Size: 85-acres
Status: Open to the Public, with trails.
Protected: Oct 18, 2011
Donors: Joan Berndt and Susan Campbell
Background:
Sisters Joan Berndt and Susan Campbell donated this property in memory of their grandfather and it was a partial purchase/partial donation to the Conservancy. The Township of Severn and TD Friends of the Environment also contributed financially to make this Nature Reserve a reality.
Landscape and Species:
- Borders the Trent-Severn Waterway
- Mixed upland forest
- More than 228 native plants
- Rare insect-eating pitcher & sundew plants, and pink moccasin orchids
- Excellent habitat for wood warblers and vireos, as well as American Bittern
- Rich in reptiles and amphibians
- The Pipsissewa Loop Trail is open to the public (named after the Pipsissewa wildflower that grows along the trail).
Visit this Nature Reserve:
Access through Turnbull Tracts/Cambrian Road: Logging will be happening in 2024 at Turnbull Tract (adjacent to this nature reserve). We don’t know specific dates, but if you plan to go through Turnbull, be prepared to potentially change plans.
Access through Fawcett Road: park at P2 on Fawcett Road beside Hwy 11, and walking up the remainder of Fawcett road and the Trent Severn laneway to the T.C. Agnew Nature Reserve entrance. There is a CN Rail "No Trespassing" sign on a gate as you enter the laneway. This is in reference to the CN rail property further up the laneway - we have permission to use the roadway. The Trent Severn laneway is owned by Parks Canada.
Trail Length: 2km (just within the nature reserve. It is an additional distance to get to the nature reserve).
Trail Type: out and back, loop
Estimated time: an hour
Description: The Pipsissewa Loop Trail, combined with the 1 km walk in to the reserve beside the Trent-Severn Waterway, make this a rewarding outing in any season. The birding is excellent in all seasons, and the trails can be snowshoed in winter.
Maximum Elevation: 230m Elevation Gain: 26m
What3words (trail sign): ///boomers.greatly.honks
Best time to visit: any time. Be prepared for expected conditions (mosquitoes in the spring-summer, damp in the spring and fall, etc).
History:
Thomas Agnew was an early settler and businessman in the Washago area. His good friend Robert Fawcett owned the adjoning acreage, which has also been donated as a nature reserve - a testament to the character of these two well-known Washago families, and a lasting legacy for both.
On the edge of the Trent-Severn Waterway, the two properties contain the same precious wetland complex, teeming with wildlife.
