The Elora Gorge is located on the western edge of Elora, Ontario and is approximately 1.5 hours away from Toronto. Take the time to explore every bit of this outdoor haven, have a day of family fun and just enjoy the fresh air, the sound of birds chirping and the most beautiful sound of water rushing through the Grand River.
The Elora George is owned by the Grand River Conservation Authority and they are taking several precautions to ensure the safety of all visitors during this unprecedented time.
They have also implemented limited daily visitors in order to avoid overcrowding and maintain social distancing in their parks. If the maximum number of visitors is reached, the park will be closed for the remainder of the day; therefore, we highly recommend arriving first thing in the morning to avoid any disappointment. We also recommend that you try to go during the week as the weekends are noted to be extremely busy.
So without any further delay, let’s get into it! Don’t forget to follow & subscribe to all of our social media channels for more blogs, tips, recommendations, travel news and much more.
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Park Fees
Daily admission fees are as follows:
Preschool (5 and under) Free | Child (6-14) $3 | Adult (15-64) $7.50 | Seniors (65+) $6.00 | Bus discounts for 20+ people are available | Annual Membership to all Grand River Parks $140
Nightly Camping: Book a campsite
Unserviced $41 | Serviced (electricity only, no water) $47 | Serviced $49 | Additional Vehicle $15 | Non-Refundable reservation fee $13
Activities
When visiting the park, there is an abundance of things to choose from such as tubing, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, hiking, camping, cycling, swimming, having a picnic with your friends and family, along with an array of annually scheduled events. For those traveling with kids, there is a lovely splash pad for your little ones to enjoy. Be sure to check the website for operational updates prior to visiting the park.
Map
This Elora Gorge is one of the most beautiful conservation areas surrounded by the beauty of nature and tall cliffs that run along the Grand River. We highly recommended visiting this beautiful sanctuary and connecting with the peace and tranquility that nature has to offer. Before heading down, be sure to download the park map.
Elora Quarry
The two acre Quarry is a must visit for everyone. This lovely place is boasting with trees surrounded by cliffs with areas to picnic and just relax.
Normally, you would be able to go swimming at the Quarry Conservation Area for free by showing your current admission receipt from the Elora Gorge; however, the Quarry is closed for the 2020 season among other things.
Picnic Areas
Once you’ve paid the park fees and answered the mandatory precautionary COVID questions at the main gatehouse, you will be allowed to enter the park premises. There are a few picnic areas to choose from; the closest is located just a couple of minutes away from the main entrance by car. There is ample parking and picnic benches available. As there are a limited number of restrooms open for use at this time, we highly recommend that once you pass the gatehouse, turn right at the end of the road and drive further into the park past the initial set of parking spaces and picnic benches. Once you pass the Marston Pavilion and the splash pad, you”ll notice 2-3 parking lots to your right, picnic benches and restrooms towards the start of the hiking trails. Personally, we found this to be the most convenient area to park as everything that we needed was in close proximity. The restrooms were consistently being cleaned by a set of employees, there were ample social distancing signs posted throughout the park, along with several park rangers patrolling the grounds throughout the day.
Trails
The 3 km marked trail is rugged but there really aren’t any steep paths. There are several stairs (keep in mind, that some of them are steep) that you can use to get to the bottom of the gorge, including look-out points should you wish to do so. We found these to be really nice as you get an alternative perspective along the river and of course several photo opportunities. There is fencing all along the edge of the gorge wall to ensure your safety as the gorge itself is quite deep and the walls quite steep. There is also The Elora Cataract Trailway, a 47 km trail linking the Grand and Credit river watersheds and is located minutes away from the park.
Before embarking on any of the trails, be sure to take plenty of water with you as we guarantee that you will start to feel quite parched as it can get very hot. The trails consist of shaded areas vs paved pathways with no shade at all; a hat would be very handy at this point.
Towards the end of our excursion, as we walked along the marked conservation trail towards the picnic areas, we came across this really cute seesaw that could easily be missed as it was just past the front set of trees. If you have the time, take a moment to bring back some childhood memories while having some fun!
We hope that you found all of the aforementioned useful and wish you happy & safe travels; Don’t forget to travel with your mask! Comment down below👇🏼 your top things to do in Ontario; we would love to hear from you! Until next time, keep dreaming, exploring safely and spreading your footprints.