Size: 85-acres (35-hectares)
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: park along the road shoulder. Please be careful as there is a bend in the road here. Do not block the driveway.
Access through Fawcett Road: closed indefinitely
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.
