Upper Buttermilk Falls SP, two hikes
Hike 10.1
Meet-up: Pavilion parking lot, Upper Buttermilk Falls Park Road, off West King Road.
Click here for the Google Maps page showing the meeting spot.
Click here to see a PDF trail map of the park.
This is the part of Buttermilk Falls SP where the tourists seldom if ever go. It lacks the super-drama of the steep climb up the falls that the tourists do, but it’s extremely lively and picturesque on its own. The upper trail runs along the edge of Buttermilk Creek and then around Lake Treman, with many ups and downs and delightful views. There are some fairly strenuous spots, and several steep staircases that may leave you panting. Very lovely tree action. Our walk includes side trips to Yaple Road and La Tourelle spa, both through great scenery. Occasionally we bushwhack on the way back from La Tourelle — the impromptu route back through the woods is amazingly wild and actually impassible in spots if you make a wrong turn.
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Hike 10.2
Meet-up: Yaple Road a little NW of the junction with Comfort Road
This is the place to park when the park is charging admission to the upper parking lot. There’s some decent parking space along the NE side of Yaple Road, where there is an entrance to the upper park on the Buttermilk-Lick Brook spur trail. It’s a very pleasant short walk from the parking lot to the main trail around Lake Treman on the spur trail. From that point the walk is the same as walk 10.1 above.