Looking for the Best Hiking Trails in Mississauga? The weather is warming up and our family loves to be OUTSIDE! While our defintion of hiking has changed since we had kids as we often look for stroller friendly trails, we also enjoy exploring and having a new adventure on the Best Hiking Trails in Mississauga.
Just because we live in a city like Mississauga doesn’t mean there are not great hiking trails nearby, you can even checkout the Best Hiking Trails in Brampton. There are lots of awesome places to hike near Mississauga and you don’t need to drive for hours to find fun and challenging outdoor hikes.
We went to our blogging friend Donald Yap from Exploring with the Yaps for his expertise on Mississauga, as he shares Gems to Visit in Mississauga, Top Places to visit in Mississauga and much more! “Exploring with the Yaps focuses on sharing experiences, tips, and tricks on travelling with a young family and the best places to bring your little ones. Exploring with the Yaps are located in Mississauga, ON and focus alot on local content”.
The Best Places To Hike With Kids In Mississauga and Surrounding Area
Mississauga is a thriving city with a huge population, but the one thing they do really well is ensure there is lots of greenspace for families to visit and enjoy including Mississauga parks and hiking trails. The wide variety of hiking trails available in and near Mississauga offer a wide range of fun for people of all ages.
Mississauga offers outdoor activites all year including mini golf, and swimming in the summer and skating and toboganning in the winter! The options for outdoor family play are endless no matter the season.
As you will see from the pictures below our hikes are often a family activity with the kids joining and exploring the beauty that Ontario Hiking Trails have to offer. Here are some of our favourites, and as always we will update this post as we keep exploring. Here are some great places to hike in and near Mississauga(scroll down for full details and pictures from each place):
- Jack Darling Memorial Park
- Rattray Marsh
- Lake Aquataine Trail
- Cooksville Creek
- Culham Trail
- Meadowvale Conservation Area
- Riverwood Conservancy
- Jan’s Trail
- Etobicoke Creek Trail
- Sawmill Valley
- Hancock Woodland Park
Places to Hike in and Near Mississauga
Jack Darling Memorial Park
This trail can be accessed by parking at Jack Darling Park, which is very busy in the summer so arrive early. One of the largest and most popular parks in Mississauga’s waterfront, Jack Darling contains several great hikes with tons of great views. Containing a large off leash area including a large looped hiking trail around the water treatment plant, Jack Darling is a great place to take your four legged best friend for a hike as you meander through the large native tallgrass Prairie.Â
One of our favorite hikes in the city. The main hike follows along the waterfront trail starting from Lakeshore Boulevard, the hike starts off in a beautiful old growth wooded area. Then it opens to views of the Toronto skyline as the trail opens up to Lake Ontario. Jack Darling Trail is part of the Waterfront Trail network and also connects to Rattray Marsh.
Checkout our full guide on a Daytrip to Jack Darling Park.
Rattray Marsh
This trail can be accessed by parking at Jack Darling Memorial Park or pedestrian-only access at Bexhill Road, Meadow Wood Road, Silver Birch Trail and Old Poplar Row. Further West along the waterfront trail is Rattray Conservation Area. Tucked away along the shores of Lake Ontario in a quiet neighborhood, Rattray Marsh Conservation area contains the last remaining marsh between Toronto and Burlington. Hiking at Rattray Marsh feels like you’ve been transported miles away to cottage country, as hikes here are peaceful and quiet as only the sounds of the wind whispering or dragonflies buzzing fill the air.Â
There are 5 trails with Rattray Marsh: Waterfront trail, White Pine trail, Silver Maple trail, Sheridan Creek trail and Knoll trail. All of these trails are listed as easy to moderate meaning they are flat and minimal to no stairs making them fairly stroller friendly. There was lots of plants and sights to engage my three year old along the route.Â
Lake Aquitaine Trail
This trail can be accessed by parking at Meadowvale Community Centre. Created as a man-made stormwater management pond, Lake Aquitaine was built to improve water quality before it enters the Credit River. This man-made lake is a popular destination for fishing as the pond has become home to several largemouth basses, smallmouth bass, rock bass, perch, and crappie.
