- HikeType Rainbow Hike
- HikeIcon https://hikes.brucetrail.org/wp-content/uploads/formidable/7/image.png
- PaceTypes Leisurely - 3km/hr or less
- TerrainTypes ,Easy - Mostly flat and usually good footing,Moderate - Some hills and/or some poor footing
- PaidOuting No
Hosting Club: Iroquoia
Category: Rainbow Hike
Location (Google Maps): Royal Botanical Gardens - Hendrie Valley Sanctuary, Cherry Hill Gate
Hike Leader(s): Shayne Ward Click here to contact Hike Leader(s)
Pace: Leisurely - 3km/hr or less
Terrain: Easy - Mostly flat and usually good footing, Moderate - Some hills and/or some poor footing
Distance: 5KM
Description
Join us as we kick off Pride Month with a colourful morning of birding! 🦅🦉🦆🌈
For this edition, it's encouraged to come dressed in the colours of your favourite bird! 🌈
This gentle early-morning outing will explore the trails around Royal Botanical Gardens, one of our region's important migration areas. We will start at the trailhead parking lot of the Cherry Hill Gate.
Plan to arrive for 745AM and we'll have a small crash course on downloading and using two popular birding apps, Merlin Bird ID and eBird recording our sightings! We'll depart by 8-810AM. Hoping to catch some Blue Herons, Swans, Wood Ducks, and if we're lucky, a sighting of the RBG resident Screech Owl!
🌈 This is a queer-led, 2SLGBTQIA+ inclusive Rainbow Hike, welcoming LGBTQ+ hikers, allies, birders, photographers, and anyone interested in connecting with nature and community. This is a short, relaxed hike (approx. 5 km) designed to get us moving and birding!
What to Bring
• Water and light snacks
• Weather-appropriate clothing and sturdy footwear
• Binoculars or camera if you have them (optional but fun! And a cell phone counts!)
Not a Bruce Trail member yet?! Sign up here!
https://brucetrail.org/become-a-member/
Come enjoy a spring morning on the trail, celebrate migratory birds, and connect with your Bruce Trail community!
🐾 Please leave pets at home for this hike! It’s migration season and we’ll be passing through an important bird migration and nesting area, so we want to keep disturbance to our feathered friends to a minimum! 🐦
🚗 🚌 This outing is accessible by car or public transit.
Planning to drive?
Parking is 3$/hour to a maximum of 15$ if you park at Cherry Hill Gate, or free if you park across the street at RBG Centre.
Taking the Bus?
HSR #9 or BT1 stops near the trailhead entrance! Map of the bus and it's schedule can be found here.
https://www.hamilton.ca/sites/default/files/2026-04/hsr-9-ROCK%20GARDENS-may10.pdf
Free Bruce Trail Rainbow badges and stickers for all participants!
Questions? Simply click "Contact Hike Leader" on the registration form.