position!

Decisions, Decisions

The trail continued to thin out for a bit, and then widen again. At the 3.7 Km. mark, we came to a split in the trail where we could either head to our right on a foot trail marked with blue markers, or go straight. There was a map posted here, so we knew that taking the blue trail would have brought us back to the parking lot. We decided to head straight, just to make our hike the littlest bit longer.

Just beyond this, the trail split again. Straight ahead of us, we could see it was gated off, and we headed to our right to go check out the sugar shack. It turned out that this trail was a “blue trail” as well, with blue trail markers leading us on our way.

The Sugar Shack

A few more views of the pond through the trees, and we were at the sugar shack! We had hiked just under 5 Km. to reach this point. There was a covered picnic shelter with ten tables, and a small sugar shack off to the side. There was also a beautiful log home, with a huge fire pit in the open field in front of it. It seemed like this could be a very cool place to hang out for part of the day, if you planned ahead (and brought Smore’s supplies!).

After checking everything out, and jostling the baby around so she would finally wake up (my arm, argh!), we headed back to the parking lot.

She’s definitely outgrown the Ergobaby as a front carrier. Which is probably why I got suckered into holding her head up while she napped.

Trail Thoughts

We had walked just over 5 Km., and were able to cover that distance in 1 hour and 45 minutes. The Mill Pond Conservation Area could be hiked much more quickly than that, but we decided to take our time.

The trails in the area made for a lovely walk in the woods, and I think they’d be even more beautiful in the dead of winter. One of the best things about Conservation Areas is that they’re often out of the way, so the trails don’t see as much traffic as those in Gatineau Park or the Greenbelt. So if you’re looking for fresh snow to snowshoe through, these places might be your best bet! Given how easy the hiking was (flat and not too technical), these trails are great for everyone, including young children and hikers who are just starting out.

And next time, I think we’ll find a little bakery or coffee shop along the way and take our time enjoying one of the small towns too.

A final look out over the pond.

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

Our GPS tracked route at the Mill Pond Conservation Area.

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.

Elevation gain along the trail- there’s very little!

Gear We Brought

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