Secrets Of The Trails On Vacation: The Nokiidaa Trail

In this installment of Secrets Of The Trails "On Vacation", I check out the Nokiidaa Trail, an 18 km (approx 11.5 mi) trail that runs through the Ontario cities of Aurora, Newmarket, and East Gwilliambury. The trail largely parallels the East Branch of the Holland River.

This video highlights what I'm calling the "upper" portion of the Nokiidaa Trail, between Newmarket and East Gwilliambury. It's interesting to note that in the last century, a barge canal project as undertaken to connect Newmarket with the Trent-Severn Waterway via Lake Simcoe, but it was abandoned before it could be completed. Some of the old locks and bridges can still be seen along this portion of the trail!

The whole trail passes through a number of residential communities, swings around a golf course, splits through various town parks, and rolls under a lot of major town and city streets. And the best thing is that the vast majority of it is fully paved!

This trail also is a fantastic showcase of indigenous artwork, with "totems" all along the trail that honor Canada's indigenous peoples! In fact, the name "Nokiidaa" is an Ojibwe word meaning "walking together"!

Bring your bikes (or rent one), and check out the the towns, the history, the heritage, and the beauty of the Nokiidaa Trail! As for me, I'm definitely coming back to this trail next time!

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