A gorgeous family friendly conservation area to visit is Rockwood Conservation Area in Guleph, Ontario! It is a beautiful drive through lots of nature and forestry and leads to an easy entrance to the area and a large parking space. There is a short walk from the parking space to the main facilities building and the main entrance to the lake and hiking trails.
Rockwood is unique in its layout and history due to it being built surrounding the restoration of the mill ruins. There are huge glacial bluffs located throughout the lake, as well as potholes and caves that can be seen on the hiking trail!
There are so many activities to do at Rockwood, we decided to hike both trails, The Pothole trail and The Cedar Ridge Trail as they are relatively short. When combined these trails more or less form a loop that is approximately 3 kilometers in total. The Pothole trail leads to the beautiful large Harris Woolen Mill Ruins. The mill ruins were so vintage and beautiful, they were blocked off when we visited due to construction and continued protection and restoration, so we weren’t able to explore inside the ruins but the outside was breathtaking!
The lake is not the best for swimming at all, it is stagnant water, so it does not smell or look like fresh water, if you are planning to do a water activity I would recommend paddling! In the past they also offered canoeing and kayaking but due to covid they aren’t at the moment.
The day pass you purchase to enter the park is valid at many other nearby parks, I would suggest visiting one of those for another hike or if you plan on swimming! There are gorgeous sights to see at this conservation area, from bridges, to small waterfalls, cliffs and caves, and much more! Definitely worth checking out this summer!
Sincerely, Celine!
SincerelyCeline 
Hoping to go there soon.
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