One of the things I remember quite well working at York Region are the number of paths and hiking trails that span the Region. I am lucky living in Vaughan because we have some gorgeous trails and the provincially-protected Greenbelt area spans the City and York Region. They are beautiful and worth checking out if you have the chance to, especially in the fall when the leaves change colour. I love this time of year for that reason.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I checked out the William Granger Greenway in Vaughan and snapped some photos.

I did not walk the entire trail because of time, and the weather forecast showed rain starting later in the day. I did not want to get stuck in a down pour. The trail begins south of Rutherford Road and goes north to the McMichael Art Gallery in Kleinburg. I chose to walk the middle stretch between Rutherford Road and Major Mackenzie Road.

There is something about construction that I enjoy. Not sure if it is the journey or the result, or both, but it is cool to see these projects up close. Major Mackenzie Drive is under construction as York Region realigns and expands the road to connect to the Highway 427 extension. All of this is happening in stages. What is cool about this part and the photos below is the improvement to the road and the path underneath. What I hope for, and the potential is there, is that the William Granger Greenway becomes something similar to another York Region trail, the Nokiidaa Trail in the northern part of the Region. I can hope for the best in this case and cannot wait to see the end result.

Moving south, you start to learn a little bit about the area and its importance. The western half of York Region land sits on Treaty 13 lands, also known as the Toronto Purchase. As you can read in the photo, this area also served as a key link between York and the Georgian Bay Area.

The scenery in the area is beautiful and I was lucky to snap some photos of the leaves changing colour or the pine trees shading their needles.

Then you come upon another sign describing the area’s history with Indigenous communities.

And then we round out the rest of the path with more changing and falling leaves as you approach Rutherford Road.

The middle part of the hike took approximately two hours. Going earlier in the morning and doing the walk in reverse meant we did not bump into too many people along the path until we got closer to Rutherford Road. If you have a few hours on a weekend to spare, regardless of season because it is an all-season path, check out the William Granger Greenway in the City of Vaughan.