Orchard Trail
Rouge National Urban Park
Access to Orchard Trail from the North trailhead (Zoo Road Day Use Area) is closed. Please visit the important bulletin for more information.
A classic Rouge Valley hike, the Orchard Trail features young forests mixed with wetlands and traces of early European settlement, including remnant orchards, residences and an old mill.
| Location |
South trailhead |
| Difficulty | Moderate  |
| Distance | 2 km (one way) |
| Time | 1 hour |
| Washrooms | Portable toilets are available at the Twyn Rivers Day Use Area parking lot (55 Twyn Rivers Drive). |
| Parking |
Parking is available at Twyn Rivers Day Use Area. Visitors can access Twyn Rivers Day Use Area from the other side of Twyn Rivers Drive, just off Altona Road in the City of Pickering. Please note that parking is extremely limited, particularly on the weekends. Street parking is not permitted, and illegally parked vehicles will be ticketed and/or towed. |
Trail Features
- Wetlands – The bottom of Zoo Road is becoming increasingly well known for its beautiful human-made wetlands, which buffleheads, painted turtles and swans are known to frequent at various times throughout the year.
- Orchards – Dormant apple orchards can be found about midway along the trail, calling back to the area’s use as settled farmland supporting local families for hundreds of years.
- Cultural history – The ‘avenue of trees’ near the south end of the trail is a nod to the area’s past as a settled residence and active mill. Watch for the rows of trees planted in the new growth forest. From the south trailhead at Twyn Rivers Drive, you can see an old ski hill and the pieces of an old concrete dam that was once used to back up the river for swimming when a hotel stood on the site.
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