Experience Valens Lake Conservation Area

Have you ever wanted to just get away from it all, but don't want to travel hours away from home to get away? While your in luck Valens Lake Conservation Area boosts many qualities of the great north while being just a short drive from the city. If you have yet to discover the wilderness of Valens Lake you have a great opportunity to explore what nature has to offer, if you have been there before you will be able to relate to our friend Jeff who most highly recommends the area. 

Read Jeff's story below and be inspired to make your next trip to Valens Lake Conservation Area!

We go to Valens all year round, and just love it.  It is like being in Algonquin Park. When we stay overnight camping, it feels like we are in a different place, far from our home in Hamilton. In fact my wife commutes to work in Burlington from our site. Our children are reacquainted with nature, and you can be put to sleep listening to the coyotes howling along with the many night birds and frogs. Looking around at night at other campfires and hearing all the night sounds makes it tough to believe we are in Hamilton!

Scientifically, four hours walking the beautiful trails in Valens gives you ten days worth of feeling of well being!

You can also bring or rent a boat and float around and fish on the lake.  No motors.

We have been going for years and always get our annual membership, so that we can go anytime we want!  It is a great way to get the kids interested in nature (their electronics get shut off at the gate).  We have seen myriad frogs and butterflies, hawks and many other birds including owls, turtles, racoons, and deer there.  Being there stretches the day into another of many treasured Valens memories.

We feel ownership in a way, regarding Valens.  There is a big field where kids gather and play and a nice quiet beach.  Most highly recommended!

Jeff. 

An unexpected start to the winter of 2014

 When it comes to Canadian weather, what a difference a year can make – let alone a

 decade…it has been a long time that staff have charted the entire Valens Lake reservoir as ice covered inside the month of November.  Plus – the extended weather forecast is also showing good ice holding and making conditions well into December of this year.  2014 is off to a great start for the ice fishing season.

For the ice angling community, this early return of winter and our old friend – Jack Frost, is a welcomed sight here in the banana belt of southern Ontario.  Traditionally, Valens Lake is one of the first water bodies to freeze and one of the first to reach safe ice conditions.

While the current ice conditions are clearly noted as Unsafe – it is a signal of seasonal transformations that generates tremendous interest and excitement for anglers bitten with the ice fishing passion.  Ice fishing today has outgrown its male dominance and stereotypes.  More and more women and children are taking up the sport and tagging along with Dad – spending the day in the Great Outdoors.

 

The staff at Valens Lake will be undertaking safe ice inspections and reporting their findings over the coming weeks.  Public access will be permitted for all on-ice activities once the reports confirm a safe consistent level of clear ice 6 inches across the reservoir.  Stay tuned to our website for regular updates and announcements.

Ice Fishing at Valens Lake is a “walk on” experience that is close to home for many anglers in southern Ontario,  A “catch and release” policy has been put into effect by the Hamilton Conservation Authority to protect the pan fish stocks from over harvest and to ensure the fishery at Valens Lake remains strong for generations to come.

Gordon R. Costie

Superintendent

Valens Lake Conservation Area