The Greenbelt in Ottawa is amazing. I’ve lived here for more than ten years now, and I still haven’t hiked every single trail in Ottawa. Having access to so much green space, especially after a year like the one we’ve just had is so, so valuable.
The Mer Bleue sector in the Greenbelt is a favorite for many, especially the Mer Bleue Bog Boardwalk. Recently though, we headed out to Trail 50 in the Mer Bleue sector to check it out. Trail 50 made for a nice, easy walk through varied terrain.
Was it the most stunning trail we’ve ever been on? No. But, it was a good length, and because it’s a less popular spot it tends to get less crowded than the boardwalk. The Dewberry Trail also starts in the same spot, so you have your choice of a longer walk, or a short 1 km visit to the Dewberry Trail.
Dogs are allowed on Trail 50 (from April 15th to Nov. 30th), but not on the Dewberry Trail. Near the parking lot was a universally accessible outhouse.
There are some really nice sections on Trail 50!
Getting There
Both Trail 50 and the Dewberry Trail start at P23 in the Greenbelt. You can use these coordinates to get there: 45.409005, -75.547231. The parking lot is a good size, although not huge. There was space for about thirty cars, and room on the side of the road to park as well.
We wanted to complete the entire loop that was Trail 50, so that meant at some point we were going to cross over Anderson Road and hop on Trail 51 for a bit. We decided to hike the loop counter-clockwise so that we could decide at the end whether or not we wanted to add on the Dewberry Trail.
So instead of heading south on the trail attached to the parking lot, we started out on the trail north of Dolman Ridge Road (by the outhouse).
I don’t know why the NCC doesn’t publish maps like this on their website… Anyways, here’s a photo of the map with all its checkpoints!
The Trail
The trail started out super wide, and we were easily able to walk side by side. Very quickly, we found ourselves heading down a hill that was a bit steep. It may have felt steeper because it was also muddy and slippery, but it’s probably the steepest hill I can recall coming across in the Greenbelt.
There were no trail markers along the trail, as is common in the Greenbelt. However, we never felt we were at risk of getting lost because the trail was so well established- there really wasn’t any other direction to go but to stick with the trail.
Quickly the terrain levelled back out and 600 metres in we found ourselves walking alongside a swampy section with a ton of cattails. Gradually the trail became more forested.
The very first part of the trail.
Anderson Road
At 1.2 km we emerged from the forest under some huge powerlines. We could see Anderson Road right ahead of us, and quickly crossed over. On the other side was a large gate leading us onto a gravel road, making it easy to know where the trail began again.
After hiking just over 1.5 km we arrived at “Point F.” Here, we decided to go left in the direction of Point D. We could have gone straight but wanted to check out this little trail offshoot. On the map it’s called the Moe Anderson Trail, but signs along the trail called it the “Nut Tree Trail.” We crossed over a tiny bridge and headed up a hill in an open field under the power lines. Here, there were a few trail markers posted to keep us on track. Soon we headed back into the forest.
At 2.4 km we reached the end of the Moe Anderson/Nut Tree Trail after a really nice walk in the woods. Here, at Point D we turned left. Just 100 metres along we reached Point C. Here we could have gone straight but we turned to our left to get to Point A because this next section of trail is one I had been on before and knew I really liked- it has a lot of tall trees and cool boardwalks.
On the Nut Tree Trail.
Back on Trail 50
We reached Point A at 3.3 km. Here was basically a four way intersection, and we crossed over a wide path and went straight back into the forest, heading for Point L. At 3.6 km we passed back over Anderson Road, officially making it back onto Trail 50.
The trail was wider here, and the terrain super easy to traverse. At 4.9 km we reached Point L and turned left, heading towards Point K. One more boardwalk brought us to Point K, where the Dewberry Trail split off to our left and right. We decided to skip it and just head straight back to the trailhead.
Trail Thoughts
By the time we arrived back at the car, we had walked a total of 5.8 km. The NCC reports Trail 50 as being 6.3 km long. Close enough! It took us over 2 hours to walk that distance, but we had a toddler in tow. She’s awfully slow.
All in all, Trail 50 was a nice walk through the woods. The wide trail makes it a great spot to be able to walk and talk easily as you can spend a lot of time side by side. And once again the Greenbelt delivers an easy way to get out into nature. The Dewberry Trail looked like it would be really great and immersed in the forest for the entire length of it, but that’s just a guess at this point. I guess I’ll have to head back and find out!
Easy hiking the whole way!
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 of Trail 50.
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. I would describe it as “easy peasy.”
Great descriptive review. Thanks.