Atop the Escarpment is Woodend Conservation Area, a 45 hectare site for hiking and cross-country skiing. The Bruce Trail and other trails traverse the property. The Silurian Trail lines the Escarpment edge, looking out over the Niagara Peninsula.
Views are best in fall and winter, when the trees are bare. For hikers, summer foliage of the large deciduous trees muffles the roar of the QEW below. One is then able to appreciate songs of hermit thrushes, vireos and winter wrens.
In 1798, the United Empire Loyalist family of Peter Lampman settled what is now Woodend. The Canadian poet, Archibald Lampman, is a descendant. Subsequent family members built the present-day house in 1931. Now renamed the Woodend Environmental Centre, the house provides outdoor education opportunities for students of the District School Board of Niagara.
Woodend Conservation Area is operated by the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA). Come to Woodend via the Glendale exit (38) from the QEW to Regional Road 70 (Beechwood Road). Drive up the Escarpment and watch for the Conservation Area signs.
