New Geology Guide for the Beaver Valley!

Hikers along the Bruce Trail and elsewhere in the Beaver Valley will be delighted to find that Beth Gilhespy has written a guide to "Exploring Niagara Escarpment Geology in the Beaver Valley Bruce Trail Section".  Beth is a former Executive Director of the Bruce Trail Conservancy but trained as a geologist.  She has led geology hikes on the trail for 10 years or more, so her writing is grounded in actual observations along the trail itself, and many hikers here know her personally.

This book is a very welcome guide to understanding what we actually see as we hike the Bruce Trail, and since the geology of the escarpment is somewhat unique here in the valley, a guide specific to the valley really helps.  The escarpment is after all a geological feature, and the Bruce Trail is designed to follow that feature.

This little book (114 pages) provides both an overview of the geological features and descriptions of eight hikes with features to look for labelled in the accompanying maps.  The book is worth the read to me just for this diagram alone.  Geological labels on the rock layers change from Niagara Falls to Tobermory, so a valley-specific diagram, here at the mid-point of the escarpment, really helps.

We're all familiar with the top layer of the escarpment here, the Amabel Dolomite that forms the giant cliffs of Old Baldy.  These are 'bioherms', parts of ancient coral reefs that grew upwards forming an undulating rock formation of which Old Baldy is one of the high points.

But many of us are not familiar with the Manitoulin Dolomite, a lower, thinner and perfectly flat layer that formed in an ancient deltas, and is best visible here in the winter.  Driving down Bowles Hill you can clearly see it across the valley, north and south of the penstocks.  It disappears under green foliage in the summer.

But it's important because it forms the lip of several of the smaller waterfalls along the trail, including Webwood Falls seen here.  Note the thin flat layers in the upper right.

You can also see it in the thin layers of the flowerpot above Indian Creek,  In fact it forms the entire plateau on which Loree Forest sits, as well as the plateau where the Meaford army base is found.  You'll find it as you climb up out of the Mill Creek valley, forming the west rim of the valley, as well as other places along the Bruce Trail.

Beth's book is valuable because it has a good discussion of the layers of the escarpment, as well as pointers on where to see them.  Many readers will skip to the hike descriptions that make up the second half of the book, but it's well worth going back to read the first part of the book, including the description of geological layers and features.  It is written for the average person to understand and it's very readable.

When you do get to the second half of the book, you have 8 hike descriptions to choose from, and each features points of geological interest for you to find.  The maps in this guide are excellent, prepared by Scott Langley, the Bruce Trail's official cartographer, and of his usual high quality.  They feature those clearly labelled points of interest which are also described in the text along with photos.  This map is the first of them, featuring the popular Loree Forest loop.

All in all this is a great little book, and even for someone who can't get out there and hike the trails anymore, it has added a great deal to my memories of the trail, since I can still hike the trail in my mind..  If you live locally I urge you to order a copy and make use of it in your hikes this summer.  Kudos to Beth for her book;  I've written books myself so I know how much work it takes!