Ninety minutes east of Toronto there is a wetland and an old forest that the Northumberland Land Trust protects and the public cannot drop in on. For one day the gates open, and three of the Trust's own naturalists walk you through them.
When dates open they appear here, along with the fare. This trip runs with the Northumberland Land Trust, so the number of days it runs is small.
Dates not open yet
We put seats on sale one season at a time, and this one is not up yet. Nothing is hidden and there is no list to pay to join. Leave your email and you hear the day the dates open.
Cancel 14 or more days before you go and you get 90% back.
A Parkbus guide is with the group for the whole day. You are not expected to know the trail, the route or the plan, and nobody gets left behind.
Flat and short, on even ground, with no climbing and no rush. This is a walk rather than a hike, and you set the pace.
Lone Pine Marsh is a 138 acre provincially significant wetland near Colborne, donated in 1991 specifically to preserve it. It is not a manicured boardwalk loop through a city park. It is a working conservation landscape, and the grasslands around it still hold nesting Bobolink and Eastern Meadowlark, both threatened in Ontario, both down by about a third in ten years.
An active beaver dam anchors the view. A large viewing deck looks out over the water, and trails wind through meadow and milkweed. Tree swallows loop overhead. Grey treefrogs call from the wet ground. There is a sheltered picnic area by the start of the trail, and that is where you eat the lunch you brought.
After lunch the coach carries you north into the Northumberland Hills, to Haddon Nature Reserve near Castleton. This is where the day goes quiet. Haddon is mostly older forest threaded with small streams, and the Little Cold Creek, a brook trout stream, runs right through the property. Tall eastern hemlock and white pine filter the light into something close to cathedral light.
The land itself is shaped by ice. This is drumlin country, and the rolling terrain under your feet is what the glaciers left behind. Haddon came to the Trust in 2025 and stays closed to drop-in visitors, so the forest is used to being left alone. On this day you are a guest in it.
Two protected places, and the people who protect them.
The morning is open and full of birds. The afternoon is dark and full of trees. About three hours at each.
We pick you up
Just north of Yonge and Bloor subway station. Come up the Asquith exit and look for the coach. Get there fifteen minutes early.
A provincially significant wetland with a large viewing deck over the water and trails through meadow and milkweed. Guides from the Land Trust take you through what lives here and why the marsh matters. Spring is migration season, so the birding is at its best. Lunch is eaten at the sheltered picnic area by the start of the trail.
Good to know:
Facilities: A sheltered picnic area by the start of the trail, A large viewing deck over the marsh
Note: No washrooms here. The coach has one on board and it is accessible during stops. Seating at the picnic shelter is limited, so bring a folding chair, a sit pad or a blanket.
Older forest of tall eastern hemlock and white pine, threaded with small streams, in the drumlin country of the Northumberland Hills. The Little Cold Creek runs through it and holds brook trout. It came to the Land Trust in 2025 and is open only by reservation with advance permission, which is what makes this afternoon unusual.
Good to know:
Facilities: None. This is a nature reserve, not a park.
Note: The bus leaves from here at the end of the afternoon for the drive back to Asquith Avenue.
We drop you back
The bus returns to the same place it left from, so you go home the way you came.
This is our estimated return time, not a guarantee. Traffic can change it and some trips do run late, so please leave yourself some room afterwards rather than booking something tight against it.
There is nowhere to buy anything, so the list is longer than usual.
Neither reserve has a washroom. The coach has one on board and it is accessible during the stops, which is the whole provision for the day.
There is also nowhere at all to buy lunch, a snack or a coffee. Bring everything you plan to eat and drink.
Lunch is at the picnic shelter at Lone Pine Marsh, and the seating there is limited.
A folding chair, a sit pad or a blanket makes the difference between eating standing up and eating in a meadow.
The birding at Lone Pine Marsh in spring is the best part of the morning for a lot of people, and a wetland is a hard place to see anything with the naked eye.
You do not need them to enjoy the day. The guides will point out plenty you can see without.
This one runs in spring, when the migrants are moving through, and only on the days the Land Trust can open the reserves.
Placeholder dates · the real ones come from our booking system
We are Canada's outdoor bus service. Since 2010 we've taken more than 300,000 people to parks and trails without a car. You bring lunch and something to sit on. We handle everything with wheels.
Haddon Nature Reserve is closed to drop-in visitors. Getting in means emailing ahead, getting approval, and finding a gravel road outside Castleton. This trip is the gate being opened.
Three naturalists from the Northumberland Land Trust walk with you. They are the people who steward these reserves, so what you learn is not off a sign and is not on the internet.
A 138 acre wetland in the morning and an old hemlock and pine forest in the afternoon. Different birds, different light, different feel, forty minutes apart.
Flat established trails at the marsh, gentle hills and stream ravines at Haddon. Uneven natural ground and a relaxed pace with frequent stops.
★★★★★ 4.6/5.0 on Google
All stops enable guests ample time to explore the destination. This is a highly a good idea trip for those that appreciate spending time in nature minus distractions.OnAir48444 · Tripadvisor · Oct 2025
This is the 1st time I used Parkbus but it won't be the last.Brenda H. · Google
This is a great service if you don't have a vehicle or just don't want to drive. I'm so happy to have discovered this. There will definitely be more Parkbus trips in my future!James Taylor Wilson · Happy Parkbus customer
Factor in the cost of gas, parking and renting a car, it's a lot cheaper than taking a personal vehicle.Toronto Star
Parkbus is a great option for nature lovers, whether it's a day trip or overnight camping getaway.The Globe and Mail
Cancel more than 14 days before departure and you get a 90% refund, with 10% withheld for payment processing. Inside 14 days refunds are not available, except for a medical emergency in the 48 hours before departure, which needs a signed doctor’s note within 14 days of the missed trip and returns 50%. Tickets are transferable: you can change the passenger name up to 48 hours before departure.
If Parkbus cancels a trip, you get a full refund. We decide no later than 48 hours before departure and only on confirmed conditions: the park closed or the park authority asking us to stand down, an evacuation order or alert, an area restriction order, the highway closed, or the trip judged unsafe to run. A forecast is not one of those things, and trips run rain or shine.
You cannot book this walk any other way, because you cannot get through the gate any other way.
Not quite the right fit? These all leave from the same spot downtown.
