As the last glacier moved over Ontario, scouring the landscape with its icy tongue, it gathered the material it removed — sand, gravel and other debris. These piles of rubble were either deposited by meltwater or stacked into mounds that remained after the ice melted.

This is the Oak Ridges Moraine, a 200 kilometre (124 mile) narrow ridge of glacial debris that formed the rolling Caledon landscape as much as the surrounding sandy plains, kettle lakes and wetlands. You'll get a sense of this varying terrain in Palgrave Conservation Area.

The trail winds its way over hills and through valleys, among woodlands...