Traveling to and Staying at Willow Lake Carefree RV Resort on our Great Canadian Two Lane Camping Adventure

From Gulliver's Lake Carefree RV Resort, we traveled King's Highway 403 (pronounced "four-oh-three"), or simply Highway 403. It is also known as the Chedoke Expressway within Hamilton. Although the Highway 403 designation was first applied in 1963 to a short stub of freeway branching off of the QEW, the entire route was not completed until 1997. In Hamilton, Highway 403 descends the Niagara Escarpment.

Speaking of the Niagara Escarpment ... It is a continuous natural landscape; a vital corridor of green space through south-central Ontario. The Niagara Escarpment is a protected area under the Province of Ontario’s Niagara Escarpment Planning and Development Act, 1973, and the Niagara Escarpment Plan (NEP.) Canada’s first large-scale environmental land use plan. The Niagara Escarpment Plan provides the framework for a string of 141 Niagara Escarpment Parks and Open Spaces (NEPOSS) linked by the Bruce Trail, Canada’s oldest and longest continuous footpath. Designated a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in 1990, the Niagara Escarpment is an internationally recognized landform and is the cornerstone of Ontario’s Greenbelt. A landscape of rich biodiversity, home to hundreds of Ontario's Species at Risk, vital watersheds, agricultural areas and 450-million year old geological history, the Niagara Escarpment is a treasure to protect for future generations of Ontarians.

Along with the Niagara Escarpment in this area is the GreenBelt. The Greenbelt is a permanently protected area of green space, farmland, forests, wetlands, and watersheds, located in Southern Ontario, Canada. It surrounds a significant portion of Canada's most populated and fastest-growing area—the Golden Horseshoe. The Golden Horseshoe's population is projected to increase to 11.5 million by 2031. Created by legislation passed by the Government of Ontario in 2005, the Greenbelt is considered a major step in the prevention of urban development and sprawl on environmentally sensitive land in the province. While protecting prime agricultural land is its primary purpose, it is actually a bundle of other key elements to also protect rural area, heritage sites, and sensitive ecological and hydrological features, which include the Niagara Escarpment and the Oak Ridges Moraine. Agriculture protection is the primary element of the Greenbelt legislation. It prevents municipalities from re-zoning areas identified as "prime agricultural areas", "specialty crop areas" and "rural areas" identified by the province for other uses. At over 1.8 million acres, the Greenbelt is one of the largest and most successful greenbelts in the world.

What is the Golden Horseshoe is a sub-region of Southern Ontario, Canada, which lies at the western end of Lake Ontario with outer boundaries stretching south to Lake Erie and north to Georgian Bay. The region is densely populated and industrialized. Most of it is also part of the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, Quebec City–Windsor Corridor and the Great Lakes Megalopolis. The Golden Horseshoe makes up over 26% of the population of Canada and contains more than 68% of Ontario's population, making it one of the largest population concentrations in North America.

Traveling down Highway 24 we reached Willow Lake Carefree RVResort. This is another park that offers daily, weekly or seasonal camping. It boasts a spring fed 13-acre lake that features a waterslide, and floating rafts. These clear waters are the perfect place for families to enjoy days of sun and fun. This park offers everything needed the perfect family get away. You can the day swimming, fishing, playing baseball or challenging your family to a game of horseshoes. They offer 30-amp full-hookup sites, a snack bar in the peak of the season and laundry facilities. Willow Lake is continually increasing the number of events they hold during the summer including cards, live bands, and movie nights for the kids; just to name a few. Your kids could meet their newest best friend there!

If you like adventure and exploring the local area, there is plenty to see around the area of Willow Lake Carefree RV Resort. You'll also find plenty of attractions in nearby Brantford, such as the Alexander Graham Bell Homestead National Historic Site. This homestead was the site of one of the most important scientific breakthroughs in history.  On July 26th, 1874, the young Alexander Graham Bell sat here, in a spot he called his "dreaming place", and pondered the quest for a "speaking telegraph".  As he stared down at the Grand River that warm summer day, inspiration struck! He grasped the concept of how his most famous invention, the telephone, would work.  He mounted one of the three crucial public demonstrations that proved the telephone was a practical form of communication.  Bell's invention would reshape the world. The Bell Homestead, as it quickly came to be known, opened its door to the public for the first time in 1910. For more than a century, the Homestead has welcomed visitors from far and wide.  As one of Ontario's oldest historic home museums, it has grown significantly in that time, with three restored historic buildings and an eclectic collection of original Bell family artifacts.  Together they tell the story of how a young teacher of the deaf came to invent the telephone.

The Canadians are proud of their hockey players! You can see his name everywhere! Close by Willow Lake is the Wayne Gretzky Sports Hall ofRecognition. When this complex started, it was known as the North Park Recreation Centre. The Brant Aquatic Centre was added to the recreation center. The complex's pool dive tank hosted the Canadian National Diving Championships. In 1982, it is renamed the Wayne Gretzky Sports Center, with a nod to a long list of accomplishments from that year including the 50 goals in 50 games record (actually done in 39 games), most goals in a season and becoming the only NHL player in history to break the 200-point mark. He was also the first Canadian named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year, Sportsman of the Year (Sports Illustrated) and Canadian Press' Newsmaker of the Year. A $4-million ice park arena adjacent to the sports center was soon added. When you read about the history of this complex, you quickly see that a ton of money has been spent on it … a $2-million renovation; a $2 million bail-out; $355,000 in repairs; a $37-million overhaul; $800,000 in repairs; a $9-million expansion; more reconstruction totaling $63.39 million and another $1.85-million contract … wow, that is some serious dough! Plus

the BMO (Bank of Montreal) donated $25,000 to install a timing system and related display in the new eight-lane, 25-metre pool and SC Johnson used a $200,000 donation to create an outdoor play area on one of the front lawns of the center. The biggest tribute to Wayne Gretzky is the 12-foot statue of Wayne hoisting the Stanley Cup over his head, facing life-sized statues of him and his parents in their younger years at the front entrance of the facility.

There are also world class gardens and number of scenic trails for you to explore in the surrounding areas of Willow Lake Carefree RV Resort. But you can also just enjoy camping, sitting and relax around and on the 13 acre lake!