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| McMaster West Campus Parking formerly Coldspring Valley |
Royal Botanical Gardens
Gardens’ Bulletin
Vol. XIII, Number III, June 1959
COLDSPRING VALLEY
The people of Hamilton and District have become particularly
conscious of helicopters since the recent initiation of scheduled commercial
service between Hamilton and Toronto. One of the special attributes is its
ability to hover. Let us use this talent through our imagination and hover 5000
feet altitude above an area just to the west of McMaster University. From this
height Coldspring Valley looks like a green broadloom carpet with a few moth
holes here and there. To the north and south the multicolour roofs of the
residential districts of University Gardens and West Hamilton create their
pattern. At the western edge of the carpet the green scar of the Ontario Hydro
tower line, and to the east the double contoured ribbon of Highway 102 [Cootes
Drive] are clearly defined.
Following along on our fanciful flight and reducing our
elevation to 1000 feet, we find that the valley is not really as flat as
expected, rather it is a wide ravine rising from the level bottom land to the
plateau above in steep wooded bluffs. The waters of the stream can be seen
glistening through the foliage and we can trace its meandering course through
the flats which Coldspring Creek has built over the years by erosion and
deposition within this Valley. Now let us disembark and explore on foot.
Travelling along the banks of the stream, it is not
surprising to find Willow and Elm growing thickly; it is a location which they
find suitable for development. Their size is impressive and the observation that
there is some order to their arrangement suggests that many of the gigantic
Willows were planted in avenues by the former occupants of the land, the
Binkley family. On the dryer parts of the bottomland adjacent to the stream
grow Walnuts, Butternuts, Manitoba Maples and a limited number of other trees
like Ash and Hickory, but the Black Willow is the dominant plant of the scene.
It has been previously mentioned that the bluffs frame the Valley floor. This
is the domain of many hardwoods including Oak, Maple, Black Cherry, Beech and
Ash. Also here we find Hemlock and Pine. The Pines grow on the drier upper
slopes while the Hemlocks like, or at least tolerate, the wetter land at the
junction of the flats and the slopes.
The Gardens’ portion of Coldspring Valley is for the most
part forest-clad, and very dense at that; but the moth-holes in the carpet
represent openings in the trees where shrubs and herbaceous plants find
sufficient sunshine to grow luxuriously. Wild Grape, Meadow Rue, Sweet Rocket,
Dock, Touch-Me-Not, and Wild Raspberries are a few of the plants growing in
these open areas. We may take for granted that the Valley is beautiful and
provides many interesting experiences, however, due to the density of the
vegetation and the wet conditions prevailing in some areas, trails had to be
built to make the land more accessible.
A full description of the trails will follow in future
bulletins which will give detailed information. For the present we will
consider them generally giving the names and some characteristics of each
trail. Erigan Trail, named after an old river which used to flow hereabouts in
ancient times, passes though an open area on which a considerable number of
shrubs, valuable as winter bird food have been established. Coldspring Path
follows the Creek rather closely and passes through a magnificent stand of
Ostrich Fern. Transvalley Trail runs north and south from Coldspring Creek to
the slopes of the Valley. It passes through Black Willow giants and has at its
southern end a huge American Beech scarred by many generations of initials
carved into its smooth grey bark. Rim Circuit, as the name implies, runs around
the edge of a flat topped hill. The north slope of this hill is clothed in
Hemlocks which stand out, especially in spring and fall.
We have been introduced to the Valley by air; it is more
practical, however, to consider the terrestrial entrances. These are at the
north end of Thorndale Crescent, and at Lakelet Avenue running off Binkley
Crescent markers have been erected at these entrances, parking at curbside. We
hope that there will be as much enthusiasm for these new trails as there is for
those in Hendrie Valley.
W.J. Lamoureux
Conservationist
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