A Spring Day Trip to Northumberland: Lilacs, a Suspension Bridge, and a Waterfall

Spring, concentrated into one Saturday

Ninety minutes east of Toronto, a town of roughly 700 people has spent over a decade building one of the most unusual public gardens in Ontario. Eighty-three varieties of lilac. More than 300 bushes. A 2.6-kilometre trail that, for one weekend a year, pulls people in from across the province.

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A town that leans into it

Warkworth sits in the rolling hills of Trent Hills, and it has the kind of Main Street that people describe as "charming" and actually mean it. Galleries, independent shops, a town hall converted into an arts centre. On the last weekend of May, the Millennium Lilac Trail at the south end of Main Street erupts into colour, and the festival brings in master gardeners, live music, artisan vendors, wood-fired pizza, and a lilac sale where you can take home your own Canadian Preston bush for $50 cash. The Prestons, by the way, were propagated by Isabella Preston, Canada's first female professional plant breeder.

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Then we keep going

Twenty minutes north, on the Trent River, sits Ferris Provincial Park, 198 hectares most Torontonians have never heard of. The main draw is a pedestrian suspension bridge that hangs across the Trent River Gorge and delivers you to a lookout over Ranney Falls, a two-tiered cascade dropping roughly 20 metres through limestone. Over 10 kilometres of trails wind through mixed forest, and the Drumlin Trail in late May is still flush with spring wildflowers: trilliums, trout lilies, mayapples.

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Why this is the perfect spring send-off

This is the trip that closes out spring and opens the door to summer. Lilacs are the flower that tells you the cold season is finally over. A waterfall and a suspension bridge are the kind of thing you want on your phone before patio season officially starts. Put them in the same Saturday and you get one of those days that sets the tone for the months ahead.

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Ground-level details

• The Lilac Trail in full bloom. Eighty-three varieties means early, mid, and late-season cultivars all staggered together. Whites, pale pinks, deep purples, and a few oddballs in blue and yellow.
• Lilac sales on site ($50, cash only). If you have a yard, balcony, or a very patient friend with a yard, you can take home a Canadian Preston bush. Master gardeners will tell you exactly how to keep it alive.
• Food and music on the trail. Wood-fired pizza, hot dogs, kettle corn, boxed lunches, and live music moving between Main Street and the trail all day.
• Main Street is small but worth the loop. Galleries, antique shops, coffee. The kind of browsing that's actually browsing, not scrolling.
• The Ferris suspension bridge. It sways. That's the point. Walk out, look down at the Trent River Gorge, take the picture you know you're going to take.
• Ranney Falls lookout. A short, easy walk from the bridge to a viewing platform over a two-tiered limestone waterfall. Cell reception is spotty, which is a feature.

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Join the ActiveDays community before you go

We run an ActiveDays Facebook group where people going on upcoming trips introduce themselves, swap gear tips, and sometimes meet their guide before the day itself. Worth joining even if you're a lurker.

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Tickets

• Adult $79
• Student/Senior $71.10
• Child $55.30

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