The lake is also surrounded by a 3.4km trail that has tons of great park space, splash pad and several playgrounds and exercise stations peppered along its path. Additionally, the Meadowvale Community Center lays along its edges providing a ton of great amenities such as splash pads, basketball courts and soccer fields.Â
Cooksville Creek
Connecting Mississauga’s current City Center to its past. This hidden gem follows Cooksville Creek starting from the office Parc of Robert Speck, as it meanders through several residential parks, neighborhoods and forested areas and ends in the middle of the Cooksville downtown area. At this time the city plans to extend the path further south to the Gardiner and has purchased lands to pursue.Â
Culham Trail
This trail can be accessed by parking at Erindale Park, 1695 Dundas St W, east of Mississauga Road. Culham Trail (Erindale Park to Headwick Meadows) – Living in Mississauga we are lucky to live among one of the largest river valleys in the GTA. Forming the northern limit of the Carolinian Forest Zone, The Credit Valley is home to many species of flora not found in any other part of Canada. One of the best ways to enjoy this unique ecosystem is to hike along the Chulham Trail. The Culham Trail is a 14km trail that follows the Credit Valley and passes many historic mills, homesteads, farms and dams and leads all the way to Brampton.
The Culham trail is a hidden gem in the heart of Mississauga and offers relaxing viewpoints, thick foilage and the relaxing sound of water rushing by as the trail follows the Credit river. You can often find bird, deers, squirrels and many other critters on a quiet day. This trail is beautiful in the Spring and Summer and even better in the Fall with the rainbow of colour from the leaves changing.
Meadowvale Conservation Area
This trail can be accessed by parking at Meadowvale Conservation Area. Further north along the Credit River, nestled in the old historic Old Meadowvale Village Meadowvale Conservation Area is a great place to get away from the city and take a short hike.
The hikes here take you through flood plain areas, beautiful wooded areas, and offer great views of the Old Derry Bridge. Be sure to take the path along the Credit River and watch for glimpses of rare and native plants, as well as bird, mammal and amphibians, as the Credit Valley Conservation Authority species in this Environmentally Significant Area.
Riverwood Conservancy
This trail can be accessed by parking at Riverwood Conservancy. The Riverwood Conservancy Trail is home to Woodlands, meadows and tablelands, ravines and slopes, wetlands, creeks and floodplain, and former agricultural lands and the Credit River home to salmon and trout. There are multiple trails within Riverwood Conservancy Park.
Jan’s Trail
This trail can be accessed by parking at Parkway Belt Park. Jan’s Trail – Named in recognition of Janusz (Jan) Zurakowski.The first person to exceed the speed of sound in a straight wing jet aircraft and chief test pilot for the famed AVRO Arrow. This 2.7 km hike takes you along the busy 401, around a small duck point and a small off-leash area. The hike also offers great views of the Toronto and Mississauga skyline in the distance.
Etobicoke Creek Trail
This trail is best accessed from Marie Curtis Park which is on our list of Beaches in the Greater Toronto Area. Etobicoke Creek trail – Passing through natural and urban settings this trail follows along the natural border between Mississauga and Toronto. Starting from Lake Ontario and finishing just northwest of Pearson Airport, this 5.8-km hike offers a great variety of views from the beaches of Marie-Curtis Park to great vantage points to the business parks further north and finally ending near Pearson International Airport where you can hike up the watch the planes take off and land at Pearson.
The trail follows the mostly calm river along the trail and is home to many different species of birds. This trail feels like a forest in the middle of the urban landscape of Toronto and Mississauga.
Sawmill Valley Trail
This traill can be accessed from 1955 Burnhamthorpe Rd W. Sawmill Valley trail – While many know of the famous Culham Trail that follows along the Credit Valley floor. What many may not know is a sister trail As the name’s sake, Sawmill Valley used to be home to several sawmills during the 1800’s. Laying along “Maple Hill” and “Sawmill Hill”, just north of The Collegeway along Mississauga Road. This 7.9-km trek out and back is a beautiful creek valley with towering trees overhead.
Hancock Woodlands Park
Hancook Woodlands – Previously a nursery owned by a family of Horticulture and landscapists, the Hancook Woodlands is a masterpiece of their craft. A hike through this beautiful park provides you with 3 main sections to explore the landscaped home grounds, a wooded sanctuary and a tall grass meadow.
Filled with a wide array of native and naturalized plants selected by the family, the grounds provide a colorful kaleidoscope of color all season long. One of our favorite times to visit is in mid to late June when the Rhododendrons come into bloom, when a hike through the wooded area feels like a hike through a magical dream world with giant blooms of red, pink and purple of the massive Rhododendron bushes.
Checkout our full guide to a Daytrip at Hancock Woodlands Park.
Want to stay in the know with all things local? Don’t forget to join our locally focus Facebook group:  Peel Parents Resource – Open to any parents in Peel and Halton Region
