With the changing seasons came a short burst of beautiful weather! As I write this, it is the day after an ice storm that took out power throughout most of Peterborough. Kind of hard to believe I just went on this hike without a jacket last week! This spring I plan to explore a bit more in the Peterborough area, so I started with Warsaw Caves. It was a short 15-20 minute drive northeast of town, so convenient enough for a nice day hike. Unfortunately, ice still covered the majority of the trail, which was a bit treacherous, even for my dog, Jesse, to run around!
We hiked all over, and if you open the attached map and follow the grey trail from the parking lot, you'll see the path we took. We saw the entrance to the caves, which are pretty well-marked but still quite icy. Past the caves are the kettles, which were very cool. They are a glacial formations made by rocks and water grinding down through the rock, making a deep hole that looks a lot like a well, or something man-made. The trail had a few hills, but was otherwise quite an easy hike. There was one bluff in particular that had a beautiful view looking down onto the Indian River (marked as the "scenic lookout" on the attached map). Their website shows that the river is a popular place for an easy canoe trip. Perhaps that should be added to the list for something to do later in the summer! After a short break at the overlook, we made our way back to the parking lot. There is a nice picnic spot towards the entrance, right next to the bridge, where there is a picnic table atop a large rock in the middle of the stream. It was a great lunch spot! We ran into two families, which given the trail conditions, leads me to believe that it is probably quite busy in the summer months, and most likely not the best place to try and get a trail to yourself. But it is nearby and easy to access if you're wanting to get out of the bustling metropolis of Peterborough without having to drive too far!
Update (21 May 2013): The caves were open for my second visit. There was a $10 fee per vehicle to enter the park by car and a $3.50 fee if you enter by foot. We met a few folks at their campsite, which turned out to be quite nice for a public campground. The sites were somewhat secluded and well forested. Some even had sandy bottoms! From there, we explored the caves, starting with the first. At the entrance, they have several maps for you, one of which guides you through the caves. I was a little worried we would get lost in them, but there are very few places where you could get turned around. Most quickly end in a dead end, but if you follow the cave map, you should be good to go! Lots of crawling and climbing, but easy enough for me to maneuver easily. Some of the caves are connected, which is neat! At the very end there is one final 10 meter belly crawl, which just so happened to still be wet and icy, so it was a tough squeeze through! Definitely worth a visit. Next time, I plan to reserve a campsite or two and make a weekend out of it!
Note: Dogs are allowed into the parks, but cannot go into the caves. Also, bring a headlamp or you can buy one at the entrance for $15.
We hiked all over, and if you open the attached map and follow the grey trail from the parking lot, you'll see the path we took. We saw the entrance to the caves, which are pretty well-marked but still quite icy. Past the caves are the kettles, which were very cool. They are a glacial formations made by rocks and water grinding down through the rock, making a deep hole that looks a lot like a well, or something man-made. The trail had a few hills, but was otherwise quite an easy hike. There was one bluff in particular that had a beautiful view looking down onto the Indian River (marked as the "scenic lookout" on the attached map). Their website shows that the river is a popular place for an easy canoe trip. Perhaps that should be added to the list for something to do later in the summer! After a short break at the overlook, we made our way back to the parking lot. There is a nice picnic spot towards the entrance, right next to the bridge, where there is a picnic table atop a large rock in the middle of the stream. It was a great lunch spot! We ran into two families, which given the trail conditions, leads me to believe that it is probably quite busy in the summer months, and most likely not the best place to try and get a trail to yourself. But it is nearby and easy to access if you're wanting to get out of the bustling metropolis of Peterborough without having to drive too far!
Update (21 May 2013): The caves were open for my second visit. There was a $10 fee per vehicle to enter the park by car and a $3.50 fee if you enter by foot. We met a few folks at their campsite, which turned out to be quite nice for a public campground. The sites were somewhat secluded and well forested. Some even had sandy bottoms! From there, we explored the caves, starting with the first. At the entrance, they have several maps for you, one of which guides you through the caves. I was a little worried we would get lost in them, but there are very few places where you could get turned around. Most quickly end in a dead end, but if you follow the cave map, you should be good to go! Lots of crawling and climbing, but easy enough for me to maneuver easily. Some of the caves are connected, which is neat! At the very end there is one final 10 meter belly crawl, which just so happened to still be wet and icy, so it was a tough squeeze through! Definitely worth a visit. Next time, I plan to reserve a campsite or two and make a weekend out of it!
Note: Dogs are allowed into the parks, but cannot go into the caves. Also, bring a headlamp or you can buy one at the entrance for $15.
Warsaw Caves' homepage:
http://www.warsawcaves.com/index.htm
PDF of Warsaw Caves hiking trails: http://www.warsawcaves.com/WCCA%202011%20park%20map.pdf