Ganaraska Trail: Kilometre Zero

Submitted by Shelley Irving and Stan Muldoon

Hike reference: 6.0 km Ganaraska River

In Canada’s Centennial year of 1967, Patricia Lawson and Jack Goering, members of the Willow Beach Naturalists Club, established the Pine Ridge Hiking Trail in Port Hope.  Affectionately nicknamed the “Pat/Jack” section, at its southern terminus stands a pink granite cairn marking kilometre zero. The word cairn derives from the Scottish Gaelic càrn, meaning “heap of stones.” 

In 1968, this initiative expanded into the Ganaraska Hiking Trail, which today extends approximately 500 kilometres from Lake Ontario in Port Hope to the Bruce Trail near Collingwood.

The realization of this route required the cooperation of numerous landowners, whose willingness to grant access across farmland, forests, river valleys, and glacial hills made a continuous trail possible. Their generosity remains fundamental to its existence.

Ongoing stewardship is provided by volunteers of the Ganaraska Hiking Trail Association, now composed of nine member clubs. These volunteers maintain their respective sections through clearing, blazing, repairs, and landowner liaison, ensuring the trail’s safety and continuity.

The Ganaraska Hiking Trail stands as a lasting partnership among landowners, volunteers, and the hiking community—an enduring legacy of vision, generosity, cooperation, and stewardship.

A cairn marks the start of the southern section of the Ganaraska Hiking Trail in Port Hope.

For more information contact the Pine Ridge Hiking Club at pineridgehikingclub.ca or the Ganaraska Hiking Trail Association at ganaraska-hiking-trail.org.